Over the years becoming an entrepreneur has become popular among many with the internet making it easier to start a business, according to apacentrepreneur.com. Being able to build something from the ground up can be an unbelievable achievement.
Although with social media, many entrepreneurs have been able to post their success stories, making it look easy to many.
In reality, becoming an entrepreneur is far more difficult than what it seems. The constant struggles and sacrifices that it takes to run a business are far more difficult than what one can imagine.
Starting your own business can lead to many risks; one of them being financial uncertainty. Unlike having a traditional job that offers a steady paycheck, many entrepreneurs have to worry about when their next check will be according to building-out.com. It takes years for entrepreneurs to call themselves successful.
Ceo of Advance Technology Bryan Currier, who runs an IT company, is an example of an entrepreneur that took years to be able to call himself successful.Currier started his business back in 2000. When he was in his 15th year of owning his company, he said he was finally able to call himself successful.
As of 2024, 49.4% of businesses fail in their first five years due to facing different problems like running out of cash, not knowing their market, and getting outcompeted according to commerceinstitute.com
To have a successful business, experts recommend having consistency in your business as it will keep customers happy and coming back. You also have to be able to make sacrifices in your business as it can either make you money or cost you money according to investopedia.com.
Former CEO of Tarrytech, James Kulda who ran an IT company, was able to overcome these challenges. Kulda said, “You have to be consistent in the things you do; you have to charge fair pricing for your product, but you do not want to be the cheapest guy out there.”
Kulda emphasized how you have to overcome challenges of getting out competed by charging what your product deserves while also staying consistent with your clients.
One of the other problems faced by entrepreneurs are sacrifices that they have to make which can include time and balance between social or personal life and business. Starting a business takes a lot of time and dedication, causing much of your time to be spent away from family and friends.
“Sometimes my phone rings at 9 p.m., and I have to answer it; or, I can be eating dinner with family and get a phone call that I have to answer,” Currier said, showing the dedication and sacrifice that is needed to have a successful business.
Challenges that an entrepreneur faces every day can vary but an entrepreneur who is just starting out has to face even bigger obstacles along their way. Benjamin Klekotka Co-CEO of Ascend Loans and Finance, a mortgage company who just opened their doors had to face a lot of challenges.
“The most challenging part of starting up our mortgage company was the government regulators for both the state of Ohio and federal government. Not only was that difficult, but getting licensed as a new business was another challenge that we faced,” Klekotka said.
Starting up a business can be difficult as you will have to get approved for many things like registering your business, getting federal and state tax ID’s, and getting your business licensed within that industry.
It can all sound complicated and difficult but a great way to overcome this is having a mentor according to forbes.com.
Having a mentor can be very helpful to many since they tend to be highly experienced. Mentors can give you a different perspective on how to overcome challenges. Mentors can also have more connections than you when first starting out.
An important thing about starting a business is having the connections, a mentor can help you gain connections to help you succeed in your industry.
Many of the big names like Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and Bill Gates co-founder of Microsoft all had mentors at the start of their careers. Therefore, mentors can play a big role in helping future entrepreneurs succeed.
Oscar Marquez Co-CEO of fitnessrug, an insurance company that gives coverage to the fitness industry, has had a mentor alongside him to help him on his new journey of growing his business.
“My mentor has provided his staff and me a platform to excel…being around him and his team has rewired me to think differently by not just being average, instead to be elite,” Maruqez said.
As an entrepreneur having the right mindset, which includes traits like passion, resilience, and motivation, is key to your success in the business world according to entrepreneur.com.
CEO of techrug, an IT insurance company, Justin Reinmuth provided a good analogy of this mindset. He said if you are becoming an entrepreneur, then you need to ask yourself the question, “Would you actually sprint when the distance is unknown? You are not given a stopping point?”
He further explained that people who have a job might say how far do you want me to run. “Whereas, people that have a career, they would never ask how far do you want me to run because they know the answer. However long it takes to get it done,” Reinmuth said.
As an entrepreneur you are working on the clock all the time, instead of a 9 to 5 job that has a designated stopping point.
While becoming a successful entrepreneur can be rewarding, it is important to understand the struggles that it takes to become a successful entrepreneur along with the necessary sacrifices that come with it as well.
Success doesn’t happen overnight as social media often portrays; but rather, it requires hard work and dedication over the years to be successful.
