Three Reasons I enjoy being an Entrepreneur

I often tell people it took me 25 years to have the guts to become an entrepreneur.  There is a lot of truth to this statement and my family has stood firmly behind and beside me since this transition which started in 2006.  Rather than spend more time about this transition, I’ll spend time today tell you three reasons I enjoy being an entrepreneur.  There is a reason for the three-fold approach and this will become more apparent in the coming months.

What are the three reasons I enjoy being an Entrepreneur?

1. When you are an entpreneur, you have to use a variety of skills in order to be successful.  If you only like to do one or two things, being an entrepreneur can be frustrating, at least at the outset.  I can remember well that I needed to know my business, but also needed to understand how to sell, listen, communicate and also manage and lead others.  I also needed to keep my books in order (thanks the Lord my wife helps me with this now).
2. The second reason I enjoy being an entpreneur is that it allows me to somewhat chart my own course.  Some people head toward self employment because they think they can set their own schedule.  In all reality, your clients do the bulk of your schedule setting and then I flex when I work in order to meet their needs.  There are times I wish I didn’t have to work, but “you have to make hay while the sun shines”.  Being an entrepnreur is sometimes frustrating and often tiring.  But I would never, ever consider heading back to being a full-time employee unless something changed substantially in my life.
3. The third reason I enjoy being an entrepreneur is that it forces me to learn and grow.  I have always been a self-directed learner, but when you have your own business you always need to think about how to be better, do more with less, and adapt to the external environment.  In my 13 years I have tried some things that worked well while others fell flat.  Most of my experimentation has come in the last two years as I have added Vistage and Navix Consultants to my business.

Being an entpreneur is fun, frustrating, tiring, exhilarating and rewarding; sometimes all at once and often in the same day.

If you choose to head in this direction, talk to others first and also have a contingency plan in case things don’t work out.

Never walk the tight rope without a net-in a similar vein, always have a back up plan if you original direction does not work out.