4 Steps of Early-Stage Entrepreneurship

by / ⠀Startup Advice / October 18, 2012

My entrepreneurial endeavors began like most peoples do, while fully employed. I was not gaining much traction with my projects by working on them nights and weekends, and that is when I decided to leap face first into entrepreneurship. Part impatience and part because I was looking for an out to quit my job.

I went through what I like to call the four steps of early stage entrepreneurship 1) excitement 2) hope 3) panic and 4) enlightenment.

Now I must add there is no way I could have gone through these stages while still tied to a desk. So leaving the safety of my office is the only way to experience first hand what it really takes to be an entrepreneur.

I am going to walk you through my path to enlightenment. Hang on tight it’s a bumpy ride.

My first few months of being fabulously unemployed were fantastic. It was like I had tasted peanut butter for the first time. I was enjoying opportunities and seizing almost every chance to meet someone new, learn something special and join every organization I could. I was at last free of the shackles of a real organization and the structure that came with it. And, then came the following month when bills still needed to be paid and my gas tank filled.

Reality set in.

I started to romanticize about my day job, how good it was to receive a steady paycheck, what I could do with my lost income and how much I longed for more free time.  Then hope came along and said that all this hard work and steadfast dedication will pay off. Well hope is very dangerous. Hope said if I do this I should get this. And, well…

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Month six rolled around. Where is all my money that hope promised? Instead I spent twice as much as I had expected and earned half as much as my projections. My profit and loss looked nothing like it did six months ago. I just don’t understand.  So I panicked. And, well if we learned anything from Jurassic Park the Tyrannosaurus Rex eats everyone who panics. So I kept my wits.

And, once all the chocolate was gone from the fridge and there was no more wine. I began the final stage of rebuilding. What was I rebuilding you ask? My sanity. I reached a place where there was no more sobbing over how things should be and I accepted things for the way they were. This place is not found inside the comfort zone of a steady paycheck or an ivory tower. It is only found where the rubber meets the road and there is no place to go but up.

Before, we end this journey. I must preface that I am a planner but also have been known to leap head first into the shallow water. With that said, I can’t say for certain I would change anything if I knew then what I know now. What I can say is that sometimes its just best to start building something, even if you don’t know what it is.

Christina Hall is a Marketing and Business Development strategist. She is the owner and founder of LocalFitTank, a web-based marketplace curating the best in local fitness. She holds an MBA in International Business and a BA in Journalism.

About The Author

Matt Wilson

Matt Wilson is Co-Founder of Under30Experiences, a travel company for young people ages 21-35. He is the original Co-founder of Under30CEO (Acquired 2016). Matt is the Host of the Live Different Podcast and has 50+ Five Star iTunes Ratings on Health, Fitness, Business and Travel. He brings a unique, uncensored approach to his interviews and writing. His work is published on Under30CEO.com, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Huffington Post, Reuters, and many others. Matt hosts yoga and fitness retreats in his free time and buys all his food from an organic farm in the jungle of Costa Rica where he lives. He is a shareholder of the Green Bay Packers.

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