Being an Entrepreneur is really hard!
Running your own business is really hard. People tell you that when you start, yet you have no idea what ‘hard’ really means. You’re obviously driven, hard-working and creative if you’re even contemplating being an entrepreneur. When you finally get started you realize what others meant by hard:
Hard is not having anyone to bounce your ideas off of.
Hard is not knowing whether or not to spend more money on that latest greatest tool.
Hard is finding the client who sees the value in your wonderful product and even harder is getting them to pay for it.
Hard is wondering if you’ll ever turn a profit.
Hard is watching the competition that seems to do it all so well.
Hard is waking up and thinking to yourself, is it really worth it?
Hard is knowing how much blood, sweat & tears you put into it and not getting the results you expected.
Hard is figuring out what to do next and how to get there.
It’s really hard to step back and assess what’s going on when you’re right in the middle of it.
You think you know what to do but in your heart, something’s wrong and you can’t figure out what to do about it. You’re pursuing your dream, but something’s got to give!
The typical Entrepreneur in the early stages of her business struggles with managing time. There is a delicate balance between paying attention to the needs of clients and marketing to find new clients for the future. The excitement we feel when a new client signs on (and actually pays) is tempered with the fear of where the next one will come from.
Many Entrepreneurs focus on creating great products and then trying to sell them, rather than researching the needs of the market and then creating products for clients that want them. We are often blinded by our own excitement and drive.
The thing that I hear the most - “I hate selling.” Guess what – I hate selling too! Some people are born natural salespeople. You know that very expensive gadget you bought for your kitchen that you never use? Whoever sold it to you was really good. Or that upgrade on your new car that you “had” to take? A good salesperson found a way to get you to think you needed it.
What if I told you that the best way to sell is not to sell? I would venture to guess that if you asked the most successful Entrepreneurs how much selling they do they wouldn’t really know. You see, they love what they do every day so much that it doesn’t feel like selling. And when you don’t feel like you selling but rather you feel so excited and certain of the value of your product, you don’t have to sell.
Until I started Suite Solutions by Karen, I also hated selling. I struggled to find clients and close the sale. Turns out I really didn’t like what I was doing. It’s pretty hard to convince someone to buy from you when you don’t really want to do it. I was trying to jerry rig my business to fit me instead of creating a business to my specifications.
Yes, it’s a ton of work and it’s scary asking for things of others. What I’ve learned though, is that if you truly love what you’re doing and you’re willing to get some help and take some advice, it doesn’t feel hard, it feels right.