I used to think I was a business owner, and I’ll be honest, it was cool as hell.
(Currently realizing how little sense that expression makes)
In 2017 I started a business with 3 co-founders, we capitalized it, divvied up responsibilities, and got started.
Shortly after, we landed our first customer and cashed our first check.
BAM! I was a business owner.
Right?
Wrong.
It took me about a year and a half to finally realize that I didn’t own my business, I was my business.
And I never really would have understood the contrast had it not been for the events of this past month.
What was the catalyst, you might ask?
Well, two things happened.
First, one of my advisors made a pretty point blank statement and left little room for misunderstanding.
It went something like,
“Seth, you are your business.
Your business is Seth!
Seth is Periwinkle!
Periwinkle is Seth!
You are your business!”
Oh…
I am a state school graduate with a 3.45 GPA, so I was able to catch on pretty quick.
I was my business.
Me and my business were two in the same.
Makes sense.
I got it!
Yeah, I’d like to say I am that smart and quick to catch on, but when’s the last time you took one person’s opinion and accepted it as law?
Luckily for me, there was a second punch coming.
Exactly 2 weeks later, I was on a call with an investor discussing a challenge our business was facing and he said,
“Hey I didn’t invest in your business, I invested in you.
I don’t give a shit about your business, I am betting on you.
I think you can find a way to make this work.
I would have never invested in your business alone.”
Some might be wanting to caution me on this investor now, but I think he was just trying to make a point…
I think.
Both a compliment and a slap in the face simultaneously.
Ah… The life of entrepreneurship.
While he didn’t exactly say, “You are your business, and your business is you!”
I think it’s fair to say that he was saying the exact same thing, just worded in a different way.
So what’s the takeaway?
Until you can go get on a sail boat and spend 6 months sailing around the world without a hiccup in your business, you are your business, you don’t own your business.
If you are still skeptical, then I’d say you’re pretty dang likely to be a successful entrepreneur.
Why? Because you are unwilling to accept what people say without vetting it for yourself.
More on this on my post about rejecting the default.
And I’d also point you to a book that may help prove my point.
It’s not the easiest read in the world, but it addresses a problem that should fascinate you if you play in this sandbox.
The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
This book is all about answering the question of why most small businesses fail and how to overcome the odds.
If you want your life to include building business and this book’s subtitle doesn’t fascinate you, then I’m not sure you know how much the odds are stacked against us.
We don’t own our business, our business owns us until the day that we hire someone to replace us and we sail off into the sunset with a cold margarita in hand.
With this in mind, make sure you think twice before starting your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd business because it’s gonna need you to survive.