Things No One Tells You About Entrepreneurship

So you just started your own business and you’re excited about it.  Maybe it’s a restaurant that you always dreamed about opening.  Or maybe you’re in a creative field like graphic design or advertising.  Either way, there are certain things no one tells you about entrepreneurship that you’re likely to discover soon or are already in the process of discovering.


The difficulty of maintaining accounts No matter what field you’re in, you’re going to have to keep accounts when you start a business.  Sure, you can get an accountant to help you out at the end of the year or maybe even on a monthly basis.  But you’re going to have to sit down with employees and keep track of things on a day-to-day basis.  So you’d better brush up those mathematical skills and keep an eye on where your money goes.

The difficulty of hiring good employees  Everyone has their good points and their bad points.  Some people are good with other people while others are good with numbers.  Unfortunately, many positions involve doing a number of different things, and people skills are important all around.  You may find someone good and train them to do their jobs only to find that they're leaving for one reason or the other.  Trust your gut when it comes to hiring employees, and you’ll avoid many of these difficulties.

Meetings are a little scary  Most of us aren’t trained to talk in front of groups of people.  We can interact well with others one on one or even in a group.  But when you run a meeting, you have to do most of the talking.  You’re like a public speaker who has to hold the audience’s attention.  And when you speak well, people start to love you.  If you don’t speak well, their attention will wander and the work you’re trying to get done may not get done.

You might have to do many things yourself  Even though you’re hiring employees to do things, you may end up having to do many things yourself.  Sometimes, employees call in sick.  At other times, you just can’t find someone to cover a shift that you want.  Of course, if you have a good right-hand man or a girl Friday, you’re in luck because there will always be someone who can fill in when needed.  If not, you’ll end up being the person who has to do this.

There’s nothing like being your own boss, especially in the long run, when you have your system down.  But until that happens, be prepared to put everything you’ve got and more into your new venture.