If I were starting over in business now, I would do things very differently. I would think very differently now, because now I know what will happen. Maybe you know that, that if you were 17 or 18 again with this knowledge you would do things very differently. You might still follow the same life path, because they are things you wouldn't want to miss, but hypothetically. With today's knowledge? You've obviously become much wiser, so then you're going to do different things
Then it is helpful to have someone who has already been there and can tell you what you will experience.
The role of the entrepreneur
For example, when you start a practice you step into the role of an entrepreneur. But in essence, you are still someone who simply enjoys their craft. A baker just enjoys being a baker, but when he starts for himself he gets all these roles. Roles of manager, marketer, sales, research and development, HR, finance, you get all these roles. With subgroups within them as well.
You get a lot of roles to play while you just want to do the work you love.
This is often a trap that people step into. After all, they don't always know when they are doing entrepreneurship that they are stepping into all these roles. According to Stevenson, entrepreneurship is emulating opportunities with resources that are currently beyond your control[1]. So this is about your individual capabilities, such as your painting, and how they function in the society in which you want to be entrepreneurial (how will you sell it? How do I get funds through which I can give an exhibition?). So you need all those roles for that, and you may need help in fulfilling those roles.
You sometimes notice this with hobbies, like going to the gym. Suddenly you think you need to have business there. Maybe you don't take on another role, but another role is created. That suddenly you also start paying attention to your nutrition and you start watching how your body responds to nutrition.
Then comes that role.
Mindset about your role as an entrepreneur
Or the mindset side, the mindset of an athlete. Before you know it, all sorts of super cool roles will be added.
As an entrepreneur, those roles may not come with it, but they will definitely come with it. You can do two things. You can try to take on those roles. For example, you can try to be an accountant, but for me that was already a difficult role to get into. Of course it's helpful to know what's going out and what's coming in. But a general ledger account is abracadabra for me. So I quickly outsourced that role. The nice thing about such a network of entrepreneurs who are very good at other things is that it often feels more informal than, say, a hierarchical workplace.
But the other roles, the sales, the selling, you get those too. You have to start selling yourself. Many people then suffer from making themselves visible.
After all, what exactly does that mean? Making videos? Going into writing? From whom should it be?
Also, of those coaches and people who help you with business, with sales, who put you in hypnosis. Who want to sell you things. Do you want to have that?
Do you need it? Will you die if you don't have it?
There used to be just a sign out front saying that something cost ten cents.
But since the 1930s, things are also marketed that you like to have. Then it's no longer just about the butter, but the properties of the butter.
A laptop? You have all kinds of brands for that, too. For an Apple, you easily pay three times as much. Why do we actually do that? We just like it, there's no real reason, I'm an Apple fan myself. Now of course there are people who say that the Apple has better software and bla bla bla, but in the end you can do the same with it as with other laptops, whether or not a bit easier or more intuitive.
They also have a huge margin on their products and that means they are overpriced, but they sell so it doesn't matter.
Do you necessarily need that new phone or those expensive sneakers?
Does it matter? Actually no, but somewhere in our minds it gives us a certain satisfaction.
So it's about the value you give yourself to certain things. Entrepreneurship is also based more on values than on, say, wanting a promotion[2].
So if you're going into business, it's important to know why you want to be in business and why you think it will bring you more than being employed, for example.
A hypnotist can help you with this by having a socratic conversation about entrepreneurship, for example. This is especially helpful when you are still in the process of deciding whether or not to tie the knot of going into business.
Getting good at your entrepreneurial roles
If you take on the role of marketer, you need to think about this too. You have a product and then you have to start thinking about how to sell it to those people.
If you don't have a business, you can even take on these roles. Imagine going on a date, then it's good to market and sell yourself. The same way it works when you want a pay raise. You then have to show your boss why you are valuable to the company. If you want your partner to do something, you have to sell it in such a way that he/she will enjoy doing it too.
Of course, you can also pressure people to do something, but then they really don't do more than you ask.
If you influence someone precisely in such a way that they enjoy doing it, that's much better. If someone enjoys doing the things that need to be done, it's just super.
You might think people should just do it themselves. But people are influenced anyway, whether they do it against their will or just that they want to do something.
Even if you don't want to influence, you are influencing. If you walk into a room with other people and you do nothing, people are still going to think something about it. If you're not there and you were expected to be, that's also influencing. Then there are also people who are influenced by dead people. Those people have been gone for years, but other people still let themselves be influenced by them.
So you have enormous influence, even if you don't want it. So then you better get maximally good at it. Because what would it be like to be good at it? If you then also use that for good, that's super.
Manipulating, making someone do something they don't want to do, doesn't help. Because if that person finds out, he'll never do anything for you again.
But influencing someone who enjoys doing something because of that is super. He continues to enjoy doing it and that person also loves that you had that role. It's also more normal as an entrepreneur to occasionally hire someone to do something for you than if you're salaried, for example. In salaried work, on the contrary, you are often totally committed to one task[3].
If I influence someone with a fear of heights so they don't find it scary anymore, they will gladly go into a flat.
Those roles, even without a business, are important. Finance and administration are important. For an entrepreneur, marketing yourself is important. Get into that, because there are structures and ideas for it.
You have a variety of contexts in which to improve.
Also listen to this podcast:
Choosing entrepreneurial roles
So as an entrepreneur, you get to do all sorts of things in addition to the work you love. If you don't have anything to do yet, you may have to do everything yourself at first. Keeping your own records, keeping your own website, keeping your own social media, and all this in addition to the work you actually want to be an entrepreneur for.
Do you find it difficult to see in advance how this will all play out? Then a hypnotherapist can help you with this. With an exercise that allows you to imagine your life a year from now, as a successful entrepreneur, you can determine which roles you will take on yourself by learning them or which roles you will outsource.
This view can already give you tremendous peace of mind and confidence, allowing you to tie the knot of whether or not to go into business.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis can help you live a life according to the values you have? Then come to the free online hypnosis master class.
Or enroll in one of our training courses to become a hypnotist yourself, helping people get rid of their problems.
Sources:
[1] https://www.unm.edu/~asalazar/Kauffman/Entrep_research/e_won.pdf
[2] https://www.unm.edu/~asalazar/Kauffman/Entrep_research/e_won.pdf (page 3).
[3] https://www.unm.edu/~asalazar/Kauffman/Entrep_research/e_won.pdf (page 3).
