The Dirty Little Secret of Business

Self-bossing (i.e. entrepreneurship) comes with a dirty little secret.

It’s something that EVERY SINGLE GURU you listen to, read about, or even envy KNOWS… but most just don’t discuss.  Especially not publicly.  MOST SPECIFICALLY not when you’re being sold into an event or virtual program.  And if it is mentioned, it’s glossed over really quickly.

Sort of like other “dirty little secrets” — like man-scaping or marijuana use or how ridiculously silly celebrities must feel attending wedding after wedding of their peers. lol…

The other day I was eavesdropping on a couple of women entrepreneurs talking.  Essentially, it was a “hard times” conversation. Finally it ended with a wistful, “There’s got to be a way to make tons of money without really working.” I walked away without sharing the dirty little secret with them:

Business Success Takes Work.

WILD, unreasonable success will require a lot of work.

I quit my job to raise my babies. I was not unwilling to work, as I’m convinced my mother-in-law thought back then.  =) She constantly talked to me about “cushy” jobs I could get…  those that didn’t require me to do “much” but paid relatively well.  She wasn’t getting it, not back then anyway.  I wasn’t lazy.  Far from it!  I was just unwilling to work all day while my babies were in someone else’s care. Period.

But, I also had to replace my income — immediately…. or lose the only thing we owned:  our home.  I admit that when I started my own business, I too was looking for ways to work less and make more.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I could PLAY business in as few hours a week as I’d like.  I saw and met a LOT of women playing business, never measuring what they were making.  Never seeming to worry about sales.  Spending a lot of money and spinning their wheels.  (I reasoned that they were just playing business to be able to tell their husbands what they were doing all day!)  But if I wanted to MAKE any REAL money– and I did —  I’d have to pull hours that made me envy the person working “just” a 40-hour week.

Now, I’ve learned a lot since then.  I’ve learned how and what to delegate — from Maggie Ruch of www.precisiondelegation.com. I’ve learned what works and what doesn’t in terms of getting new clients.  So, I could save time by ONLY doing things that served my goals.

Right now, my hours are probably the envy of the full timer.  I work 8:15 – 2:30 Monday thru Friday.

But don’t envy me yet.  I still pull some insanely  early mornings… and you have to realize that my hours between 8:15 and 2:30 are jam packed.  No water cooler conversations, no play breaks, no idle time.  It’s me… literally working against the clock, hustling non-stop.

And then, those three kids that launched my DESIRE to be a self-bosser?  Well, they consume the rest of the day for me.  Softball, Volleyball, Football, Homework, Projects, Dinner, Cuddle time, and finally:  Bed time.  And then, my Mister wants my attention. By the time I fall asleep, I feel like I’ve squeezed a week into every single day.

And, I think that’s the dirty little secret.  As entrepreneurs, we work.  After all, there’s a lot to do.  We create:  Jobs.  Money.  Security.  Opportunity.  Contrary to Obama’s belief: I did build this business on my own… brick by brick.  And so did most business owners I know.

Another dirty little secret:  It was the hardest work I ever loved.