Entrepreneur: Obstacle is the way

Shreesh Pandey, Founder & CEO of MSP India Corporation, a Marketing and Advertising Solution Network

The word "Entrepreneur" happens to be the most sought for, glamorous title in today's time across the globe where the obstacle is the way and effort and the attitude can make a difference. When asked about the experience as an entrepreneur, people will say it means staying committed to your goals beyond your feelings of excitement or to take a leap, work hard enough to sacrifice everything else around you.

The nature of being an entrepreneur means that you fully embrace ambiguity and are comfortable with being challenged regularly. The philosophy of Entrepreneur is not to run away from mistakes but learn from them and challenge self, despite frustration and get inspired by people who learn anything on this earth and succeed. Stoicism is closely related with the word helping overcome destructive emotions and act on what can be acted upon

I truly believe that being an entrepreneur is a powerful and rewarding experience, but in reality it often ways down a never ending list of problems with grit, passion, and energy. It's about building a life on your own terms with no bosses, no one pulling you back and taking the first step into making the world a better place to live for themselves and everyone.

It is not all about "being your own boss" and fast rewards but the number of years of dedicated and relentless hard work but capacity to to break barriers with creative solutions and work hard toward reaching a goal. It means going up against the odds with your beliefs and idea to take a career and dreams into hands and steer it in the desired direction. Such entrepreneurship reflects the smallest percent of entrepreneurs.

To be an entrepreneur isn't easy, as many believe it to be carefree career path; it's actually quite the opposite. When time, money, passion and creativity is invested in own business it reaches to the extent of obsession especially when working from home with spouse or family members you rarely if ever, leave office from a mental standpoint.

The hard truth of being an entrepreneur is that it's never-ending and thankless to work for someone else, knowing your skills and talents are ultimately making someone else a bundle. But in most jobs, you can leave the work behind when you go home to enjoy your family, friends or hobbies. As an entrepreneur, the workload can be intense, especially during the early stages when you are the CEO, CFO etc. With all these roles, there's rarely a moment that you feel your work is "done" for the day.

Further, it's stressful to think meeting a deadlines or demands especially when your personal savings are on the line and you've already taken out a second mortgage. This type of pressure lights a fire under even the most laid-back stable personalities who will feel the pressure to get business off the ground so quickly to regain some semblance of financial security.

It is equally frustrating to partner with someone who doesn't hold best interests at heart or received a damaged shipment that you need for a trade show the next day or the media appearance planned to is suddenly cancelled due some disaster. As an entrepreneur, these types of situations happen on a regular basis. The truth is that you never know what's around the corner and it can be extremely frustrating when you've planned to spend a day on product development, only to find out that you have to repair the cases of product packaging that came apart during shipping.

Despite this kind of stress, pressure, workload and stoicism associated with it, lot many people aspire to become entrepreneur to avail both financial and emotional rewards that come with success.

There exists no better feeling than seeing a product you've worked hard to develop on store shelves, or when you've provided successful service for a grateful client. It's exciting to make a sale or win a new client when you know it's from your own hard work; it's gratifying when customers tell you that your product, service or example has made a difference in their lives. And of course, turning a profit and knowing your business is financially stable are extremely rewarding as well.

Moreover, working on own terms, with more flexibility of working hours without any boss to supervise is satisfying. Once you work for yourself, you may work more hours, but you can do so on your own terms. You can stop work at 3 to pick up the kids from school without asking your boss for permission.

It's a business that next generation can join and grow; and a legacy of creating something that will be around to work for long. No matter what is the motivation for creating something from nothing that grows and develops through the years is almost like raising a child; it's your baby, and you've nurtured it to its current level of success which is difficult to achieve in most other careers.

Entrepreneurs dream big. So naturally, some of their ideas will make worldwide change. They might create a new product that solves a burning problem or take on the challenge to explore something never explored before. Many aim to make the world better with their products, ideas, or businesses.

Entrepreneur often do more for the greater good than the average person. They make more money and thus pay more in taxes, which helps fund social services. Entrepreneurs are some of the biggest donors to charities and non-profits for various causes. Some seek to invest their money in creating solutions to help poorer communities have access to things we take for granted, like clean drinking water and good health care.

Entrepreneurs add to national income and generate new wealth in an economy. New ideas and improved products or services from entrepreneurs allow for the growth of new markets and new wealth.

Last but not the least, being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but for those who pursue it, it can be a rewarding and life-changing experience. It is like a riveting roller coaster of emotions with tremendous highs and difficult lows, but one thing that always helps through the ups and downs is to connect with some of the greatest minds in the world.