Let There Be A Brighter Light!

Let there be a brighter light!

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HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED AS AN ENTREPRENEUR

I believe motivation is highly subjective and that each person has a unique motivational catalyst. So this post isn’t actually written to motivate you (LOL). What this post will do, however, is give you 3 distinct suggestions on how you can generally stay motivated by yourself. These are based on observations made in my brief time working with entrepreneurs. Of course, like with anything, this is not a closed list.

1. Have Passion For What You Do:

You’ve heard this plenty of times, I know, it’s annoying to me too. But we wouldn’t hear it so often if it wasn’t so important.

Steve Jobs, when addressing a crowd at his alma mater, famously said “You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.”

Do what you love, and not in an airy fairy, kumbaya kind of way. If you derive actual pleasure from what you do, you are likely to be more motivated than the average person. It follows that people who do what they love will approach their work with a guaranteed level of enthusiasm. I don’t think this needs a great deal of explanation.

2. Find A Suitable Co-Founder:

Some of the best companies in the world were started by co-founders (e.g. Apple, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, etc.). Often, a start-up is launched and maintained through a combination of expertise, which, for complex projects, is hardly ever held by a single person. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 people to start a project. So the importance of compatible co-founders cannot be stressed enough.

Like with every endeavour, there will be challenges that dampen the passion. The honeymoon period WILL end, and co-founders need to understand their effect on each other because this can serve as the necessary spark to push each other forward. During a slump in motivation, if you don’t feel more motivated after speaking with your co-founder, he or she may not be the right person for you to work with.

Some questions you should ask about your co-founder - When you are not feeling your best will they be able to take control? Do they create a mood which is conducive to productivity? How do you feel after talking to them about a hurdle you are facing? Do they actually have the capacity to perform the tasks that are needed to drive the project forward?

To achieve the best results, be brutally honest with yourself when answering these questions. Based on your answers, you may need to make some changes.

I left the first business I started at University because I could no longer work with my co-founder. The person whom I had originally chosen as my co-founder because of his technical knowledge of the (media) industry became the reason for my loss of enthusiasm. I am not sure what the root cause was, but my co-founder started developing a habit of killing the business relationships I had worked hard to build (and other bad habits, which are best left unmentioned). In turn, our reputation as a serious business began to take a knock. But this wasn’t yet the issue. The real issue was his inability to realise his problem, and then act in accordance with such realisation.

Needless to say, I was brutally honest with myself - I just did not believe that he had the capacity to perform necessary tasks anymore, so I cut all professional ties with him.

3. Figure Out Your Motivational Currency

I define motivational currency as: a positive response which fuels the desire to be productive.

For example, I run a consulting business. Now, as much as I love what I do, there are mornings which feel completely hopeless (because - life) and my reason for continuing has escaped me. However, my mood suddenly changes when I get up from my bed, check my mail, and find an email from an entrepreneur requesting my services. After viewing this email, I feel a new energy, a sense of purpose, which prompts me to keep going. I am motivated, and the email is my motivational currency.

If you are an outdoor event organiser whose event receives good reviews on social media and in the local papers, such reviews are your motivational currency because they prompt you to repeat the amount of effort put into your work, in pursuit of the same or an even better response from your market.

This type of “currency” is different for different businesses, and is usually controlled by external factors. We cannot determine when motivational currency will be forthcoming, but the more work we put in, the more motivational currency we are likely to receive. (i.e. the more good work I do for my existing clients, the more likely I am to wake up to an email requesting my services.)

Conclusion:

Staying motivated is, in my opinion, the most important thing for any entrepreneur. You can do anything you set your mind to with the right amount of motivation. Conversely, you can do very little without it. This is why it is crucial for entrepreneurs to find what motivates them, and have ready access to it whenever it’s needed.

So print this. Put it on your wall, and highlight the points which speak to you the most. Every time you feel demotivated, give it a quick read, and remind yourself of the ways in which you can regain your motivation.

As always, thanks for reading. I promise to make it a shorter read next time.

1K notes View Post

birdnhand20

7 years ago

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I'm planning to open a online shop and I was rhibking about using Tictail, but after your las ask I having doubts... Why do you think other site would be better? Which are the differences? Thanks!

To be perfectly fair, Tictail is still a great platform to sell your wares if you’re just starting out and have a very small inventory. Their $9/month subscription for a custom storefront is pennies compared to some other platforms, and their 10% commission fee via their marketplace is manageable if your income from your store is relatively low.

Unfortunately I have a pretty large inventory and my income from my online shop can be higher than average depending on what new things i’m selling, therefore the 10% commission fee can stack up and negatively impact my finances. For example, a $30 transaction will take $3, effectively taking away my cheapest shipping option of $3, forcing me to pay shipping out of my own pocket. Plus the ways TT force customers to use the marketplace instead of the seller’s custom storefront without their knowledge is really shady to me and i just don’t like it.

Other store options include Storenvy, Bigcartel, and etsy. Storenvy doesn’t have a subscription for their service however there is a small commission fee. I haven’t used storenvy in ages but i heard that the customers are the ones that have to pay the fee? According to sources, bigcartel is completely free if your inventory is no larger than 5 items. Etsy is a good place to sell your stuff if you’d like to reach wide spread traffic. My friend LN exclusively uses etsy and she swears by it. There is a commission fee of 3% per transaction but that is much more manageable than 10.

But because i’m less concerned about having a “marketplace” shop (like etsy where you can type in keywords to find all items in the entire community related to it) i have been looking toward the more professional storefront services such as Shopify, and weebly and squarespace’s business platforms. Those services cost anywhere between $12 to $100 per month but the price is determined by what kind of plan best suits your business. Usually these professional platforms are extremely customizable and provides services such as automatic shipping calculations and discounts.

but in the end, you should do your own research and see which service best suits your interests. If you’re new to this and just want to start out small, look for a place that best benefits your level of income. My advice is, if your income is stable and lower than $500 a month or less than $30 per transaction, go with a platform that has a percentage based payment plan.

I hoped that helped in a way? Sorry that this turned into such a long post LOL anyway good luck and happy selling!