My learnings as a Businessman. (Part 1)
Heroin… Crack… Salaries. The most addictive substances in the world.
Fortunately, while I did not need to kick the Heroin or Crack habit, I did indeed have to kick the salary habit. It was the toughest thing I have ever done.
As salaried employees, we are no better than drug addicts. We tend to splurge every rupee or dollar we earn, because we know that the next fix will be with us on the first of the coming month. We indulge ourselves, live beyond our means, are slaves to personal loans, home loans and EMIs. The due date for the next payment on the home mortgage or the car, pretty much defines our spending habits. As long as the salary keeps coming, life is all hunky dory.
Lose your job or have your salary delayed and all hell breaks loose. You run from pillar to post, like a headless chicken, hyperventilating, worrying and fretting, till you find another job or receive your dues. Life then goes back to ‘business as usual’ and you breathe a sigh of relief while you swipe your card to make your next useless purchase.
I. Businessman
Moving from this position of coziness to a situation where you don’t know when and from where you will get your next job or payment, takes a lot of guts and getting used to.
After contemplating for over 2 years, I finally took the plunge in 2007 and started on an entrepreneurial journey… excited, confident, cocksure and waiting to become a millionaire overnight.
Now, seven years later, I stand before you, as far from being a millionaire as I was then, but much wiser… having tripped, fallen, gotten up, brushed my knees and continued to run, towards the elusive utopia that business signifies.
It has been a roller coaster journey, with highs and lows… moments of great joy followed by periods of extreme depression.
I have some advice for the thousands (indeed millions) who think that running a business is a piece of cake… “You’re Wrong!”
It is one of the toughest things to do. There is a huge difference (which I am still learning) between being a good professional and a good businessman.
Over the next few articles I will share my experiences and learning associated with running a business of my own.
Do take the time to read them… they might just help you, in your journey towards kicking the ‘salary’ habit.
TO BE CONTINUED…
(This is part 1 of a series of blogs on my learnings as an entrepreneur )
Read Part 2 here
photo credit: tokyoform via photopin cc
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