Why did you start a business? If you haven’t yet, why do you want to? Reflecting on this question, I have to say my biggest reason was independence. I wanted to carve my name in life on my terms. I once wrote before I was an actual sailor, that “I want to be the captain of my boat,” and I want to “Explore my creative urges without guilt or constraint.”
Ah, the words of a young man, some might even say naive. Today, I am more dependent on others than ever before. Dependent on my clients to pay me; my employees to work hard and be smart; my office wife to keep things running smoothly; my COO to keep my clients happy; my prospects to buy and the bank to loan me money. Independence…now that is a great word for revolutionaries starting a country or going to war, but for entrepreneurs…please don’t kid yourself.
A business is built by many people. Our President’s comments aside, a successful business HAS TO be dependent on so many things and so many people, that at some point the entrepreneur’s dream of “independence” changes to “dependence” without them even knowing it. Only when you take time to reflect on your goals do you see where you actually are.
So, reflect I did. Am I better off today than I was 7 years ago? Am I more or less stressed? Am I upset now that my "Independence" has turned into more "Dependence"? Where do I see my future? So many questions...answered in my next post.
