Running a small business can be one of the most rewarding things you do in your life. It can also be one of the biggest challenges you’ll have in life and it can push you to your limits.
Having run small businesses from a very young age, I’ve experienced the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. It has become such a large part of who I am that I would find it hard at this point to be doing anything other than running a small business.
That said, it has come with its fair share of challenges. As an entrepreneur, on an ongoing basis, you form a series of hypotheses then take actions to allow you to test whether, and to what degree, they were accurate. You’ll likely be wrong more often than you’re right. If you are unable to come to terms with this, running a small business is likely not for you.
As I do, some thrive on the constant volume and variety of challenges that the small business environment throws your way. You are challenged in every functional area of business, including marketing, sales, operations, finance, HR, and beyond — you name the functional area and you will find challenges, usually on a daily basis, that are likely to push your knowledge and your abilities.
If you want to look at it philosophically, running a small business is in many ways a metaphor for life. As humans, we formulate hypotheses and we test them all the time. We try to learn from our experience and that of others, so we can increase the probability that our hypotheses are correct. This allows us to be more efficient and to not just survive, but to thrive and continue to grow. The story of survival and success in running a small business, as it is in life in general, is one of adaptation. The people and the businesses that are able to adapt best typically will survive and be the most successful in whichever market (ecosystem) they operate. Those that stagnate, either unable or unwilling to adapt, likely will not survive to get the chance to thrive.
What can you do to be a survivor and ultimately, a success, in running your small business?
First, you must stay very connected to the markets in which you operate. Life and business today operate “at the speed of light”. Things change fast. Markets and niches come and go quickly. The value chain is constantly being reformulated and disintermediated by more nimble competitors of all sizes. You cannot coast, even if you’re extremely successful at the moment. If you do, you risk not only the profitability, but the existence of your small business.
Second, be willing to be wrong and course correct when necessary. If you always need to be right, even when it becomes apparent that you’re not, and you are unwilling to adapt as times change in your market, your small business likely will not survive.
Third, remember that running a small business is a marathon and not a sprint. There will be times that you will have to run very fast, as if you’re competing in a sprint, and the ability to do so is important. More important, though, is the ability to stay in the game, adapting as necessary, for a long period of time, as you do in a marathon.
Fourth, and finally for now, embrace the fact that although running a small business is challenging and full of ups and downs, it almost always beats being an employee. If you have the personality where you want to control your destiny and you are willing to take responsibility not just when things are going well, but also when they’re difficult, entrepreneurship is likely for you. If you’re also motivated by the potential upside as much as you’re willing to tolerate and face the potential downside, then running your own business is even more likely for you.
Being an entrepreneur is as much a mindset as it is a way to make a living. As an entrepreneur, you can take pride in things you’ve built from scratch, or existing things you’ve improved, that have allowed you to add value to other people, other businesses and to society in general. To the extent this appeals to you viscerally, starting and running a small business is very likely where you should be and where you should stay, even when times get rough. Learn to embrace the roller coaster.
Image by Incygneia from Pixabay
