One of the major things an entrepreneur should always remember is that there are no ‘entitlements’. However, we can’t deny that small business owners need a lot of support to succeed whether it’s financial, operational or emotional.
The most important source of support an entrepreneur can ever have is their network of friends and family. As we all know, we live in a very social universe and many Entrepreneurs face the difficulties of the business world alone or with very little and limited help. To this end, friends and family provide the necessary support that an entrepreneur needs to balance work and play to keep alert amid the stress and maintain a successful business in an often unfeeling marketplace.
So what do you do when that support is unavailable? Do you give up on your business and quit? Or do you strive harder? I’m here to tell you to strive harder! I don’t know about anyone but disappointment and naysayers have always been a source of inspiration for me. I feel like now I have to prove something, now I have to do better, now I have to turn my business into an empire.
Honestly you have to find the right motivation, whether it’s the fear of failure or fear of poverty or the desire to have an amazing life; you have to key into whatever it is and push to achieve.
I once asked a friend to help me promote my business, I was even willing to pay and give out free products just to put my business out there. I would never forget her reply. She said “babe! I would have loved to, but honestly I only want to be associated with popular businesses right now. I want to be seen as expensive. I hope you’re not offended?” Of course I was offended! I was deeply hurt but I didn’t speak about it. I Only worked harder and in two months I already had established a well known brand with a following of about 100,000 people! It felt great. Guess who came asking to be a brand Ambassador? Yup! You guessed right!
Anyways, because of my struggle and knowing how difficult it was for me at that time, I always try as much as possible to help people who want to start small businesses, even existing ones, to the best of my ability. After all in the words of my favorite musician, “We Rise By Lifting Others”.
