THE MOST DEMANDING BOSS

I've heard many say the reason they wish to pursue entrepreneurship is because they want to be their own boss. Some even go as far as saying they can't stand being commanded or ordered around by anyone, so they'll rather start a business and dance to the beat of their own drum.

For others, it's the thought of that long commute to and from work; having to wake up so early in the morning to fight off other competing commuters for the few available bus seats, which they have to pay a premium for because of the high rush hour demand. And then, having to go through the same ultimate challenge to get home after work, all the while dreaming of the day they'd be able drive themselves to work in their own car and not have to depend on a scarcely serviced bus that could break down at any point in the journey.

Soon that dream comes through, and after the excitement of the brand new car wears off, the rush hour traffic they have to drive in, forces them to immediately birth a new dream of going beyond just owning a car to having a driver to drive them in it.

And this is just the commute, not the work itself, which is another story entirely. The tales of woe about horrible bosses, office politics, fierce rivalries, late salaries, scare promotions, manipulation, exploitation and the monotony of the work itself, leads many dreading a salary job without even trying it first.

Of course, they'd gladly take the big salary, but they know their minds and bodies cannot afford the cost of such gratification.

Then, they're pitched an alternative to the hard life, a way out of the unending rat race that consumes the contestants with each stride and extends the finish line every time their eyes catch a glimpse of its red ribbon.

With this alternative, they could be their own boss, wake up whenever they want, step out after the morning rush and make it home long before the evening rush hour traffic starts.?

They can work whenever they want and with whoever they want, doing what they love on their own terms and keeping all the proceeds for themselves, instead of being paid an insignificant portion of it as salary.

They'd get to do what they're passionate about, and do it in their own way. They'd get all the credit for it and become famous through it, whilst building enormous wealth that they can enjoy and pass down to their children without having to wait for some pension package to depend on when they advance in years.

All these sound exciting to them, with better prospects all round, and they wonder why their parents and elders insisted that they study these prestigious courses that only pushed them in the direction of supposedly attractive white collar jobs, whose holders never seem to appreciate.

Why didn't their parents steer them in the entrepreneurship direction? It's a no-brainer really, why would they choose a 9-5 when they could live soft and solve the world's problems while they're at it?

Entrepreneurship is the way! They've made their choice! They decide to chase their dreams before they sleep. They don't mind going hungry at this early stage of their lives, it's an early sacrifice for a lifetime of satisfaction.

They start with their passion and turn their favourite pastime into a business. Their families and friends pitch in as their first set of workers and guinea pigs.

Everyone answers to them now, even their elder ones volunteer to be at their beck and call, just to make their idea work. Everything gets done to their specification, they hand out instructions whilst receiving handouts to stay afloat until they begin making money.

Soon they develop a prototype and thereafter, the first version of the real thing. They're ready for the market to use their revolutionary product, but first they need help getting it there.

It's time to get investors, get a real team, do some marketing and make this product more presentable.

They start pitching, showing how far their product can go and how much disruption it would bring to the industry. But every investor they speak to seems less concerned with the product changing the world and more interested in making changes to the product instead.

"You should add this, remove that," is all they hear whenever they pitch, with most people already making revisions before they get a chance to show what the product can do.

Focus groups, testers and respondents are no better, they want changes too, and it seems everywhere they turn to, someone is telling them what to do.

And the marketers? All they do come back with market feedback requesting changes as well. Everyone has an instruction camouflaged as an opinion.

When they get a chance to extend their customer base beyond family and friends, those new customers who can afford the pre-investment and undemocratized version of the product, want customization, they want both the product and their experience of it to be tailored to their own taste.

These ones too tell them what to do, even much more than the opinion-givers. Is this how things are going to go? Is this how this entrepreneurship thing is?

By now, it becomes clear to the new entrepreneurs that they spend their whole day being told what to do.

Investors, marketers, customers all bossing them around with different requests and requirements. It's not fun being told to make changes to a recipe you came up with yourself, one you know is novel and well ahead of its time. Add regulators to that and its a whole army of voices making demands of them.

Yet they know they must listen, because these three sets of people are the most critical to the business at this stage, and perhaps throughout its lifespan. They need money to build this thing, they need people to sell it and most importantly, they need people to buy it. So, the idea of being the boss quickly fizzles away, as they come to realise that they've chosen a profession with multiple bosses, making multiple demands at multiple times.

So much for being their own boss, all entrepreneurship has brought them is multiple bosses sending them in multiple directions, causing them to make multiple commutes before, during and after rush hour!

Wasn't this the life they tried to avoid?

They now hardly get any sleep, because they're either busy in the lab or on the road at odd hours and it's evident that this life they're living is the exact opposite of what they signed up for.

All the freedom they thought they'd get with this career path is simply non-existent, as they've always got to be on the grind to survive, while their employee friends now get to work from home and avoid the dreaded commute altogether.

"Perhaps this is just how it is at the beginning," they think, once they're established, everything will go back to normal again. But what does normal even look like??

"Is normal working like this until we hit a big break and then, sell the company to retire to the beach?," because that looks like the only path to the chill life they so desperately crave.

But that path is laden with hard work. Blood, sweat and tears are interlocked at every speed bump. There's no other way,?no shortcut. It's either they give up or grow up, fast enough to make it through.

Either way, they must make a move to get their life back, especially since they've begun to envy the very 9-5ers whose travails made a salary job unattractive to them.

But they themselves could really do with a salary right now, at least that'll be some reward for all this labour!?

All this labour...

Dear talent, there's no escaping hard work in whichever path you choose. So, prepare to give your all in any position you find yourself, because both career and business success demand a hundred percent dedication and a willingness to always put in a lot more effort than the next man.?

Entrepreneurship is not the easy way out of the 9-5 life. Not at all, as it requires much longer hours, a greater resolve, a lot of risk taking and an unwavering commitment to the business you run; where you eat, drink and sleep it knowing fully well that despite your greatest effort, there are simply no guarantees of immediate success in the venture, but you're ready to fail repeatedly until you succeed and master the science of success.

It is therefore, a calling for those stubborn enough to face stubborn problems head on until they bring change to their environment, not for those too stubborn to change themselves, when they have to.

To your success,

Olayinka A. Williams?

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Copyright ? 2022 Olayinka A. Williams - All rights reserved.