Don’t be a busyness owner.
Be a business owner.
Question though, if you have to report to a board or some structure where you feel frustrated or restricted in your creative abilities, are you a true entrepreneur? Are you just filling your day being busy, working within the rules and roadmap laid out by someone else (to keep them and their pockets happy)?
“…I’ll eat that crap for another day, maybe it gets better. Maybe I’m the problem?…”
Stop the busyness and be an entrepreneur. The freedom to run your own bootstrapped business is underrated. The freedom to craft your own products and services with like-minded people is underrated. The freedom knowing that every decision you make is yours to own? Priceless.
I visited a Cheetah Conservation Centre in Limpopo on the weekend while visiting mom and I was once again reminded that freedom is the ultimate luxury. Even more so for business owners. But to do exceptional work, your state of mind needs to be in the right place. Cut out the rules that tie you down.
The only thing that is stopping you from being a true entrepreneur is fear. True entrepreneurs are fearless creatures. They say yes where others say no and have a passion for creating beautiful products and services that people love, without some board or structure that first needs to give them a nod of approval.
Life is short. Cut the red tape.
I started Entegral at 30 years old and made many mistakes along the way, but it is through these mistakes that we learn and reinvent ourselves. We also learn to bounce back from the darkest places. High office rent, time wasted in traffic (quality of life) and a limited talent pool once held us back. So in 2014 we got rid of our offices (photo) and learned over the years how to embrace remote work. Today we have employees in 6 countries. We’ve made many other bold bets.
If you do decide to make a bold decision, do it with the support of your team. Forget about your ego and learn to be frugal. Tackle your new journey with your new WHY, your new brand and your new positive energy. Don’t let anyone tell you how to run your business or how to keep the status quo. Do accept advice, learn and know that you won’t always be right.
And if you happen to be in real estate, my team would love to help you on that journey. We’ve been there, got a few t-shirts along the way and helped many real estate startups fly.