Beating entrepreneurial loneliness – what I have learned so far

This is a guest post from a great contact, Bruce Brooker (bruce@brucebrooker.com). The short piece alludes to the highs, lows, freedoms & restrictions of being ‘captain of your ship’. I read it and immediately empathised – hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Here’s Bruce:

For me, it really began when my wife and I found out that we were expecting twins. There I was in hospital thinking: “How am I going to make this work?” 

It appeared, in my initial state of shock, that the world was not set up for families with four young children (when the twins were born, we had a tribe of four under four!) We would need a bigger car, two cots, a double buggy and much more. How was I going to pay for all of this? 

It was not quite a flat panic, but close! I did have the clarity of thought though to decide that I wanted to see our children grow up. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them, so I needed to create an effective work/life balance.

My solution? I became an entrepreneur with visions of developing lots of revenue streams and building a portfolio career. This continues to this day! The journey has been bumpy with success and failures along the way. I have learnt lots of lessons and try not to make the same mistake twice. 

However, there is one rarely mentioned problem of entrepreneurship and business ownership, and many people aren’t prepared for it until it happens. Being an entrepreneur and business owner can be lonely. It’s a singular position, so you won’t have teammates to rely on. You’ll be working lots of hours and your employees will be forced to remain at a bit of a distance. 

I initially had this deluded mindset that I had all the answers and I was in control. I was wrong. You can’t do it all on your own. 

What I have learned to date is that you need good people around you who will offer guidance and support to challenge you and encourage you in equal measure. This trusted inner circle is now the backbone and sounding board to my own decision making and sense checking. 

As Charles Darwin stated: “It is not the strongest species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most willing to change.” This view on evolution remains as valid today as it did when he wrote it and is particularly prevalent in today’s business landscape where changes in marketplaces and disruption are constants. 

Running a business is hard. Business success depends on sound business planning and effective implementation and execution. It’s not always easy to do this on your own. Running your business is all consuming and it can be difficult to make the time. It may sometimes be a lonely or confusing place. 

We now work closely with entrepreneurs and owners to understand their businesses, their ambitions and their challenges. We support your ambitions with sound commercial strategy and experience. We are here to help you and your business on your own journey. 

We do this by working with you to agree on plans, transforming strategy into fit-for-purpose delivery, make changes, measure outputs, performance and results, and assisting in keeping plans on track. 

We provide support, advice and strategic direction supported by experience, skills and an extensive network of business connections. 

In the immortal words of Jerry Maguire’s mentor: “Hey, I don’t have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I’ve failed as much as I’ve succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you, my kind of successes”

Here’s a link to Bruce’s website & the original article:

https://brucebrooker.com/blog/f/beating-entrepreneurial-loneliness-%E2%80%93-what-i-have-learned-so-far

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