One of my main dreams is to start up a business and grow it to be immensely successful. This is rather clichéd nowadays and just about everyone seems to be saying or thinking the same thing although do not take the plunge into starting up something, whether due to time, energy or financial constraints, or whether there is simply a lack of capability or confidence to be able to make it work.
I met up with the big boss of pretty much the top company in the industry of my start up business to get some advice and over a three hour period, he summarised two pieces of advice for me:
1. Business if f****** hard. Don't do it if you're not ready for it but if it's for you, then go for it all the way and don't give up.
2. Quit your job. Now. It's unfair to your full time employers if you are burning two ends of the candle and not giving your best. It's also unfair to your business if you are not giving your best.
The first piece of advice I was relatively ready for because I knew the odds that most businesses fail and that it would be tough work.
The second one made me think hard for a week. And I'm left with the same conclusion as what I had determined before. I'm going to continue trying to give my best in both my career and in the side business, and I don't feel guilty about what I'm contributing to both.
In work, I've just moved departments to a far more challenging and difficult role by choice in order to learn and grow, and so I can safely say I'm putting myself out there to succeed in the workplace without holding back. There are many who don't do anything extra on top of their full time work, and who are not even able to give their best without any outside distractions.
In my side business, I'm continuing to work with my partners to relentlessly grow and expand the business responsibly, recruiting more people and bringing on bigger and more complex projects. We've just moved into a spanking, new (and more expensive) office in this month itself and invested into our people, office and in building our relationships with key clients.
We're on the right track. But sometimes I wonder if...I'm the right track. It would be easy to say that because both are moving forward well, I should be able to confidently say that I am too.
But is burning both ends of the candle really what is best? Sometimes, it gets immensely tiring and dealing with people issues on so many fronts can really take the mojo out of you. At the same time, I know that I would like to contribute more to God and church if possible because ultimately, that is going to be my soul's passion and purpose but increasing my current involvement will have to wait for now.
I guess I can take comfort in knowing that I have been responsible to my full time work and career, to the side business and to providing for my family. And to be honest, that beats being responsible to myself hands down, every time.
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