Facebook asks, Whats on your mind?, so Im gonna take some time to be really honest with you guys. Not every musician will come out and say things like this, but I have always done things my own way, so here it goes. I often wish everyone could understand the struggle of a bright, young, aspiring entrepreneur. On paper, becoming an entrepreneur seems like a fairly reasonable proposition. You raise some money, start a business, make a profit. You expect to hit a few bumps along the way, but the basic premise is that if you have a good idea, work hard and stick it out, youll make it. In reality, owning your own business is more like episodes of The Apprentice, Survivor, and Fear Factor all rolled into one. It takes nerves of steel and a willingness to do things that might be less than rational. You may end up sacrificing your money, your free time and maybe even your sanity. Some lucky startups raise cash from investors or qualify for bank loans. At the ripe age of 21, I dont exactly have what most people call credit So in the case of Miss Fortune LLC, we have to bootstrap it. Bootstrapping is a nice way of saying: risking every penny you have. It may well require putting your life savings on the line, cashing out your 401k and taking out a home equity loan . You may need to borrow money from your family that youll never be able to repay. You may even need to use credit cards to keep food in your stomach. Your spouse may have to work to support you while you get on your feet. And then come the personal sacrifices.. Am I willing to skip family gatherings, birthdays, even funerals? – Time off is essential for work-life balance , but, in fact, consumers dont care much about your work-life balance. They want your product or service and they want it now. Hanging a Gone Fishing sign on the door isnt going to cut it. If you cant offer steady and consistent service every day for the next several years, youre not gonna make it. Am I willing to be ruthless? Ruthless, does not mean dishonest. Ruthless means doing whats best for your business, even if it means making tough decisions. Always do whats right for you, your customers and your business. Otherwise, you will soon be out of a job. Am I willing to lose sleep? – When you own your own business, most of your day is spent putting out fires. Paperwork, filing, bookkeeping and long term planning have to wait until after hours when everyone else has called it quits for the day. The idea that owning your own business is going to be like working a regular job is nowhere near accurate. I know a band is not your typical entrepreneurial endeavor, but it still is one, and it hurts me when people look down their noses at me with that get a real job attitude. I wish so badly that even one person in my day-to-day life understood what Im going through. Maybe then, theyd see why Im losing my mind. - Ms
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:29:13 +0000
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