Any entrepreneur will tell you that success in business is all about making various sacrifices. While there are various types of help out there, no matter how many resources we harness, we’ve got to make a lot of sacrifices, some personal, some professional, and some deeply emotional. So let’s address these and why they are essential to help your business succeed.
The Financial Sacrifices
During the first few years, your business will have a lot of money put into it, some from you, some from family members. This can be a big shock to the system, because we are, in essence, removing our safety net. As we build up our empire, we could hit the point where it is make or break. And sometimes we have to put in a considerable cash injection to see us over a difficult business bump. And as a worst case scenario, many entrepreneurs have found that selling their home is the one true way to get a cash buffer. Now, there are numerous realty sites that can help, you can look at wrenrealtyinc.com for more information on how to sell your house quick, but when you are deciding on the best way to get a cash injection, you have to give consideration, not just to the business and if it’s worth selling your home to fund it for a few months, but also, are your loved ones as dedicated to the business as you?
The Dreaded Work-Life Balance
It can really hit home, 9 months or so into a business, we look back and realize that we’ve hardly slept more than 5 hours a night, but worked 7 days a week for as long as we can remember. When starting up a business that you have boundless passion for, this will help you to overcome the emotional pitfalls, but is this enough to keep your loved ones happy? No doubt you will have explained to your family that sacrifices need to be made, but sometimes the penny doesn’t drop until everybody is knee-deep in bills and living month to month becomes a real struggle. If everybody shares your vision, then you can pull together and make sacrifices for the greater good. But if you are adamant that you take responsibility for all of this, not your family, then you’re going to have to make some additional plans to ensure that everybody gets a fair share of your time. For example, on themuse.com there are some apps that can help you to plan your work-life balance more effectively, but when the lines between work and life are blurred, you may not be able to take a mental break from the business. But the more this occurs, the more devastating it will be for your mental health. Take the opportunities to look after yourself by spending proper time with your loved ones. It’s a difficult balance to align, especially if you’ve got many worries, not just in a business sense, but in a financial one too, and your health always comes first. If it’s got to the point that you are neglecting your own physical health, just so a report can be done on time, you have to reassess your priorities.
The Feeling Of Stability
Everybody knows that starting a business is a risky venture. There is no way of telling whether you’re going to make a success, no matter how much you prepare. The disparity between success and failure can boil down to sufficient preparation, with items like the business plan and so forth, but what you need to ensure is that you are ready to make these leaps into the unknown. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, but for all of the practices you can implement, you have to know, deep down within yourself, that you are ready to make certain sacrifices. We can get accustomed to a lifestyle that can feel, when it’s taken out from underneath us, like a shock. Everything we know and enjoy has to be cut out. And while this is linked to your finances, the right mindset will help you to persevere. We can struggle when this is our first business, and we expect nothing but profit, but the reality is always far different. Maybe you’ve been working a job, and this is your last-ditch attempt at emotional and professional freedom, but when we chase these dreams, sometimes the reasons behind them aren’t that stable.
To be dedicated to our business requires numerous sacrifices, not just emotionally, but financially, and we have to be aware of the impacts the sacrifices will have not just on us, but everybody else around us. To make a business successful, it’s a heady combination of knowledge, experience, but bravery as well. And the most successful entrepreneurs who started a company that was doomed to failure but turned itself around had leaders that had an unwavering belief in what they were doing was right. This goes hand in hand with sacrifice. In order to make our business succeed, we may have to cut off our nose to spite our face, but if we aren’t prepared for the short-term difficulties, and realize that this is for the benefit of playing the long game, it’s going to be difficult to survive emotionally and financially.
Approximately 80% to 90% of startups fail within their first year. Why is this? There are a multitude of reasons- a lack of initiative, limited knowledge, ill preparation, but if you have the dedication necessary to ensure your business goes the distance, sacrifice is par for the course. We can’t feel that our business has to serve us; it’s the other way around! It can be difficult to deal with, sure. But it’s all about the long journey to success. Nobody has ever had it easy when trying to realize their vision. And this is where dedication, perseverance, but a willingness to make sacrifices will result in the fruits of your labor tasting far sweeter than you would ever imagine.