Are you an entrepreneur?

I was an attendee at a graduation ceremony for my girlfriend's dad for a degree in which he earned in history. The chancellor, who was dressed like a harry potter character, was giving out the awards. In his closing remarks he said 3 words "GET A JOB".

3 words that really struck a chord with me. Why? I asked out loud.

Now having all this knowledge of a rigorous school curriculum. Graduating with distinct honor (exceptional grades) and getting a job is a first priority?

Maybe he is right.

Getting a job is not all that bad in fact you gain so much insight and experience by working for someone. Especially when you get a higher level position in a company so you can learn and understand the ropes of the industry. The roles of the executives. The roles of the employees.

Not everyone is designed to become an entrepreneur like myself. It is a good thing. A world full of entrepreneurs would be one that gets minimum work done. You need a super star team behind you to achieve your maximum output.

To name a few, you need the sales people to get your sales done, the producers to produce your products, the accountants to keep track of all the numbers. Without these people it is just you. When you do everything, nothing gets done, or at least it gets done very slowly.

In this time and place slow = fail.

There are times when being slow is necessary. But if you do it right and you do it fast, beating your competition, you get to the top of your industry.

Ben Horowitz wrote in Hard Thing About Hard Things, If you don't become the disrupter you will be disrupted.

How can one person manage to do everything?

Being an entrepreneur may sound really pleasant, but believe me I can assure you it is anything but pleasant. The gruelling hours of dedicated work that goes into being an entrepreneur is always miscalculated and over looked.

You are an architect of a system of which you design. How that system operates, functions, and the end results lie in your hands.

One of my clients, who is an owner of a food equipment distribution company, approached me and said to me that he is the best at what he does and that no one else can do it like him. He is almost right, more about this another time.

When I spoke out against what the chancellor said, my girlfriend had to remind me that not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur.

She is right.

I guess I was naïve to think that everyone should be. Everyone needs to know what the company is doing, how it is running, and why. Not everyone needs to organize and operate the business as a whole.

Don't get me wrong I used to have a 8-4 job. Now I could never ever imagine going back even if my companies failed. I would still do everything I can to build something new. Something that I own. Something that I will be proud of.

Failure is not the end of the road, it is a milestone waiting to be conquered. It is a tough lesson waiting to be understood.

"Fail fast, fail often." We always here this as entrepreneurs in books and by mentors. What this really means is pursue your dream with courage and if you fail, not when you fail, there is a lesson you can takeaway and build on. To be better and wiser for your next endeavour.

When things go right, and you get to help others, giving people jobs and opportunities. There is no greater reward than that.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. To be continued....

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