ENTREPRENEUR 101 - The "Dead-End Syndrome".

By Clive Kaplan - serial entrepreneur, business coach, and experienced businessman.

There is one thing that you can always rely on. Entrepreneurs have definite and distinct experiences. That is one of the reasons that it is so essential to becoming an entrepreneur when opening a business. Before anything else, you need to join that elite class of individuals who have been courageous enough to step out into the unknown and declare their independence. 

But it is more than that because by aligning yourself with the fraternity of entrepreneurs you also take on the experience of being one. And entrepreneurs have distinct experiences that are common to all.

There is nothing as comforting than knowing that any experience that you are enduring is part and parcel of the game and is quite normal, under the circumstances. 

One of these shared experiences is finding yourself burnt out and stuck. Usually, it looks like this:

• You've tried everything, and your business has ground to a halt. What seemed to be an excellent opportunity has ground down into a dead end.

At this point despondency sets in. And, it happens in three phases;

• Stage 1: A kind of misguided optimism settles in making you believe that all is okay. Under the surface, a worry-button gets activated, which has just enough power to keep you from falling asleep at your usual relaxed pace.
• Stage 2: Without taking a breath, panic sets in. Now, getting to sleep really becomes a problem. At this point, the 'victim-syndrome' takes over, where you begin complaining about uncontrollable forces (including cosmic ones) working against you. Whether it be the poor economic climate, 'that time of the year' or some other negative energies at work against you, the common denominator is about blaming other things. This is the beginning of the helpless phase.
• Stage 3: Hopelessness and self-recrimination take over. And, in copious amounts which leads predictably into the numbed-out phase. Added to this, you might start complaining of illness and burnout in an attempt to gain sympathy and to further strengthen your alibi for absolving yourself of responsibility by remaining inert.  

Now, you can languish here for as long as you like. The bottom line is that you landed up here is because of previous choices you made. All that has happened is that you turned down the wrong road and hit a dead end!

But, the essential part of this whole saga is that this is a very normal part of being an entrepreneur! It happens just like this, and it happens a lot and to every entrepreneur along the journey to success.

That is why the most crucial attribute of the entrepreneur is stay-power. You can call it tenacity, determination, perseverance, or raw-grit. It's all the same stuff.

I saw a beautiful idea in a book I was reading: SUCCESS IS AN INSIDE JOB!

Yip, it's all about you and the choices you make. 

And the classic story about the bucking-broncho cowgirl comes to mind: It's a definite fact - she will get thrown off the horse. The issue is not whether she will or won't. The question is, how long does it take her to get out of the dust and get back on!

Again, a clear understanding of the normality of the experience is the overriding element here. There is enormous relief knowing that it's not all about you. Other entrepreneurs experience the same thing to a greater or lesser extent. 

The thing is, the failure to realize this will take you into Stage 4, which is the worst one of all - the "all-fall-down!" phase where all your insecurities are evoked. And, this could be enough to convince you to give up and go back to a job! 

What a waste of valuable emotional energy and, possibly, a great business idea!