How To Survive As An Entrepreneur
Today our fearless entrepreneurs, Pam and Kristen talk about how they manage the day-to-day stresses of being an entrepreneur.
Later in the episode, Kristen talks with fellow entrepreneur Cassandra Miller, CEO of See Jane Go, the nation’s first women-driving-women ride-hail platform.
Pam tell us about the entrepreneurial spirit:
“Entrepreneurs are fearless, typically. I mean some of them are afraid to do the next thing but they do it anyway because somebody’s pushed them and it’s the right thing and they succeed etcetera, etcetera. But most entrepreneurs they just go for it. I mean they just do. They are literally fearless. They don’t think about, “Oh my gosh, tomorrow how am I going to fix that problem?” They are thinking about that, but it’s not in the negative. It’s in, “OK I’ve got this opportunity. How do I fix this issue? Or how do I advance my company?” So, they think of it as a glass half full, not a glass half empty. So, entrepreneurs are really… they’re just different. They just go for it. I mean I remember my first company, I didn’t know anything about how to get an SBA loan. I didn’t know how to get money anywhere. I didn’t know how to set up a retail business, I didn’t know any of that. But guess what I read a lot, I talked to a lot of people, I talked to my CPA, I talked to my attorney, and I found out all the answers to those kinds of things. Did I get everything right? No, absolutely not. But I learnt a lot and it was a fun business and it was just, you know that was kind of the start of my entrepreneurial spirit.”
Cassandra shares insight of risks taken by an entrepreneur:
“One of the tricks of being an entrepreneur is that sometime, what you need doesn’t come until the very last moment and you have to fight and kick and believe. If you as the leader of your business are not biting until to the very last thing, it’s like running a race. Don’t look over your shoulder. Just keep on going. Even though you know you may have only two days left of a operating capital. You may have two days left, but you keep on running because you’ll get it, or maybe you won’t. But you have to as an entrepreneur accept the risks upfront. You know what the risks are.”