Far from the Entrepreneurial Mould

It requires taking a level of risk that most won't enjoy. It takes giving up joys now in the hopes of greater things in the future that may not show up. After all deferred gratification is not something that people are naturally good at. Entrepreneurship requires you to give up on your social life and personal life and take on levels of stress and still believe and hope even in the greatest depths of despair. Each of these can take great mental and physical tolls—tolls on relationships and in the end, not everyone can cope with these tasks

While the idea of being an entrepreneur seems attractive for most people, many do not appreciate the reality that comes with the title. The lifestyle, family or work-life balance goals and expectations might not match with the necessary grind that comes from being the 'Chief Everything Officer.' It takes a lot of resilience, self-awareness and introspection to figure out if entrepreneurship is right for you and unfortunately, many find out too late that they are more interested in the idea of owning a business than the reality that it entails. Saturday Fare hence caught up with some entrepreneurs to understand why some people cannot become entrepreneurs.

"Well entrepreneurship is not for everyone simply because of the demands it makes on the person trying to make things happen. It requires taking a level of risk that most won't enjoy. It takes giving up joys now in the hopes of greater things in the future that may not show up. After all deferred gratification is not something that people are naturally good at. Entrepreneurship requires you to give up on your social life and personal life and take on levels of stress and still believe and hope even in the greatest depths of despair. Each of these can take great mental and physical tolls—tolls on relationships and in the end, not everyone can cope with these tasks," says Samira Bose, who runs a fast food joint in Delhi.

Samira says that people who are not comfortable with being uncomfortable cannot become good entrepreneurs. In her words, "Being an entrepreneur is wildly different from being a successful entrepreneur. You'll want to be equipped with the proper set of skills or education and thick skin to become the latter. So get comfortable with being uncomfortable all the time. Entrepreneurship is a long and lonely journey until you actually 'make it.' Very few people are going to encourage you along the way. In fact, your own family might be your most prominent critic. So prepare to oppose and reject the disheartening feedback and opinions and plan on flying solo for the first few years of entrepreneurship."

Teena Sharma an aspiring entrepreneur says that entrepreneurship is not meant for people who struggle to accept failure and change. "Great entrepreneurs embrace failure and then quickly adapt to it. Failure is a cornerstone of being an entrepreneur. Your life continuously evolves and so does your business. What an entrepreneur might originally think of as a business idea will need to evolve and change at various levels. If someone has a hard time dealing with failure and is stubborn to change, then they will most likely not make it as an entrepreneur unless they have a great support team that can make the tough decisions," she elaborates and cautions.

Samira adds that people who cannot ask for help too should refrain from entrepreneurship. "I have observed that some entrepreneurs have a marked inability or even unwillingness to ask for authentic help. Most of the time, there is a huge support network that is rooting for their success, but oftentimes the entrepreneur is not willing to admit that help is needed until it is too late to be proactive. This is often framed in terms of seemingly healthy frameworks like 'I wanted to protect the intellectual property,' 'I didn't want to show weakness' or 'I didn't want to make my customer/partner nervous.' However, seeking help is not only a way to mitigate problems before they become catastrophes, but it also makes one more authentic and in all likelihood improves relationships with the multiple stakeholders," she explains.

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