Hate to break it you, but this entrepreneurship thing probably ain’t for you. A job would be way easier. I just don’t think you got what it takes. And honestly, I don’t get your product offering. Who’s it for again? I like you a lot, but I just don’t think I have money for that right now.

 

I’m glad we got that out of the way. Now that you’ve faced a boatload of rejection, we can get your entrepreneurial journey started off on the right foot. There’s a lot of talk about how entrepreneurship is the answer for ending poverty, fixing the economy or just finding your freedom.

 

“Start a business.”

 

Oh cool, that sounds easy.

 

Follow your passion. Live your dreams. Watch a Gary Vee video. Put up an inspirational Instagram post.

 

 

Pretty straightforward.

 

Here’s the problem. This life just ain’t for everybody. We’re living in a world where ideas are glamorized, revenue is devalued and funds raised get more coverage than profit. We praise mega funding rounds and ignore the epidemic of depression, anxiety, and suicide from the overworked founders and creators that live in silicon valley. Cities fight to bring tech startup ecosystems to their communities because they’ve been heralded as the savior that communities need when they should be making plans for a mental health overhaul as well. A study done on the mental health of entrepreneurs showed that up to 49% could suffer from mental illness, with depression leading the pack.

 

Let’s just get right to it. Entrepreneurship is hard. If you’ve ever said “I want to go into business because I want to be my own boss” you’re in for a rude awakening. Going into business for yourself is not “the easy route.” It’s certainly not a quick ticket out of being broke. Obviously there are outliers and those are the stories we focus on, but honestly, it’s been found that the majority of business owners aren’t industrial poor folks with a heart of gold driven by passion. More often than not, they’re rich kids from deeply supportive communities. The risk gene is a lot easier to indulge when you have access to capital, an environment fertile for growth, and options when you fail. So what makes entrepreneurship hard? These are the top choices, in my humble opinion.

 

Leadership

Leadership is a learned skill, not a blessing. There certainly seems to be people who have an innate ability to lead. But when you look at their lives you see something much different. It’s the type of skill that’s gained through life experience. Leaders on the playground. Captains of the football team.  Class president. Highly decorated military service. Leadership evolves over time. But a large number of entrepreneurs are folks that are very technically skilled craftspeople or passionate people with great ideas. Creating an idea or a product does not mean that you can assemble and lead the teams required to make them a reality. Understanding how to be strong but also honest in a crisis has as much to do with experience as it does with understanding personal bias and ego.

 

“Leadership is equal parts knowing what to do, who to get to do it, and understanding how to motivate them to do it.”

 

The hardest lesson new leaders learn, myself included, is just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should be the one doing it. In TV shows, the boss is a superhero. They are a borderline-savant that’s the most skilled person, always has the answers and always saves the day. In real life, a great leader is usually not the best technician. Rather, they’re the best strategist and have the highest emotional intelligence.

 

Imposter Syndrome

“I don’t know how I got here” and “I have no idea what I’m doing here, I hope they don’t notice” have been my two most common thoughts since I started working for myself 10 years ago. Fast Company outlines five types of imposter syndrome.

 

The Perfectionist – “If It’s not perfect then I’m a failure”

 

The Superwoman / Man – “I can work 25 hours a day, 9 days a week to prove that I’m the best.”

 

The Natural Genius – “If it doesn’t come easily, I’m an idiot”

 

The Rugged Individualist – “No one asks for help and I won’t either. Anyone that needs help is weak.”

 

The Expert – “I really hope nobody finds out don’t know everything about everything.”

 

Many of these come from our desires to embody the stories of the magical leaders we’ve seen in media. Personally, I suffer from each of these at different times. At times, we struggle with trying to embody the identities that we’ve been given. I’ve been called, “a genius, creative, engaging, inspiring” and many combinations of motivated. Deeply in my core, I don’t believe a lot of those things about myself. I’ve worked hard to be what I’ve been assigned or live up to the mantle I’ve been ascribed. When I fall short, it’s devastating and it’s hard to recover.

