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ARTICLE / BUSINESS
escaped from the corporate consulting world
Wait, I am not selling a dream.
No, I haven’t become a millionaire
business owner, yet.
However, my business has a
constant stream of cash that allows
me to travel the world and to work
from wherever there is WiFi.
There are, however, five things
I wish I had asked myself before
starting this painful journey. Five
questions I believe every future
entrepreneur should ask themself
before taking the first step to
entrepreneurship:
1. Are you ready
for the social pressure?
If you have friends and family who
are not entrepreneurs, they won’t
truly understand what you are trying
to achieve and the public pressure
will be even higher.
I cared so much about what other
people think of me– so much that it
ruined my life.
I was so hard on myself and
punished myself with even more work
so I could announce my success as
soon as possible. That is, until the
day I realized that no one cares
about me, so why would I?
You are no more than a few
seconds of attention other people
give to a Facebook status. In 2014,
no one has time to care about others
in such a crowded, noisy world.
If you care so much about what
others think, you will waste your
time trying to prove that you are
successful instead of focusing on your
business.
Get a life. I got mine quite late.
2. Are you single or
do you have an extremely
supportive partner?
As we grow up, we share more of
our life with our partners than with
our friends or family. While I was
lucky to have such an amazing girl,
it was so sad to see many of my
entrepreneur friends breaking up with
their girlfriends along the way.
Starting your own business is tough
– way tougher than I could have ever
imagined. Your mind is constantly
bombarded with a million things
and no other person, including your
girlfriend, has a single clue what is
going on in there.
If you are not single, make
sure your partner understands it’s
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sometimes normal not to have a
mind-set even for a simple kiss.
3. Do you have enough
cash to last at least a year?
Good, then multiply that amount
at least by three because you will
be running out of your savings way
faster than you ever imagined.
Along the way, there will be so
many hidden costs, accountant fees,
lawyer needs, broken iPhones or
PCs, etc.
Get ready for a smaller apartment,
smaller food portions, or counting
your cents, which you never cared
about in your life previously.
The last few months before you
totally run out of your cash will be
especially difficult and the pressure
will grow so exponentially that you
won’t be able to sleep properly.
Success will come slowly, and cash
will burn fast. Be smart – plan from
day one.
4. Are you ready to
sleep only few hours a day?
Having escaped from the corporate
consulting world, I was thinking I
was finally going to live the dream
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