Work takes a major part of our lives. We have all been working for ages, right from the chores at home as little ones to the professional work experience, we have been doing it all. Every day, right after we wake up, we are all involved in some work or the other. Some of us even go to the extent of smartly assigning our work to someone else! Oh! the joys of not working, amazing feeling right!!
But there is a group of people among us who are a completely different species!! They all had this little light burning or maybe nagging inside of them that they are better off working on their own and not under anyone. This group of people initially starts their professional career working under someone but later feels the urge to move on and do something they like, on their own. Yes, you guessed it right, these people are called “The entrepreneurs”
An entrepreneur is a person who is willing to create his / her own path and wants to accomplish things that are close to their hearts on their own terms. The visions they have could be anything from their long-term dream of building their own products or doing something meaningful with their talents or giving back to the society through their accomplishments.
Being an entrepreneur is no small feat. It takes a lot of guts and determination to become one. You have to leave the comfort zone you were used to and divulge into a completely new path just based on confidence. Entrepreneurs are strong-willed and strong-minded people. They are always meant to be alert and highly active to run their businesses.
They are to be making decisions for their future based on their feeling that they will be successful and are on the right path. It would be a great blessing if they had a supportive family else otherwise, the story would be altogether a different one. Entrepreneurs are a completely different breed with the rarest combination of confidence and self-doubt together at the same time! Yes, you read that right. This combination can only be found in them. It happens sometimes out of fear, or sometimes out of overprocessing!
But you know what, you can never kill the fire within them to succeed. No matter what and however many times they fall, they get back up every single time like the first time and move on, dusting it off like nothing has happened. I have witnessed firsthand these entrepreneurs being cheated, mocked, paid in pennies for their hard work, or even denied respect. They were made to do multiple follow-ups for either their payments or project confirmations.
Absolutely without an iota of doubt, they felt betrayed and isolated from the rest of the world, but for that determination within them, they continued to move ahead, one step at a time, one project at a time, and finally one victory at a time. The taste of the first victory is so amazing and authentic for all the blood and sweat that they put in, but this breed doesn’t take time, or rather, have time to celebrate, but goes on to focus on the next peak to climb.
One other unique characteristic of this group is that they are willing to take up challenges thrown at them any day and are ready to be even mocked just so they can prove to anyone who said they won’t succeed. Nothing can pull down their entrepreneurial spirit, no matter how confusing and difficult this journey is; they put on that coat of confidence and move on to the next focus point
Their first office, their first employee, their first project, their first success, their first profit, even their first failure and lessons from it are kept secretly within them so that they can go back to revisit them when they need encouragement. It is not that they needed motivation to achieve, but those are rather gentle reminders for them to re-live on how far they have come on their journey! Just for them to know that if they have come this far without experience, then the next part of their entrepreneurial journey will be a great success.
Sure, this is a circus and there are lots more to handle simultaneously, so what, God created them to be a special breed to handle it all and come out with flying colours. Everyone wants to be happy and peaceful when they work, but for this bunch, their peace and joy come only from the challenges they have faced head-on and the tough times they have manoeuvred.
So yes, entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but only to a very selective group of brave souls who would give their all and would never mind doing it all over again, no matter how many times they are pulled down. They are the live version of phoenix birds that keep rising from the ashes till they soar high. The ones who criticised them are still doing so, while this bunch has gone a long way ahead, where they could no longer hear those noises!
To all the entrepreneurs out there, small or big, take a bow. You will always have my respect for choosing the less-travelled, scary road to satisfy that nudge within you that you could be much more than what you were. And you know what, you did it beautifully and gracefully, crossing one milestone at a time and creating paths for the next bunch of risk takers to follow. So yes, an entrepreneur is a path breaker, and this journey can be taken only by this special breed, but no one else!!
About the Author
Shalini Solomon comes with close to 15 years of industry experience in the Human Resources space. She is currently designated as Head - People and Values with Kazh Fintech Private Limited. She likes to interact with people and makes sure they have the space to grow and learn and are free to work without any pressure. People first is always her approach. She holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science.