What People Don’t Know About The Loneliness of Entreprenuership

Posted by Greg Dragon at 23 June, at 06 : 01 AM Print

I consistently hear people talk about starting their own business, and how great it would be to leave their current job to do their own thing. They dream of being this rich mogul who paved their own path after they got away from the hindering confines of their corporate job. Many of these people have never actually gone into business for themselves, and do not understand that it may not be as easy as they think. There is one particular thing that I think people need to take the time to understand before truly considering a venture into their own business.

I think the most frustrating thing about being an enterprising individual or entrepreneur is the loneliness. While you may have the support of friends and loved ones, nobody understands anything unless they are doing things like you are or have done things in the past. They don’t understand what it is you do or how you make money for it, they don’t understand your obsession with the ROI (Return on Investment) and they either think you have more money than god, or that your grind shows that you have too much time on your hands. Either way, the pats on the back are there and the bragging that “you are doing something”, but at the end of the day it falls hollow because they simply cannot fathom what it is you are going through. For this it is a lonely world for any of us going through hardships or annoyances dealing with work and clients. You look for someone to vent to and when you do the blank stare assures you that you would have done better to keep it to yourself.

The number of enterprising people I know could be counted on my hand, they have problems of their own so I never think to consult them. I read books, watch shows (wave to Suze Orman), and try to stay focused regardless of all the trivial annoyances and bad clients that I come across. Still how cool would it be if everyone understood finances, the money game and most of all the trials and tribulations of business ownership? It has been a journey for me to have removed the safety net of a paycheck to embrace my own, but having come back full circle I learnt a ton of things. One thing that I learned – which is the focus of this article, is that you are your own best friend and the only people to vent to are people doing the same things as you. The other is that it takes a whole lot of crazy rebelliousness and an iron cast drive to stay the lonely course of minding a business.

It made me realize that it changes you for better and for worse. I’ve lost my hope for people who don’t make an attempt to understand money and how it works. I’ve become hardened, extremely hardened and I have lost patience for those who would play with my money. These negatives are a necessary armor I have donned to survive the lonely road. You learn to keep reliable people extremely close and treasure them because the world is filled with an abundance of well-meaning, big talking, people who will waste your time, cost you money and leave you frustrated, working nights to pick up the pieces that they neglected to do.

It’s a lonely, lonely path as an entrepreneur. I know there are many pieces of literature out there to teach you how to approach this life and how to succeed in it, but this one point is never made. Nobody tells you this, so be prepared to stay the course alone, though the reward be beautiful. It isn’t so much money that comes from doing it, it’s the brass pair that you grow, the lack of fear that ensues and the enlightenment of the mind to be able to see opportunities where others will not. So consider this before you make your big leap into working for yourself. Are you willing to live on this island of knowledge for the remainder of your days, humoring those who would inquire with the dumbed down version of your life? Are you okay with people thinking you rich, when you are a couple late invoices away from being out on the street? Ya, it’s lonely out there, but nobody ever talks about it… well I guess I just did