Hats Off, Hands On
Dr. Heidi’s Stories of Entrepreneurial Leadership
It lasted for five years.
Now, it’s time for me to confess what really happened.
It all began with my passion for helping people help their dogs be healthy. My passion stems from Hazelnut, my 11.5 year old pug, who also inspired my upcoming book series The Chronicles of Crazy Hazelnut.
Have you ever thought about starting your own business? Do you want to learn how to go from hobby to business, and insight on what to do when things don’t go according to plan? Would you like more insight into being an Entrepreneur? Then continue reading as these are true confessions from an Entrepreneur:
1. Hat, not Hats
We’ve all heard that small business owners wear many hats. One day you will rolling up your sleeves and pitching in alongside your employees, another day you will be cleaning things up that others missed, then you will be handling customer service issues, and another day there will be HR and payroll issues to content with. It will always be something and as the owner you will ultimately be responsible.
What we learned is that one hat, not many hats, is the key to success.
While it may seem like a good idea to keep a stable position while doing your start-up, this will only work in the short term. Once the business starts to grow, someone needs to devote 100% of their energy to the business. If you do not have this, it will never become more than a hobby business. This was a lesson learned the hard way for us. We truly believed we could manage our careers and run our businesses. However, we did hit the point where we realized this was not possible, and someone needed to put all their focus into it. The problem was we did not want to do this; this was the turning point for the business. It was a hobby, not a business; we tried to put everything into it. A valuable lesson moving forward is that not every hobby is meant to be a business but to be kept as a way to manage stress and burnout. We also played with the idea of hiring someone that would devote all their time to the business, but the reality was that no one would be as passionate about it as we were.
2. It Takes a Hard Hat
If you speak to any entrepreneur, you will talk about how hard and time-consuming it is to run a business. Everyone will have their own unique story and experience. Some of us will believe them, some of us will think they understand, and others will think this will not happen to them. When we opened our business, we fell into the category of thinking we understood. I can tell you there is nothing anyone can say to you that will truly prepare you for all the rewards and challenges you will face. The only way to truly understand is to walk in their shoes, which is what we did. Over the years, we ran into many people who believed they would be the outlier or the ones that things would not happen to. However, I can assure you there are no outliers; no one is immune to anything, and to think that way will make you vulnerable and hold back your ability to succeed.
3. Cheap Hat, Big Troubles a-Hat
You can do all your homework and prepare the best budget possible but let me tell you; you better have contingency funds. While the best approach is to have an extra five to ten percent budgeted for each line, this will not be enough. For example, when we opened our business, we had to immediately redo our ceiling insulation because it was not installed correctly. This cost us $30k initially and then another $20k to fix it. That is just one example of many things.
4. Thin Hats, Thin Growth
As an entrepreneur, you are passionate about your idea and want to see it grow. When we started, we wanted to try and do everything. The goal was to have one-stop shopping for consumers. However, this was unrealistic, and we quickly realized we needed to pick a couple of things and focus. Laser focus would be the only way to grow the business and add new features and services strategically. Once we scaled back, we were able to see progress being made.
Since we sold the business, many people have asked me if I missed it, if I am upset that we failed, or if I would do it again. I do not regret anything about it. However, I will admit that starting a business is not for the faint of heart and will be more challenging than anything you can ever imagine. The good news is we all start somewhere and it is never perfect. So if the life of an entrepreneur is one you want to pursue, then take the first step. Just remember your office will not look like Google when you start, you will not make everyone happy 100% of the time, you will most likely not be sitting on a beach working, and you will work hard and need to learn from your mistakes.
