10 THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT BEING A SELF-EMPLOYED/AN ENTREPRENEUR.

1. 
   LESS RESPECT: - People often think you are not serious by leaving CERTAINTY for UNCERTAINTY whenever you leave your paid Job to start a small scale business. Some will even assume you are not really doing anything because you are not as busy or dedicated as people who work in a paid employment.
2. FAILURE IS MOSTLY CONSTANT: - In every entrepreneurial journey, there is the failure fear factor inherent in being on your own. The decision to carry out certain task is solely on the entrepreneur therefore it sometimes does not work out as planned for some start-ups.
3. VACATION IS NOT CERTAIN: - Until your business is fully stabilized, there might not be a single vacation throughout the year. Working round the clock is a common trait of all entrepreneurs.
4. THE HIGHER YOU GO THE TOUGHER IT BECOMES: - The longer the period you stay in working for yourself the tougher it becomes to go back to paid employment. Since I left GtBank in 2009, I have found it harder
   to take up any paid employment because I had witnessed the hardest of times in my last 5 years as an entrepreneur, so why not see the end of the dark tunnel before making the U-turn.
   
5. NO PROJECT IS EVER COMPLETELY DONE WITH: - There is no such thing as “DONE” in every project. The need to achieve perfection is insatiable and the desire to stand out from the crowd always push entrepreneur to make it better. Before a particular project is completed you are already in the planning stages of another project.
6. SOMETIMES YOU ARE STARK BROKE: - Except in few cases where the entrepreneur is favored or has financial backings from family, friends, institutions, etc. It is not out of question to see entrepreneur go broke to such an extent that some don’t come out of the crisis to resuscitate the business idea.
7. FEAR OF BIGGER PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY: - The bullying by the big players in the economy sometimes scare away start-ups. The big businesses have the capacity to withstand little pressure which the small business will easily fall for. However, the risk is equally proportional to capacity, the higher the risk the higher the return/liabilities and vice-versa.
8. BUSINESS FAILURE IS SEEN AS YOUR PERSONAL FAILURE:- Once your business idea fails, people see you as a failure as well because they can’t really disconnect you from the business itself. As an entrepreneur you are the image and brand of the business in one.
9. LACK OF CREDIT FACILITY APPEAL: - Assessing credit facilities is an uphill task because the collateral and legal capacity is not really there at the embryo stage of a small business start-up. There is the apprehension that you will bolt away with the credit/fund if availed.
10. YOU ARE SUBJECT TO ENVY: - Because you have decided to tow a path many dreaded, you automatically becomes a subject of envy by those who lacks the courage to take the bull by the horn. The entrepreneurial spirit is not for the Lilly livered, however, some are born into the culture while many became entrepreneur as a matter of necessity or by accident.

Challenges enumerated above has scared many would-be entrepreneur away from realizing their potentials albeit the many opportunities and gains of working from home or self-employed. It is my candid opinion for any aspiring entrepreneur to still try and break the barrier by starting a business today irrespective of the environment, challenges, odds and barriers. It is better to try and fail in business than not to try at all because your failure will make you better in decision making and will also build your confidence the more.

Olanite Lekan

ideasandprospects@gmail.com