Better Than You Think
Different seasons you, harder tests you, longer shapes you, but in the end, it’s better than you ever imagined—like a surprise dessert after a tasteless meal.
If it weren’t for beginner's energy, I would probably be a mid-level manager at Burger King Corporate, trying to convince myself that a Whopper really is a healthy meal option.
If it weren’t for beginner's energy, I would be clocking in and out, looking forward to those two weeks of vacation every year, and finding creative and clever ways to use every single sick day allotted to me.
Beginner's energy is filled with hope, naiveté, and the unsinkable belief that we will be successful. It's like a shot of adrenaline that lasts for weeks, if adrenaline also came with giant doses of optimism, hope, and resiliency.
Here’s what I absolutely know for sure about being an entrepreneur: it will be different than you think. It will be harder than you can imagine. It will take longer than you believe, but it will turn out better than you could ever have hoped for.
If you don’t quit when the beginner's energy dissipates and it gets really frickin’ hard.
Different than you think: when we start this journey, we could not imagine the twists and turns we'll take. We start off thinking we’re going to focus on helping people keep their doors open during a global pandemic, and you end up helping 30 people launch new businesses because the shutdowns during the pandemic made so many people realize they didn’t want to continue down the career path they were on. Or maybe you think you’re going to make a small batch of product to sell to your friends, family, neighbors - only to realize that everyone finds out about it, and now you need a manufacturer because you can’t keep up with demand. Which means learning about supply chain, minimum order quantities, quality control, and cost of goods pricing.
The customers we serve will be different than we think as well. Most of us start with this wild assumption that all of our friends and family need what we are selling. Generally speaking, they really don’t. Some may make a pity purchase, but most won’t even sign up for our email list. And honestly - thank God for that, because we don’t need subscribers who have zero intentions of buying.
Different is not necessarily better or worse. Different is different. The image we have in our heads, that dream we can’t put down - well, it’s different IRL (in real life, for those of you who don’t speak internet).
Harder than you can imagine: If we knew how difficult and challenging it was going to be, most of us would never start. And this applies to everything from starting a business to training for a marathon (unless you’re a masochist, which I most certainly am not). When I started SB PACE (original branding of Maverick Mentors), it was 367 days before any real money was made. I burned through my entire savings building the business. I went into it thinking, “if I build it, they will come,” which is complete and total dog shit.
You will have many days when you question if you should quit. There will be tears. There will be celebrations, and there will be the very, very, very boring work of consistent day-to-day actions - like posting on social media, writing emails, building your systems and processes. You’ll have to learn new tools, new ways to market, new ways to write, new ways to sell. You’ll bury yourself in conferences, personal development, and networking events. And you’ll still feel like you aren’t getting anywhere.
It will be harder than you can ever imagine.
Longer than you believe: Most overnight successes don’t happen overnight. In fact, it takes 3 to 5 years for most small businesses to become stable (consistent revenue, dependable team, trusted manufacturer), and many entrepreneurs (about 50%) give up by year five. And you know why? Because it’s hard as hell to keep going when things are tough, and you don’t know what to do next. You don’t know what lever to pull because you aren’t even sure what levers exist.
As humans, we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in five years.
There is both a planning fallacy and the impact of compound growth to consider when it comes to what we can accomplish.
Planning Fallacy: Psychologically, people underestimate the time needed to complete future tasks, despite knowing that past tasks have taken longer than planned. This bias often affects short-term projections more acutely but can also influence long-term planning.
Impact of Compound Growth: In long-term planning, individuals might not account for the power of compound growth—be it in skills, financial investments, or personal development. Small, regular improvements or contributions can grow significantly over time, a principle that's easy to overlook when setting long-term goals.
When we start a new business venture, we tend to think in short-term increments, “what can I accomplish in the next 3 months, 6 months, or year,” and when we overestimate what can be done, we become frustrated. There is no fast pass for becoming a successful entrepreneur.
Better than you could have possibly hoped for: When you accept that it’s going to be different, keep going despite how hard it gets, and realize that different can often be a really good thing (because we limit ourselves far too much when we’re creating), you’ll often land on something better than you could have ever imagined.
More freedom. More money. More happiness. More simplicity. More HELL YES. More life.
And isn’t that why we take these journeys? To end up someplace better than where we started?
xoxo
Julie
Unfiltered Business Advice & More Laughs Than Your Mom's 'Accidental' Texts to the Group Chat