Lessons Learned in Business

I’d like to preface this post by saying I have no idea what running a business means…in the traditional sense. I didn’t go to school for this. I’ve learned everything I needed by doing it myself. The only thing I’ve ever followed was the idea of being good at what I do and being honest with the people I do it for.

With that in mind, yeah, running your own business is interesting to say the least. I left a job where I could depend on a steady paycheck, a steady routine, a steady life. I don’t want that though. As I’m writing this I’ve had 3 mai tais cuz its New Years and cuz I can, so fuck it. I have that freedom now, but what does it cost? It cost the weight of responsibility to everyone helping me do this. It cost the time away from my family, friends, and fun. Being your own boss sounds great until you realize there’s no more time off, there’s no putting work off, there’s really no break. There’s no one else that could do it. Your day is dealing with the present and the future at the same time. Your goal is growth, but how can I grow a business and maintain quality?

Essentially, everyone’s got their own answer for that. For me, it’s all about doing all the small stuff really well. Nothing is about your business should ever just be whatever. Every little thing you do needs to be “perfect” cuz really your life kinda depends on it. As long as everyone’s in the same boat and working towards the same goal you’ll get that. I don’t really care about getting rich, I care about making really cool shit and I really do push myself on every project to put something out there that pushes my own boundaries. I’ve seen what being comfortable does to people and it aint great. In my time working in government, where a lot of people are lifers, once they retire from the job they’ve been doing for 40 plus years, they’re dead within 2 years. It’s really sad to see and  you’d think that everyone else who’s watching this learns from it, but they don’t. Change is hard. Running your own business feels a lot like being dropped in the middle of the ocean. There are no excuses that’s gonna get you out of the reality of your situation.

The best advice I could give is to know yourself. Sounds simple, but this could be a lifelong journey. Success isn’t about trends. Real success has to come from originality. Everyone’s’ greatest asset is their point of view.  That’s the one thing that’s unique to every person, so to capitalize on it means to dig in to what you know. Become a real expert and success will naturally come. Money and attention moves around constantly. What entrepreneurs should be concerned about is building authenticity. We will no longer chase success, but rather, success will gravitate towards us.