How many times should you try starting a new business before realizing that you're not cut out for it?
Nowadays, we see business "gurus" talk about "killing it", or working so hard that you nearly destroy your personal life in order to succeed. I have been thinking though, at what point is it ok to just let it go and move on from your entrepreneurial desires? How many failures should you have to go through before you move on and stop putting your life (and even your family's life) on hold?
Answers ( 2 )
As an entrepreneur, this is a difficult question to answer as it's going to depend on your own personal beliefs. Having said that, here are mine:
What I'm reading in your question seems to be a lot of frustration and utilizing outside input from "gurus." Keep in mind, though, that the online gurus are only showing you what they want you to see, you're not seeing the complete story behind the scenes that include the daily monotony, their own frustrations with selling, trying to juggle multiple things at the same time, and attempting the Sisyphean task of "work-life balance."
So I would start at shutting off the outside input and instead focusing on what feelings are going on inside and answering these:
Do you want to run a business, or is it something you feel you "should" do because others are doing it?
What has called you to be an entrepreneur in the industry you're working in?
Do you have an actual "why" for the reason you're business exists?
What problem does your business solve?
Do you have an actual avatar for your business, or are you just winging it?
How much market research have you done to ensure your business can be profitable?
If you're able to answer those and still want to run your own business, then start looking at what tasks you're holding onto that can be eliminated, delegated, or automated. Start to lighten your workload to help free up some frustration.
If, however, those questions feel more like a burden and make you feel bad, then I would say it's time to call it a day and start a new journey. Don't put yourself into a bad situation that you have complete control over! Also, remember that there is nothing wrong with closing shop and it's not a failure if that's what you decide to do. A failure would be staying in a life that doesn't fulfill you, and being self-employed is not fulfilling you so you're valuing your life and family by pivoting towards a new adventure.
Megan nailed it, but I'm going to add my $0.02 worth:
Do you want to make lots of money, or do you want to do what you love? It's rarely possible to do both at once, since few people love being a cutthroat bastard stepping on others to get ahead.
When Thoreau said, "The mass of men live lives of quiet desperation," I don't think he was talking about income. I think he meant that most people work for 3 or 4 decades at a job they despise, in order to save up enough to retire and do what they love, while others do what they love from the outset; and those that do the latter well (which is much easier to do well than doing something you hate) usually don't starve as a result. Usually.
Safety can be very expensive.