So, you want to be an entrepreneur, but are you ready? The simple answer, or perhaps not so simple, yes and probably no. If you want to be an entrepreneur and have an idea, then, by my estimation, yes, you are ready. This is the thought that I told myself, time and time again. I had the confidence, the opportunity, the support of my incredible wife, I had a very cheap entry fee into the market, which was virtually a website and business cards, and I committed.
And then I learned a lesson. A lesson that I hope to hammer into you through this post like no lesson that has ever been hammered into. Work……work…….WORK. I can not stress that enough. If you truly want to make your dreams of being your boss a reality, especially if you are going to an industry where you are your only employee, you have an insane uphill battle in front of you. Even if you have a unique idea or skill set. Especially if you have a unique idea or skill set.
I know exactly what you are saying. “Kyle, you aren’t saying anything groundbreaking to me, and you just did a blog about how the military taught you how to work crazy hard.” Yeah, you are right. But until you are TRULY trying to make a living by working for yourself, you have NO clue what it is like. You can hear stories, you can see it done, but until you do it until you roll your sleeves up and start making your dream a reality, you have NO idea.
Let me put it into perspective for you, and as the blog rolls on, you will see me appear as bragging, and partially I am, but I am doing it today to try to illustrate a point. Before I started my business I was working Monday through Friday, 9-5. That was my rule. I wouldn’t work past five unless I had to, and sometimes, yes, I would take calls after five when I was home. Fast forward to now and I am working 7 days a week, am always accessible, and have my phone either by my side or in my pocket 24 hours a day, and at a MINIMUM I am working 15 hours a day. That isn’t just slow-paced work, either, I am talking regimented, every second accounted for, and maximum effort given at every second. I have a planner that I use that I make a rule where every single day, every single line MUST be filled. There are NO breaks aside from 15 minutes for lunch. Every single line. A task on every line. Those tasks ALL must further the business in some way.
This is just a taste. I handled all my marketing, I created EVERY single program The Slaymaker Method teaches, I networked, I posted, I wrote, I called, I emailed, you name it. What did I get for it? The Slaymaker Method is now a global brand, recognized all over the world. I am so incredibly proud and honored that my hard work pays off. Now I work even harder. My mind is ALWAYS on how to make my business even bigger. How to help as many people as I possibly can. Teach as many people how to sell as I can. Help get as many people's dreams off the ground as I can. You get the picture.
It is such a weird perspective, as well. I am happy to do it. You couldn’t pay me any amount of money to work this hard in any other job if I wasn’t an owner. Absolutely not. The hours are completely horrific. The work is painstaking and somedays I have to drag myself out of bed. I wake up and am in the shower by 530 every morning. I do more by 9 AM than most people will do in an entire workday. No, that isn’t bragging. No, that isn’t me chest-beating or exaggerating. It is, quite simply, what it takes to run a business. I remember watching Shark Tank a few years ago before I got into business for myself, and Mark Cuban turned to Mr. Wonderful, who I love by the way, who was harassing this entrepreneur, and Mark said “Listen, you are wrong. I would rather make $40,000 a year working for myself than I would make $100,000 working for somebody else.”
That is probably the point when I started seriously toying with the idea of creating The Slaymaker Method. Fast forward and I know exactly what Mark was talking about. I wouldn’t trade any of it, for a high-paying job working for somebody else. Maybe down the road, I would. One of my current customers is a guy who he and his son came up with a literal world-class idea for an app, Izitin (available on both Apple and Android), on the side from his regular job. I handled the creation, implementation, and training of their entire sales process, and am helping them with some marketing. Izitin has the potential to be a global game-changer, providing users with immediate access to local businesses and their inventories, ensuring that, as a consumer, you have access to the freshest inventory of your favorite product at your favorite small business or roadside stand. From a business standpoint, the impact of Izitin can be life-changing. I asked my client “Why did you ever get out of the ‘own your own business’ game?” His answer shocked me. He simply said he was tired of doing it all. He had fun and he enjoys entrepreneurship on the side as more of a hobby, but he likes being able to have somebody tell him exactly what needs to be done, and he does it. I get it. I can see it. But right now, I can’t see myself ever having enough of running the show. Not from a personality standpoint, but I am just having a blast, even working as hard as I am.
Yes, entrepreneurship is hard and requires stupid amounts of work, but the payoff is massive. I am not talking about the guy who built a computer in his garage and now has more money than anyone could reasonably spend. I am talking about the $40,000 annual earner that Mark Cuban referenced. That is the guy I admire the most, not that I don’t admire ALL entrepreneurs. That is the woman that EVERYONE can learn from. They are breaking their backs to make that $40,000 and they are loving doing it. They believe in their dream so much, in their product so much, that they are taking a chance at working a 7 figure effort to make a 5 figure payday. That is admirable. That is respectable. That is the customer I love working with, as I take them from $40,000 to $400,000 in revenue. I see their passion. I see their dreams and ideas, and I take a world of pride in working as hard as I possibly can to give them the tools necessary to make their dreams happen.
Do I recommend entrepreneurship for everyone? Of course, I do! How could I not?! I love being an entrepreneur! Is it actually for everyone? NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. I can not make myself clear enough. It is not for everyone, and that is ok. Perfectly fine. People who are making a living doing what they love deserve as much respect as an entrepreneur who is trying to make it on their own. They absolutely both deserve the same amount of respect.
If you believe in your dream and your product to the point where you would not be able to live with yourself if you didn’t try, then TRY. TRY. For the love of god……TRY! The absolute worst thing anyone can do is think they can be an entrepreneur and they don’t out of fear. If you are scared of doing it but you think you have a world-class idea or you just simply want to be your boss……..CALL ME. For free, I will have an honest conversation with you, give you some advice, and pull you out of your head and help you take an objective look at what you are thinking. I promise you, by the end of our call, you will know whether or not you have what it takes to make your dreams from your head and turn them into a physical product or service. Just book a free session with me, and have a conversation. You owe it to yourself. I promise, I give you my word, you will speak to ME and nobody else, 1 on 1, and we will either get you to push forward or at least give you clarity of what the road ahead looks like. I have now done thes4e calls for people in multiple countries, and these calls are easily one of my favorite parts of my work. Let's talk!
