I remember when I was 17 and I worked in the paint department at Ernst (think Home Depot). I’d get into these future-oriented conversations with a co-worker. He was older, maybe 2.5 times my age. We’d talk about starting our own businesses and he had a lot to say about it. It really got me thinking about actually doing it when I was older. This was one of the first times I remember really contemplating the idea. I’ve had some proclivities towards it.. Like in the 4th grade, I would assemble these little devices, that were pretty much lights and motors that I’d ripped out of various electronic devices around the house (much to my parents chagrin) and wired up to batteries. They would beep and buzz and move. I did it because I liked it. But, I’d take them to school and pretty soon other kids wanted one to and were willing to pay. It was a natural process, although I didn’t really understand that I was ‘doing business’. Talking to this co-worker, the idea of having my own business sounded great. You owned the thing, so you had a lot of personal freedom to go and do as you please. You made lots of money. And you have the ego-stroking pride of being atop a successful enterprise.

Having been involved in four startups now, I can honestly say that’s pretty much a load of crap. It’s like a certain male version of how girls often romanticize the idea of their wedding day to the point of movie-like fantasy. More often than not, reality doesn’t really measure up. The reality of being an entrepreneur is that you take on an enourmous amount of risk and sacrifice a lot along the way. We all have finite time as functional humans. Entrepreneurs bet some of that valuable time on building a venture that 4 out of 5 times doesn’t succeed. Those aren’t very good odds. And that time is often spent out-of-balance. During the early phases of your startup, you’re lucky if you get paid anything at all. That makes it awfully hard to pay the rent. The lucky ones are able to get by without a salary for a while, maybe they shack up with family, or they’ve already exited a venture don’t have many outstanding expenses. Others, have to piggy-back the startup onto a day job, use precious seed capital, or find some other way to makes ends meet. And you better get used to staying healthy, because having health and dental insurance is probably off the table for a while. Further, the demands of every startup I have been in require the founding team to work ungodly amounts of hours. No doubt it takes it’s toll on one’s social life, let alone family life. It can run you ragged–physically, mentally, and spiritually. I think being on the technical side of things is even worse. Technical work demands a high level of focus and concentration, which means a lot of times, we can’t have a lot of people around. And isolation is bad, very bad, for humans.

So why do we do it? We know from sociology and economics that entrepreneurs play a vital role in society. They initiate/create the jobs and products that most people work at and use. People that aren’t willing to take the risk and make the sacrifices don’t have to, if they don’t want to. Conversely, entrepreneurs, if successful(!), are often rewarded handsomely–and deservingly so. Compensation (usually) grows as you risk more, need more education to perform your role, and take on more responsibility. And being an entrepreneur is one of the most difficult, challenging professions there is. Therefore, the rewards need to be there to give people a reason to go to all of the extra effort.

Also, a lot of entrepreneurs/business owners I’ve met also seem to have a special internal component. They’re wired in such a way that there is this innate need to create, to build something. I like to call it the ‘entrepreneurial fire’. And if it’s burning, you know that building your business is something you must do, come hell or high water, regardless of what happens. Regardless if you lose your house, your car, etc. You’re willing to risk a lot of things to do it.

Actually making your business successful is where that fantasy-like glory of being an entrepreneur can come into fruition. We see examples of that success all over. Every community has some. But what you don’t see is the numerous preceding months or years of thankless, dedicated work and personal sacrifice that the entrepreneur has put in. Those that have the fortitude to actually stick it out through those hard times and learn and apply the skills to adapt to the heavy demands that are placed on them–that’s where the real glory of being an entrepreneur is.