Life

One day, one of my cousin came to me asking help and advice for him to start his own software business. Althouth I own a software company that works with several clients abroad, the advice I always give is this: If you are not up for a 24-hour-a-day obligation that takes your financial, physical and emotional commitment, never go for it.

The life of an entrepreneur can be lonely. No one can understand what you go through, eventhough they are your wife, father or intimate friend. There are moments where you need to commit to your work / problems leaving your food, family and entertainment. It is not like having a regular job, where if you don’t like your boss or if things are not going your way, you can just quit and find out another job. Real entrepreneurs who are building their business can’t just quit. The business will be like a baby, a “brain-child” that is too much part of you. You feed it through hardwork, you watch it grow by your losses, losses in your real family life, entertainments and other perks sometimes.

This is different if you are going to be a sole proprietor and working your own terms and your own timeframe – for example an interior decorator or a jewelry maker or a corner-shop owner etc. But if you are thinking to start a real business which has several long-term employees and demanding customers (most of them), it is a different story altogether. Whether your business is haircuts or software or professional services, we all share the same struggles. We all deal with the same issues — employee issues, customer support issues, financing issues, vendor issues and the list goes on.

As a business owner, you can’t talk to your employees about these issues — sometimes you can’t even talk to your spouse or your friends. Unless they have lived it — the blood, sweat, and tears of owning your own business — they just can’t relate. Better, be prepared before committing. Similarly your family can make your business a success at the same time they can torn-it apart. Your family issues will always pop-up infront of your issues with your customers.

Similarly, in the early years of struggle, your friends or ex-collegues may be earning much better (or fatter) than what you are earning through your business. And you may be dedicating and inputting twice or thrice effort than what they are. For a real entrepreneur these thoughts should never kill the enthusiasm. Always have a great dream and fight for it. Once you do things right, and keep your customers happy, things will change. And then it becomes one of the easiest things in the world to manage a company, and watch it grow.