 

When watching success stories it’s important to remember that personal brands are curated, and interviews are just snapshots of a person’s life. Believe me when I tell you this. Being weak is ok, success is about the recovery. Failure is inevitable. You are where you belong, you deserve the awards you’ve achieved, and you should be proud of what you’ve accomplished.

 

Depression

Entrepreneurship is one of the most difficult, emotionally taxing, and frustrating things I’ve ever done. As a person that suffers from bouts of depression, it’s only exacerbated by the uncertainty and high stress of my career path.

 

Last year, I wrote a blog about the hardest year in business I’ve ever had. It outlined personal victories and failures but I didn’t speak about my depression. The truth is that entrepreneurs are simultaneously very quiet about this struggle but absolutely no stranger to this mental illness. In fact, one of most liberating articles I’ve ever read on the subject was “The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship” in INC Magazine. Jessica Bruder beautifully outlined the toll it can take on the mind. At the end of the day, we’re only human and we’re only as great as we allow ourselves to be. And sometimes we just need to allow ourselves some grace and the allowance to be vulnerable.

 

“Take the time you need. Get the help you need. Find the joy you need. You, your company, and your tribe will be better for it.”

 

Access to Capital

The majority of the money to start businesses comes from family and friends. But let’s say your family and friends don’t have much money. Then turns out you don’t either. It’s really interesting as we grow our business, how hard it seems to find money to scale. One of the largest emotional burdens in business is capital. The weight of having to pay your bills, support your employees, and maintaining a positive image can be crushing. Beyond that, sometimes fiscal stability can be required to get a new contract. Nobody wants to do business with a company that might be gone tomorrow. Such much for “long-term relationship building.”

 

Hindsight being 20/20, my business partner and I realize one of the most important things we should’ve done before we started our businesses was use the good personal credit we had established to pull together a line of credit. Not to use, but to have.

 

“Never wait until you need money to look for money. “

Pull together resources in the good times to prepare for downturns. There will always be downturns. This is this most challenging problem on the list because I have no idea how to solve it. Frankly, the capital ecosystem for small businesses is screwed up. The way we’ve survived, so far, is building a strong network of trust and support so that we can get the help we need when we need it. It’s never been from banks or grants. Normally just other people invested in our success. It doesn’t always come on time, but so far it’s come. There’s no exact science, but we’re figuring it out.

 

“Geez, that sounds terrible. Why do this?” you might be asking.

 

An entrepreneur’s greatest skill will always be problem-solving. For some of us, it’s a compulsion. Most people are familiar with this feeling when they get into the flow. A major task can seem daunting at the onset, but when you’re really in a groove hours seem to pass in mere moments.

 

When you focus on a goal that’s greater than the challenges, it makes the obstacles seem minuscule. I call it, “The Gravity of Great Ideas.” Creating, winning, solving, and changing things drives the entrepreneurial spirit. The upsides and successes truly outweigh the pitfalls. All the challenges add up to

 

For many of us, this lifestyle is not a game. It’s not an escape from reality or a fast track to wealth. It’s certainly not another get rich quick scheme or easy fad to get into once you get ‘tired of the 9-5 slog’. Entrepreneurship can be fulfilling if you find your way. It can also be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be depressing, but you don’t have to do it alone. Entrepreneurship is many things, but it for damn sure ain’t easy.  I’m not trying to just take a crap on any one’s entrepreneurial dreams. Rather, I want to have a real, balanced conversation about careers, freedom and doing the hard work it takes to achieve great things.

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What’s your biggest entrepreneurial challenge, and if you’ve overcome them, how?

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Eric Thomas is a Branding Specialist and Senior Partner at Saga MKTG based in Detroit MI. He’s also an entrepreneur who never believes “the way it has been done” is the “way it must be done.”

www.EricSThomas.com