Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

Entrepreneurs, what are you waiting for?

I was a late bloomer. It took me 25 years to finally become an entrepreneur!

When I finally graduated from college after the war in ’73 (that’s 1973, not 1873), there was a recession going on and the only place that offered me a job was Kroger company unloading trucks, stocking shelves, ordering merchandise and running a checkout stand during busy hours.

Pretty glamorous, eh?

About four months of that grind was all I could take. Resigning quickly from Kroger was unheard of at the time and my friends thought I had lost my mind.

Then Levi Strauss & Company, one of the best then and now, hired me.

From Strauss I went to work for a smaller company in Indiana.

I had become an entrepreneur.

During my 7 years at the Indiana company, a large a success Medical Device company, I had been executive director over quality, regulatory and involved deeply in New Product Development.

Yet when, at the end of every year, as our company kept bringing in new business, making money and winning awards, at least one of the other companies would be losing business and money, thereby always reducing my bonuses and raises.

I finally decided that if I was going to truly benefit from my efforts, I might as well lose the training wheels, run my own show and take my own risks.

So, at age 52, I became an entrepreneur.

My only business plan for this new venture was knowing that I was going to succeed.

I picked up my first major client, five months after resigning from the previous company. And while the word “entrepreneur” conjures up swashbuckling, sexy, romantic images to many, to me it was always tough, sometimes lonely and never predictable.

I wouldn’t have traded it for anything else. For the first few months I was a one-man band working out of my small home office (it did have a window!). I worked long hours 5 days a week and spent the weekend doing what most people have an assistant to do.  The rest, as they say, is history – albeit a modest history of which I’m proud.

Tips from a conservative entrepreneur: 

•         Pace yourself. Take the long view. You’re building your future. 
•        Work hard and play harder. That’ll strengthen your perspective, which, of course, is your edge. 
•         Pay your  vendors before you pay yourself. 
•         If you have employees, make sure your employees feel that they work with you, not for you. 
•         Encourage your employees to become and think like entrepreneurs. 
•         I you have to start with debt, become debt free as soon as possible and stay debt-free.
•         When you hire or utilize associates, focus on a few people smarter and wiser than you are. 
•         Learn from others wisdom; don't be afraid to ask for help.
•         Always remember in the market place, you’re only as good as your last piece of work.
•         Believe in yourself, not your own press.
•         Whether it’s good, bad or ugly, don’t be inflated or deflated by what others have to say about you.
•         Just be who you are, but know yourself very well.
•         Manage your expectations to prevent what may feel like early failures.
•         It’s never about how big you are, it’s how good you are. That will draw people to you.
•         Size only matters when it comes to the magnitude of your ideas.
•         Be boldly responsible and accountable.  Never blame

Fear stands between you and being your own boss and a successful entrepreneur. Nothing is ever easy, especially those that bring huge self satisfaction and personal success.