What's the point of being an entrepreneur?

Do you ever sometimes think about why you chose to be a business owner or want to become one?

Some people see it as glamorous, being your own boss, working your own hours, sexy even, but with this comes challenges, growth, cashflow problems, staffing issues and juggling your own mental health and well being in the process which if you’re not careful could sink to very low levels and at times make you wonder why you’re even bothering. I’ve run a business since the age of 19, nearly 13 years now.

At first I thought there was something wrong with me when I realised I wasn’t academic and didn’t do well at school. I hadn’t even heard of the word ‘entrepreneur’ but rebelled against everything that seemed like the natural route to University for so many, left school at 16 with no qualifications to get a job and at 19 got approved funding from The Prince’s Trust when I was unemployed who helped me on my journey to eventually getting our qualifications funded by the Government for young people to learn life skills all over the UK, meeting some incredible people and even winning a few awards and ending up on the news 3 times (nearly passing out with nerves in the process!) with the work we were doing attracting attention due to youth unemployment being so rife.

No it wasn’t ‘that easy’! Being in business is the biggest rollercoaster I’ve ever been on, I’ve never laughed or cried so much or had so many highs and lows all at the same time but it has taught me more than I could ever put into words, the good the bad and the ugly and given me connections, friends and solid relationships for life through networking that money can’t buy.

I guess I became an entrepreneur without even realising it at the time but just knew I wanted more out of life than to just settle for ‘a job’ I wasn’t particularly passionate about.

Having just left the education sector after 12 years and creating many jobs for young people, I qualified as a Canine Nutritionist and started my dog food Start Up Perfect Pawtions after realising that dog nutrition and animal welfare is my true passion, which is why we donate 10% of our profit to animal charities.

If you don’t enjoy your work anymore it’s time to move on, we spend so much time working so what’s the point doing something we aren’t passionate about?

We have many pubs about to trial our dog treats and we have so many plans for growth which is so exciting ?? The most exciting thing about this is being able to grow the business and make a difference to animal welfare while we do it. When you do good, good comes to you, this has been such a big key to any success I’ve had in anything in my life including my businesses. It might not happen straight away, it might take 10 years or more of blood sweat and tears to become an ‘overnight success’!

There are so many challenges being a business owner especially in these times, some people work on their own and experience loneliness, others have cashflow issues, challenges not knowing the right decisions to make and of course a pandemic to name a few but we seem to have a way of turning challenges into new opportunities and adapting to change risking everything in the process, this life we chose - it’s not for everyone but there’s never a dull moment and it’s never boring.

All entrepreneurs have these things in common - drive, passion, belief and most importantly determination and perseverance. Many are driven by anger, injustice and the deep need for change in their sector, this is certainly what’s driving me right now in terms of animal welfare and the shocking things I see sometimes bring me to my knees with heartache and tears.

All of the above is what keeps us up at night but also gets us up in the morning and keeps us going in the hard times when we feel we keep hitting a brick wall, but keep hitting it because you never know when the wall will fall down with your goals ready to be achieved on the other side.

It can be detrimental to have these qualities to the extreme we do as entrepreneurs, but it can also transform our businesses in the process because once we have that burning passion for what we do and know why we’re doing it, nothing and nobody will stop us making our dreams a reality and it’s inevitable we will have to make sacrifices not everyone is willing to make along the way which may impact our personal and professional lives, losing and gaining people in the process.

You can teach people life skills but you can’t teach passion, determination, perseverance and ambition. These qualities have the ability to breed success. I have learnt this over the years and have seen many people give up along the way, I have felt like giving up more times than I can begin to remember! But it's the small successes and the breakthrough moments that motivate you to keep going.

This life we chose isn’t easy, but I wouldn’t change it for the world until I can change the world, or at least make a difference to my sector.

What do you think makes a successful entrepreneur, what’s the advantages and disadvantages, why are you an entrepreneur or why could you think of nothing worse than becoming one?! If you work for a company would you call yourself an 'intrapreneur' and what's different about that?

What are your challenges right now and how can we help each other?! I’d love to know your thoughts whether you are a business owner or want to become one or couldn’t think of anything worse than being one! Or anyone who has any general observations.... Thanks for reading!

#entrepreneurlife #businessowner