Dear Entrepreneur, Here are 19 Uncomfortable Truths You Should Learn

By Amina Faki

A good business leader creates a vision, articulates it, passionately owns it and relentlessly drive it to completion.

According to insights from the Growth Lab, a business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. Here are 19 uncomfortable truth that every entrepreneur should learn from to propel their businesses;

You are responsible for your own success + happiness.

Being an entrepreneur means that you’ll often blaze your own trail. No career guides, counselors or maps will guide you from one step to the next. You’ll have to make it up as you go, to be a successful entrepreneur make it your career, become comfortable, and forge ahead into unchartered territory.

Like any other entrepreneur out there, you’ll face moments of doubt and uncertainty and plenty of sleepless nights but look beyond these factors and work towards the success of your business. A successful business and business life accomplishments will gradually lead to the happiness of both you and your customers.

 In order to stand out, you need to zig when others zag. This is hard and people will think you’re nuts.

It doesn’t matter where everyone is going if means going against the wind to keep your big vision in focus then do whatever it takes. This tip should be first because when things go wrong on the path to success, and they will keep moving with your big vision in mind which will enable you to steer your way back to a successful course.

Sometimes, when things get challenging on your path as an entrepreneur, you have to commit yourself to moving forward regardless of; what everyone else is doing, the discomfort and fear surrounding the next step.

Creating a website is easy. Creating a profitable business is hard. It should be.

For online business entrepreneurs, it’s not all about creating a mere website. Creating a profitable business is a tough journey that every entrepreneur has to take.

Breakthrough Entrepreneurship is all about solving problems-but its only half the battle. If you’ve brainstormed a business idea and have a sense of the customer pain your customer can solve. The next step in your billion dollar generating process is to figure out if you can fill that need profitability.

To do this, you need to understand the value proposition you’re creating. Estimate the economics as best as you can so as to figure out ahead of time if customers will actually agree to purchase your product or services for significantly more than it costs you to produce it.

Execution matters. Tactics are less important.

How you execute your plans has great impact. Tactics without great execution plans are of less important.

If you have a small business, you’ve made a commitment of time and money that a few can ever do. It’s tempting, but a near-fatal error, to believe that the world you built your business in id going to stay stable. You need to execute new marketing strategies with the ever-changing world of technology.

Only hacks look for hacks. Hard work matters.

There’s no easy way out in the business world. Hard work is what drives a business to its success.

Life hacks may seem just like viral fodder on the internet, but they can teach an important mini-lesson in leverage. When you use leverage to your advantage in every aspect of your life, you go further, faster. Even hacks seem to be an easy way out, it doesn’t entirely work for businesses. Working tirelessly for your business makes it worthwhile.

Product + audience = mad scientist product + audience = hobby product + audience = business

Choosing the right product to the right market niche is good business. This is what drives a business to its success. Making a hobby into business make it even better because you understand fully what the right product to the right customers is.

Giving away what you know for free is the best way to get paid for it.

Giving away what you know (general knowledge of the business) for free to the potential customers will build trust. Gaining trust isn’t done in just a day, its build over a period of time. Giving some of what you know for free and the rest for a cost will pay you handsomely.

Not everything “scales,” not everything can be tested, not everything is about the numbers.

What is already working in other people’s business models, in your industry, in software applications and other business operations that you can emulate instead of re-creating? Don’t waste your time trying to set up systems when you can simply purchase and install one, saving precious time and spending a little money. I always keep my burn rate in mind and run as lean as possible. But sometimes the best decision is to take on the expense of some good systems so you don’t have to waste time and make mistakes building your own.

Hard work doesn’t have to cause burnout. We burn ourselves out with unnecessary stress.

This isn’t just a stale piece of advice: Your health is literally the most important thing in your life. When your body gives out, you’re done. Your heart doesn’t care how good a business you have; your circulatory system isn’t all that impressed with your money or accomplishments . . . you get the point. You will burn out if you sacrifice your physical and mental health on the altar of your business. So, take care of yourself.

Some business advice is too advanced for you. For now.

If you’re already innately good at something, or have a skillset, embrace it. Don’t try to be all things for all aspects of your business. Hire out or sign contracts with agencies for the things you can’t do, and focus on your strengths as quickly and often as possible. Don’t be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none.

Some advice is good but some are way above your reach. So taking bits of advice and sorting out what works and what doesn’t should be your number one priority.

You should give your free products as much of your attention as your PAID ones

Don’t lean only on the products that generate income only. Give the free product you offer the same attention that you give those that are income generating. Both products are selling your brands in the same way so products both free and paid require similar attention if you wish to succeed in the business world.

An entrepreneur with no profits is a hobbyist

Doing business without making profit definitely makes it a hobby. The business might be productive, flourishing but whirls in the same cycle of non-profit then it remains to be a hobby. Work yourself way out of this cycle and make your business a profit generating den and become a business person, not a hobbyist.

What makes you “weird” can also make you money.

Whatever people think is weird could just be the next big think that will generate income for you. So long as you make the right choices and decisions then make the weird into the next norm and make money out of it.

Not all paying customers were created equal.

Not all the customers that you sell your products and services to are the same. Each and every one of them has different tastes, different needs, and services. Coin yourself to be able to satisfy their needs or they might just pop in the next store for the same product or service that is satisfying to them.

Anyone that glorifies starting a business is trying to sell you something.

Anyone with the mind of starting a business has a product or service that they are trying to sell. Starting a business without the will, a plan and product or service is like taking a journey into the desert without water. It’s suffocating and choking.

Your success depends as much on your own personality traits as any online business tactic we could share.

The success of a business highly depends on the personality of its owner. Just like any other online business tactics are needed, personality plays a major role in the success of the business.

Stop looking at Twitter.

Stop looking at what’s trending on Twitter and wishing you could already be there. Work yourself up, a time will come when you’ll sit back and look at yourself and the prosperity you’ve made in the growth of your business. Though it’s also advisable to keep track of what’s new in the market.

You WILL mess up in the beginning. Perfectionists never survive.

Failing is a part and parcel of growing a business. If one thing doesn’t work don’t give up instead try another, who knows it might work in your favor. Perfectionists can’t survive the trial and error, so don’t try to be one.

Too many entrepreneurs worry about stuff that doesn’t move the needle on what matters: Profit.

Many entrepreneurs worry about the next big thing, the next best strategy when they all need to worry about is how to make a profit. So it’s about time that you retrace your steps and look at what’s profit generating in your business and what’s not.