The Reality of Starting a Business: It’s Not All Moet, Ferraris, and Mansions
Many people have a glamorous image of what it means to start a business. They envision a life filled with Moet champagne, private jets, Ferraris, and mansions. While it’s natural to dream big, this mindset can be harmful. When these individuals actually take the plunge and start their own business, they often face a reality that is far from the fantasy they imagined.
The Harsh Truth
Starting a business requires a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice. Instead of lavish parties and luxurious lifestyles, entrepreneurs often find themselves working long hours, often 7 days a week, cutting back on social activities, and downgrading their lifestyle temporarily. The Moet-Ferrari picture is a distant dream, replaced by the grind and hustle necessary to build a successful business.
Facing Reality
Many new entrepreneurs enter the business world with false beliefs about the journey. They expect immediate success and instant wealth and often lack the strategic planning and long-term mindset required for success. When reality hits and they realise the hard work involved, many panic and give up. This disillusionment is a common reason why so many start-ups fail within the first few years.
The Long-Term Game
Starting a business is all about playing the long-term game. It’s about trading some of today’s luxuries for a future that holds even greater rewards. Successful entrepreneurs understand the importance of patience, persistence, and long-term thinking. They know that the seeds they plant today will grow into a bountiful harvest in the future.
Here’s our three top tips for aspiring entrepreneurs:
- Favour future outcomes over instant gratification: Focus on long-term goals rather than immediate rewards. Understand that success takes time and effort.
- Plant seeds for the future: Invest your time, energy, and resources into building a strong foundation for your business such as sound business and financial planning and goal setting. The work you put in now will pay off in the future.
- Learn from Successful Entrepreneurs: Look at the journey of successful businesspeople from the very beginnings. For instance, Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon, started with a humble office setup (picture below). No Moet, no Ferraris, no jets, or mansions in the beginning. But today, he’s one of the richest men on the planet.
Jeff played the long game, and if you want to achieve similar success, you should too.
Starting a business is not about immediate luxury and success. It’s about hard work, sacrifice, and playing the long-term game and ultimately creating a legacy you can be very proud of. By focusing on solid business and financial planning along with goal setting for the first 5 years, you can build a business that will eventually bring you the success and luxury you dream of. So, park the Moet-Ferrari mindset for a few years and embrace the reality of entrepreneurship – hard work, grit and sacrifice. The journey may be tough, but the rewards are absolutely worth it!