You’ve done it. You started your own business. Congratulations! The hard work is out of the way. But did you know that there are many more upsides to being an entrepreneur than just striking out on your own and pursuing your passions? Here are three unexpected bonuses that you will likely experience throughout your entrepreneurship journey. Enjoy.
- You will learn so much about yourself
You assumed that the real-world experience of running your business would help you to become an expert in your field, and rightly so. You’ll certainly learn the ins and outs of your landscape, but did you know that you’ll end up discovering so much about yourself that you didn’t know? Entrepreneurship is a journey of the individual as much as it is one for the business. Along the way, you will learn about your strengths and weaknesses, and, more than likely, you will prove your preconceptions about your abilities wrong.
- Your education will never end
Did you do an MBA and think you would finish knowing everything there is to know about the business world? Think again. Operating your own business is a constant learning curve. You will continue to learn how to use new tools, more efficient ways to conduct your business, better language to improve customer response and much more. The more experience you gain, the wiser you will become. Remember to be mindful of your learnings, and be aware of just how far you’ve come.
- Your network will grow
As you manage your business, you will find that your network will grow. Of course, the more care and attention you pay to the important work of expanding your network, the more it will increase. And, as always, there are plenty of ways you can boost your network by being proactive. Marketing, for instance, is a great place to start, but it’s also important to think outside of the box. For example, hosting a free podcast is one excellent method to grow your audience and partnership network. By interviewing other leaders in your field, their followers will know who you are and what you do. This will give you access to a similar audience of people you likely will want to sell to and get to know. Simultaneously, your potential partnership network increases as you develop working relationships with the leaders that you interview, opening doors for future collaborations.
Starting a new business opens the door to many new opportunities, and as you probably already know, entrepreneurship is an incredible journey. But that journey will always throw up some unexpected surprises and, as the above list shows, plenty of them are well worth experiencing!
Author: Ronsley Vaz
Ronsley is the founder & chief day dreamer at AMPLIFY. He is an author, speaker & serial entrepreneur.
He has a Masters’ degree in Software Engineering and an MBA in Psychology and Leadership. He is known as the creator of We Are Podcast – the first Podcasting Conference in the Southern Hemisphere, and the host of The Bond Appetit Podcast and Should I Start a Podcast. He has an audience of over 3 million in 133 countries.