Warning: TV spoilers alert and No, this is not a post promoting a show
The other night, my husband and I started watching a TV series on HBO called The White Lotus. This show is about a resort in Hawaii and a bunch of rich guests that just arrived at the hotel.
I am not going to give away much of the show, I promise. But I would say there is a slight curiosity of how you can relate what you see in these shows with your professional life.
Today I am going to talk about what being an entrepreneur is and what this really means. In the show, there is a subplot where Tanya, a rich lady, just lost her mum and went to the hotel to spread her mum ashes into the ocean. She is a needy, insecure woman that uses her money to buy affection and Belinda, a black woman who attends the hotel spa with amazing therapeutic skills.
When Tanya went for the first time to the spa, she got so excited about Belinda’s skills, that she asked Belinda why she is working in the hotel instead of having her own business. She also tells Belinda; she can invest in a business, and later on tells Belinda to create a business proposal for her.
They go to dinners, there are a bunch of dialogues between these two, a really fun scene that involves one newlywed couple, massages and more dinners. Belinda thinks that giving up on everything Tanya needs or wants, Tanya will invest in her business. Belinda becomes very excited about the business idea and at the end Tanya has a realisation where she understands she is just buying another friendship and back off from the business idea.
Then you see Belinda with her business proposal in her arms, throwing the document (along with her dreams) into the bin.
This could be a perfect example of why not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur, or at least succeed as one. My immediate thought, when I saw Belinda throwing “what could have been a million-dollar idea business proposal”, was, Belinda is not ready to be an entrepreneur. She liked the idea of being her own boss, she knows how to run a business in therapeutic remedies, she knows how to give massages and knows how to improve what is in place, but definitely did not have the resilience an entrepreneur needs to succeed.
So, how do you know you are entrepreneur material? This is a tough question (that even I sometimes get stuck on) because you will never know until you try it. But in my experience, there are 4 types of people:
1. The one who always has seen a business in everything. They sold lollies when they were at school, and they are very committed while they are in a project. They are leaders and curious, they have big aspirations, they are motivated, and they have discipline. Not only that, but they are what people describe as “When they put their mind into something, they get it”.
2. The ones that like the idea of being their own boss, and always dream about a thousand businesses. They want a business but when times get though, they get discourage and find excuses on why the business was not a good idea from the beginning. They have started some sort of business, but they always find difficulties in their way and fail all the time. They have a job just in case their business fails.
3. The ones that prefer a steady paycheck, climb the professional ladder, and position themselves in high rank jobs.
4. The ones that tell themselves every day, another day, another dollar.
With this, I am not saying if you find yourself in another group other than the first one, you will never be an entrepreneur. Life circumstances are different for everyone and change with time. But there are keywords I would like you to pay attention to, such as discipline, motivation, leaders and big aspirations. A good entrepreneur is someone that doesn’t give up their dreams at the first no they encounter. They don’t get discouraged when people tell them they are crazy, the economy is bad, their dream is rubbish, or it has been done already. They simply don’t give up.
A true entrepreneur knows the work can be even harder than an employee one, the job requires a lot of their time and effort to get where they want to be. Even harder as time comes where you have to balance this with life, family, friends, and your health. Being an entrepreneur is not a CEO title, because you get to wear if not many, all titles, not just that one. As an entrepreneur, you are the CEO, CFO, Currier, and the coffee lady all in one.
Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, and that’s not a problem. If you are thinking of becoming one, the key is, find people whose life encourages you, surround yourself with positive people who believe in you and people who also are entrepreneurs, that kind of synergy is amazing.
And if you are already an entrepreneur, know your limits, don’t confuse, not giving up with being stubborn, don’t lose sight of the important things in life, like time, family, friends, and health and more importantly enjoy the ride!.