A Journey of Purpose: An Entrepreneur's Perspective

While any entrepreneur can tell you, the road is long and tough, but the life of an entrepreneur can be very rewarding. That said, the reward is different for each entrepreneur. It depends on what is driving entrepreneurs in their journey. Therefore, it is critically important to understand who you are and what reward drives you. I use the word “reward” in a very specific way.

It Could Be the Money

Some may view the reward as “money”. It is true that there can be much more money involved… Emphasis on, “can be” because it takes navigating a variety of barriers successfully for a long period of time before entrepreneurs reach the reward of large amounts of money. Most entrepreneurs, never reach this reward for many reasons both within and outside of their control. 

It Could Be The Freedom

Other entrepreneurs view the reward as “freedom”. There is at times much more freedom as an entrepreneur, but it comes with more responsibility and actually very little time or freedom in the beginning stages. It takes some time to really get to the level of freedom many entrepreneurs seek.

It Could Be a Journey of Purpose

Some entrepreneurs however, view their reward as fulfilling their purpose. There is an incredible distinction between entrepreneurs who are aligned with their purpose as their reward because it offers some decided advantages in the journey that is required to travel the road of an entrepreneur. Here is why it makes a big difference and why results can vary substantially based on the “reward” the entrepreneur is attached to.

What the Journey Requires

First, one must understand that the journey of entrepreneurship is not so glamourous in the early stages. It requires great sacrifice which most people around the entrepreneur will never see or appreciate. It requires incredible amounts of work that include all-nighters and consistent long days. It requires going through your journey without many of your loved ones understanding what you do. It takes a mental and emotional fortitude that is unnaturally strong. You must exhibit these traits consistently over long periods of time before you every see whatever reward that may be driving you except for the reward of purpose. I will explain this later.  

Character traits such as drive, expertise, leadership, integrity, humility, tenacity, communication skills, optimism, natural curiosity, desire to improve and self-awareness are important traits for entrepreneurs to possess if they are to maximize their chances of successfully acquiring the reward that they seek. Those traits are the things that are within their own control as an entrepreneur. There are many things in life that will be outside of the control of the entrepreneur. You will not be able to control your situation, your background, people’s preconceived notions, economic conditions, global stability (Take this Pandemic for example) or a whole host of other factors. Clearly these factors can also pose unique challenges to an entrepreneur’s journey. 

Given the above, it is not hard to understand why the failure rates of start-ups are so high. In order to pursue and achieve some reward, it must make sense to the entrepreneur to endure what they must in order to reach their reward. Sometimes, it just does not make sense to continue a journey when the weight of the various barriers outweighs the reward over some period of time. For entrepreneurs seeking money as their reward, their duration of time in which they will endure the weight of barriers will be shorter before they choose to take a detour. In other words, the entrepreneur needs to possess the basic traits long enough and have the factors which are outside of their control be kind enough to support them going through their journey so that they can reach their reward within a couple of years. In my observation and research, this more times than not happens within three years or less for entrepreneurs chasing money or they take a detour. 

The entrepreneur that is chasing freedom will typically have a little more time compared to the entrepreneur chasing money to get to their place where the freedom they have acquired far outweighs the combined weight of the barriers they endure in the early stages. I give them 5 to 7 years at best before the level of freedom they feel must be substantial or they start to pursue other options of freedom. Keep in mind, similar to anyone else, they will be affected by factors outside of their control.

On the other hand, entrepreneurs who are chasing purpose, instantly start to feel empowered the moment they understand their journey is connected to their purpose. Every step empowers them with energy that is more powerful than any of the barriers that may exist. It is most critical that they simply possess those basic traits and feel connected to their purpose. When this happens, those entrepreneurs are living in their success each moment of their lives because they know they are living their purpose. The impact of this reality is that ironically, it gives those entrepreneurs a much greater opportunity to generate more money and freedom because they operation on a different timeline, with greater energy and a passion that overwhelms barriers they run into. 

My Perspective

Given 23 plus years of experience in getting products to global markets, I have never seen the deciding factors in success be the “Idea”, the “process” the “strategy”, but in my experience, it has always been “the people” My advice, would be find a good team and good leader then you can likely find an organization heading for success. Find a good leader and a good team living their purpose and you will find an organization living in success and very likely to outperform good teams driven by anything other than purpose. “Entrepreneurs, find your purpose and in that you will live in success!” 

If you are an entrepreneur or support of entrepreneurs I would welcome an opportunity to connect and learn about you and your purpose:

Twitter: @victorbrown7 or Email: victor.brown@xcellentlife.com

Check out Conscious Venture Lab if you are looking for a great organization looking to empower entrepreneurs of purpose: They are investing $50M in early stage companies of purpose: Apply here: https://www.f6s.com/consciousventurelab7urbanresilience/apply