When you decide to start a new business, you need to make some sacrifices. Either you are already working full time and try to get your business running and quit your job, or you are a mum-at-home and try to get a business to be more independent. Whatever you are doing right now, and you decide to become your own boss, you need to change your way of living, your routine and don’t underestimate the price you would have to pay before achieving your goals.

Don’t think it in a bad way because as an entrepreneur I would encourage you to become one, as I do to my children. But you have to be aware and ready to do some sacrifices.

This blog is part 2 out of 7 of the series “7 things that will make a difference in your business”

• Social life: If you are serious and plan to start a business, you should be prepared to sacrifice some amount of time normally spend with family and friends. Some of them will be supportive at the start but if you cancel plans to deal with business emergencies, you might find your loved one getting frustrated. So talk to your family, spouse, and close friends and reassure them that it would be for a short period of time and you are doing it for them. Don’t launch a new company during times of great stress or life adjustment because you might feel too overwhelmed… you can wait a little bit longer when you feel ready! People around you will have to understand that you have one priority at that time, and it is to launch your business  !

• Salary: When you start a new business, you have to remember that you are not going to become rich the next day you leave your job… So think about your financial situation before you take drastic engagement. Talk to your partner/spouse or parents and ask them if they would be ready to help you out for a few months if you don’t have any savings… or if you have some, make sure you give yourself enough time. You need to invest in your education, in your product, and the start up of a company is usually quite expensive. As an entrepreneur myself with my own skincare brand, i needed to pay for the stock, labelling, e-commerce platform, time spent to build the website, etc… I think you see the point. If you’re not prepared to sacrifice your salary for at least a few years, then entrepreneurship may not be for you. As soon as you’ll get some profits, you will need to reinvest in your business to continue growing..

• Balance: There will be many times when you feel like you are sacrificing your mental sanity. People will call you crazy, obsessed, etc.. and you might lose some friends or family members in the process. Stay away from toxic people and stay focus. But you need some balance in your life, you can’t work 24/7 or you’ll lose your mind, your health. Take some time to go to the gym, do some meditation, eat healthy and take some vitamins. Being on caffeine boost is not going to help. As an entrepreneur you’ll think about your business all the time, you won’t have a day off where you can chill out and forget about everything. While all those long hours are crucial, it’s very common for a start-up entrepreneur to suffer health issue due to sleep deprivation and a lack of medical attention.

“The consistency in your person from home to work is vitally important so that you are in total balance at all times. Being out of balance means that your true self will start to be confused with what you pretend to be.” Catherine Pulsifer 

• Limitation: If you are a person who love being in control with everything, you might find some challenges to grow your business; when you have an idea and want to launch something big, you can’t keep everything to yourself and work on your own. You need to get help from others or you’ll lose your mind. Even the hardest workers can only accomplish so many tasks in a single day. Try to surround yourself with like-minded people, share your ideas and they’ll help you if they can or they’ll show you the way to improve and get better. Allocate some tasks to someone more qualified than you so you won’t waste time and get frustrated in the process.

There is a time to make sacrifices and a time to reap the harvest of your labour, so don’t give up on your dreams because hard work pays off.

Hope this will help you stay focus in your business, if you have any other tips, would love to hear. Leave me a comment!

Cheers

Kathy