Is the above statement actually true or just a myth? Or do people make it come true? Well, yes, people do make it come true but it has a price and entrepreneurship is no bed of roses. In reality, 90% of the entrepreneurship ventures fail and only 3% of these entrepreneurs continue with their journey i.e. they do not give up. Whereas, the remainder 87% get involved in a vocation which delivers a sense of comfort, less stress and an easy going and happier life – a stark contrast to that of an entrepreneur.

However, the reason for failure of 90% of the businesses is not the business but the attitude of entrepreneurs. As well quoted by John C Maxwell, “People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude”. Attitude is the key to every relationship and that of an entrepreneur lays the foundation of the organisation that he/she aspires to build. Given that as an entrepreneur, you are the base and the face of your organisation, everything right from your attitude to your words have to be up to the mark and cannot falter.

Taking this into consideration, there is no one in the world who has not made a mistake ever. It would be interesting to analyse a scenario that was faced by all entrepreneurs, whether it was Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates. All of them had one thing in common - making mistakes especially during their initial days. Sometimes calling it a mistake would be an understatement, as there have been blunders as well; leading to times when their business was on the verge of shutting down. But it did not happen and now they are synonyms of the brands built by them. Why do you think they were successful? Was it a powerful business model or an innovative idea?

Brands are built, business models are structured as per the prevalent times and innovative ideas are generated. But the fuel to run these is the honesty that one has with their dream. These entrepreneurs did not take a step back when their business was on a roller-coaster ride. Their devotion to their dream, hunger for success kept them aligned to their dream.

When one is committed to their ambition with all their heart and soul, it is only then that they gain success. If luxury and comfort were that ordinary and simple, then it would not be limited to celebrities and business people. In short, you need to know your goal and path and not get tempted by other offerings. Hence, entrepreneurship and massive success are not everyone’s cup of tea.  

Nowadays, more than being a serious business, entrepreneurship is becoming a fad. Most of the millennials are getting influenced by a success story, money or by the fame of a successful personality. No one is willing to reflect on the failures of the now successful faces - the hard times when more than the business profitability, its survival mattered. A typical human trait is that we read and listen to everything and everyone but we run far away from acceptance i.e. we are so fixated with the positives that we ignore the negatives, for instance, people fail to ask themselves - why would my business fail? Instead, they come up 101 reasons for its success. Positivity is one thing but ignorance is not always bliss!

Here I have solicited a list of 10 harsh realities that an entrepreneur has to face. This is a gist of my three year entrepreneurial journey, which gives the solution and motivation to my path ahead:

Reality 1: Failure

At the onset of my journey, like any other new entrepreneur, I would only concentrate on the positives - which no doubt gave me motivation - but it became a source of false hopes too. Eventually, I realised that my past experience as a security expert was to come to play here. Wherein I would find out loopholes by penetrating a secure system and then providing solution i.e. patching the same. This made me realise that success and failure & positives and negatives are the two sides of the same coin and it is imperative to concentrate on both. The way to success is by understanding and overcoming failure.  

Reality 2: No Pain no Gain

This famous exercise motto is applicable in the corporate landscape. We all have definitely read this proverb time and again but fail to comprehend it. The first word is pain, which is inevitable but we tend to ignore it and start dreaming about the gains. Doing this will put you in cuckoo land where reality is just a word. In fact, several pains will give you one gain and it is a balance. The more pain you are ready to accept, the more gains you will get - this is the truth.

Reality 3: Be Prepared to Face Rejections, Blame & Criticism

You are not going to become a hero just like that. The bitter truth is that the world is brutal and no one is even remotely concerned about your problem. You are solely responsible for your acts and blaming others is going to serve no purpose and it will be a waste of time. In plain language, you will be termed as a loser by them. Hence, for the good, it is necessary to accept every act of yours. Moreover, instead of cribbing, you should start working towards the solution and remember that mistakes are not a problem but repeating the same mistakes is.  

Reality 4: Do Not Just Make Anyone your Mentor or Coach

Seeking good advice is a very important thing but seeking these advices from the right people is the key. Look around for people who have been successful, the internet is a huge platform and you can easily seek assistance from people who are standing against all business odds. But zeroing down on the right mentor or coach is crucial; there are successful entrepreneurs out there who are passionate and ready to help others.

Reality 5: Do Not Ignore your Parents

The only reality in the world which is never going to change is your parents - they are the ones who have made you and they are the ones who will immediately connect with you and can give advice during your successes and failures of entrepreneurship. They may not be able to give you advice on the subject but in business there is something called as psychology i.e. business mapping. Do not just think they are not tech savvy, they may not understand. At least try this once and you will know the reality.

Reality 6: Do Not Work in the Business, Instead Work on the Business

As an entrepreneur, you should be selling the vision of your company; product is just a need which you are fulfilling. But if you can sell the vision of the company to your customers, you are ensuring your longevity with the clients. In my experience, this is a very important factor, your client sustainability will always help you to be in the business as that gives you the confidence to do more.

Reality 7: Do Not Lose Faith in Yourself

One horrific reality of being an entrepreneur is to keep faith in yourself, most of the people who have failed is not because of the business model but because they do not trust themselves. It is fine if people are having a hard time trusting you, your business model or your business. But, if you lack faith, do you think that people will trust you?

Reality 8: Be a Salesman

Most of the entrepreneurs always ignore how they will sell. Those who get investor funding, they have a simple answer - I will hire a sales head or sales manager who is good and can only sell products. But who is going to sell the vision of your company to the client? The answer is you. In my selling experience, I have realised that customers invest in you. They give business to those in whom they see that the passion. Honestly, once you have passed their first test, the business is coming to you not only from one client but from multiple clients as then you are referred to others; they are not selling your product, they are selling you and the vision of your company.

Reality 9: Do you Love Someone?  

We all love someone in our life so passionately whom we do not want to lose, they can be your parents, wife/husband, your child. Think about one person whom you love and start loving your business/company/dream the same way you love them. This is through my personal experience and results may vary from person to person but the results are positive.

Reality 10: No Money only Passion

Last reality of entrepreneurship is do not just get into business because you want to make money. Of course we all want to make money, but money comes after you have worked hard and you can only work hard for your business if you are really passionate. Money will follow you but if your passion is dead, forget about money.  You better start searching for the comfort zone of getting paid on the first of every month.

Entrepreneurship is not a cake walk. Better decide what you want to do. Do you want to create jobs or work for others?