What Is It Like To Be An Entrepreneur?

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an entrepreneur? From the outsider’s perspective, the life of an entrepreneur is enviable because of the freedom, creativity and financial opportunities associated with the role.

If you’re an entrepreneur yourself, you’ve most likely been asked the question ‘what’s it like to be an entrepreneur?’ countless times. And you may find it quite difficult to answer this question succinctly. The life of the average entrepreneur isn’t particularly easy to outline, in part because each entrepreneur’s daily life often looks very different.

So what is it really like to be a successful entrepreneur?

What is the life of an entrepreneur like?

The role entrepreneurs play in the economy is significant as they contribute to economic growth. An entrepreneur is someone who takes financial risks by starting a business (or businesses) that offers a product or service that they hope people actually want. Because the entrepreneur is taking the risks and overcoming challenges, they (hopefully along with some of their employees) are the ones who will enjoy the rewards if their business is successful.

The daily life of entrepreneurs can look vastly different from each other. Some entrepreneurs own multiple, large-scale businesses, while others maintain regular jobs and work as entrepreneurs part-time. Many business students come up with new ideas and start up businesses while they are still at university.

To add further diversity into the mix, entrepreneurs can be of any age and have vastly different personal lives and home environments that will add to the differences in the way they operate as entrepreneurs.

There is a very common myth surrounding entrepreneurs, and that is that they have loads of free time. While entrepreneurs can ultimately decide how much time they want to spend on their business each day, if they don’t put in the hours, they don’t make money…so many entrepreneurs often work far harder than the average employee.

Contrary to popular belief, very few businesses are overnight sensations, and hours of hard work and dedication to meet all the challenges head on need to be put in just to get the business off the ground.

There are two main stages of being an entrepreneur: planning to get a business started and running a business. Planning to start a business requires market research, brainstorming and looking for investors, suppliers etc. Some entrepreneurs may even use their personal savings to get their business venture off the ground although attaracting angel investors and crowdfunding is not uncommon.

Running a business involves the everyday tasks of keeping a business up and running, including replying to emails, checking in with staff members, dealing with clients, risk management, managing cash flow etc. Different business models will require different things from entrepreneurs, but in most cases, they’ll still need to be available during traditional working hours to take calls and deal with any issues that may arise and this can sometimes involve extremely long hours.

What does it feel like to be an entrepreneur?

It can feel very empowering to be an entrepreneur, and it can be exceptionally satisfying to identify opportunities and then see those business ideas come to life. Starting a business from scratch is often compared to raising a child, and you may experience some of the same emotions as your business reaches certain milestones.

Being an entrepreneur can also be very stressful and disheartening if things are not going well. Because, in most cases, entrepreneurs are solely responsible for the success and failure of their business, and may be answerable to investors, a lot of responsibility rests on their shoulders.

An entrepreneurial role can also offer you that sense of freedom and independence, which is so often associated with running your own business. This may take many years to achieve, but once a business gets past the early stages and is running successfully, entrepreneurs can often take a step back and enjoy what they have worked so hard to achieve.

What are some of the main challenges that entrepreneurs face?

There are many challenges that entrepreneurs and successful startups face and overcome on a daily basis…

• Getting capital – Starting a business requires money, and sometimes a large amount of it! Entrepreneurs either need to fork out their own money to start their businesses or seek out potential investors.
• Time management – As there are no set working hours in place, entrepreneurs often struggle with managing their time effectively. Often they can end up working very hard and risk burnout, and failing to maintain a healthy work life balance, or they struggle to find the self-motivation to work sufficient hours to ensure their own business is a success.
• Lack of benefits – There are very few benefits available to entrepreneurs in the UK. There is no sick leave, maternity leave or paid holidays. Effectively, if you don’t work, you won’t be making any money.
• Having to manage their own taxes – Being an entrepreneur means that you need to manage your own taxes. You’ll need to be registered with the HMRC, and submit a self-assessment each year, after which you’ll be sent a tax bill.
• Being responsible for employees – Having employees is a very big responsibility. As businesses begin to take off, many entrepreneurs will need to hire employees in order to keep up with demand and ensure the continuation of a successful business venture.
• Marketing – Getting people to try out a brand new business can be challenging. While there are many excellent digital marketing companies out there that can come up with customised strategies, oftentimes, some of the marketing efforts fall into the hands of the entrepreneur in an effort to save on costs.
• Stress – Starting and running a business is very stressful! Too much stress can lead to burnout and health issues, so entrepreneurs really need to pay attention to effective stress management and try and maintain a healthy work life balance.

What entrepreneurial skills and characteristics should be developed to be successful?

As with all professions, there are certain qualities and traits that are common in the most successful business owners, and aspiring entrepreneurs with a new venture should start implementing the following into their entrepreneurial life:

• Motivation – Being a business owner takes a lot of self-motivation, self-belief and drive.
• Creativity – Thinking outside the box will help you come up with innovative business ideas, products and solutions.
• Flexibility – As an entrepreneur, you’ll more than likely have to adapt to many different situations.
• Collaboration – Despite many people thinking of entrepreneurs as being solitary, they often need to work with a variety of suppliers, clients and investors for their business to succeed.
• Vision – Being an entrepreneur requires vision and the ability to work towards long term goals and find success.

While some people may have these qualities and entrepreneurial characteristics because of their natural disposition and previous life experiences, it is possible to develop these qualities over time. All humans have very similar traits. Some are just dormant if not tapped into and nurtured. Therefore most people could become entrepreneurs depending on external factors and develop a desire to start a business and experience personal growth, business growth opportunities, and entrepreneurial success.