When I read about Barbara Corcoran’s resilience (here) in fighting dyslexia and her 20 different job stints even before she was 23 – and now celebrating her entrepreneurial journey as a celebrity investor on Shark Tank show – I knew I had to write this post. Now that’s some guts you witness firsthand without going anywhere.
Being an entrepreneur is no easy feat. It takes a whole lot of hard work and tenacity to win your clients’ trust. Well, we all know it, but still some of us are a l ittle apprehensive as to whether our little baby (i.e. our product) will evolve and nurture others in this entrepreneurial and competitive ecosystem of similar and not-so-similar prodigies or not. The idea is to blend in yet stand out, in pursuit of making our ideal business world a legendary reality.
So let’s assess what it takes to be one (and if you’re already one of them).
You are just too hungry to survive on one plate. I know – I know – there is a lot of debate on this metaphorical statement I just made. But think about it: have you ever felt you are just plain hungry and innately curious about learning how businesses start and fail? Are you fascinated with a new entrepreneurial story that has similar growth story or a pattern as yours? Or let’s just say this – are you always in some kind of hustle and want to make things happen, now? Whatever you feel you already know doesn’t quench your appetite to know more as you just love the appeal of new business, never satisfied with the status-quo, then you are already an entrepreneur! You want more while practicing being a essentialist: what a tough skill to master!
You are intrigued by sales. In hearing Jill Konrath’s success story of how she started her own consulting business, she was asked to first sell it and sell it well. Only then people will notice what are her core competencies and why should people hire her. And today she is one of the best sales strategists the world has ever produced! That’s right – you have to sell your skills first to sell you business preposition confidently. And how do you do that? Simple: find out how your skills can solve a problem and then practice, practice and practice until that scripted pitch of your problem solving spiel resonates with your prospects – until you retire as a chief problem solver (as how Keith Rosen puts it).
You can risk it – and risk it well. While being remunerated for your craft can be a huge respite at the end of the month when you are working for someone else; but nothing beats the dopamine rush when you are getting paid for working for yourself. More and more students graduates – especially from Stanford – are declining whopping fat paychecks ($150,000 and more) for their own passion project – be it starting their own digital marketing agency..or a leadership think tank..or an e-commerce venture or a non-profit organization or a technology startup – the list is endless. Their safety is in their risk-taking ability – which eventually pays off in the long term horizon of their entrepreneurial journey. And even if their venture is not successful, they deduce the learning case study of it and work harder to somehow give life to their “passion project”. They become grittier with every learning aspect of your passion project. So what’s yours? And what’s stopping you?
You help. Yes, you help not to reap instant recognition or appreciation; you help because you want to earn your clients or prospects’ trust. You know that there is an inner contentment and a true meaning in living your dream: you were born to change the world; transform the world, and be someone who wants to build a legacy.
You are unflappable in living your dream. There is this lady who was told that she can never open a career coaching business of her own – given that there are so many start-up challenges that could impede her dream business. While these may sound overtly taxing, but it didn’t deter her to make a difference and change the lives of so many unemployed, talented people who were somehow not able to get their dream career. Do you think these naysayers stopped her from chasing her dream to be a world-class career coach? NO! She started small with a her own blog and her writing started seeing meaning and recognition from leading online journals and media publishing houses. Oh wait – can you take a guess who she is? J.T O’ Donnell from careerealism! Today, she is the most successful career coach not just in America, but also internationally. Lesson? Believe in your dreams – and they will come true. Because they do.
What is your passion project? Or what is your entrepreneurial dream? Do these reasons fit your perception of entrepreneurship? What are you doing to achieve them?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
