Travails of Entrepreneurship


It is said that 'Entrepreneurship' is tough. It is a difficult activity requiring enormous grit, courage and risk taking ability. It requires the ability to deal with uncertainty and a lot of self motivation.

A lot of such things said about the 'Travails of Entrepreneurship' are indeed true. As an entrepreneur, I have experienced many of them, observed them in fellow entrepreneurs and deliberated about the source, implication and remedy for them.

Recently I realized another challenge or dimension to entrepreneurship. It is to do with accountability and ownership of results.

In a traditional 'Job' scenario, an individual is often not 'solely' responsible for results and he/she works as per the directions of his/her superiors

As a result an individual does not need to wait to see the success of his/her efforts to feel a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment. Pacifying the boss or justifying the cause of delay/failure to another source can very well absolve the individual from any pangs of guilt, failure or disappointment.

Entrepreneurship - Lone ride with no interim success


On the other hand, for an entrepreneur - the buck always stops with him. If not all successes, but most failures can easily be traced to him. An entrepreneur cannot pass the blame. Even if he occasionally indulges in  justifications or rationalizations, it is often fruitless and not at all satisfying for the entrepreneurs' mind & heart. For he knows, that if there is a right path, an answer, a solution or a trick; he himself is responsible for finding it & executing it. Hence passing a blame for non-achievement is not an option.

While an employee's accountability is often limited to following the bosses instructions, an entrepreneur - being his own boss - has to first identify the 'right instruction' and then execute it or get it executed in the right manner.

Additionally, an entrepreneur has to wait for a long time to see the result of his efforts. For his success, unlike that of a regular employee, is not in completing tasks assigned, but in seeing business results, revenues, cash flows and a physical manifestation of the vision, idea or b-plan.

Now, that requires a hell lot of patience, motivation and stamina. And such are the 'Travails of Entrepreneurship'

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