Lessons from an entrepreneur

Written by Daz Burns

 

Entrepreneurship is a journey and one that is both challenging and rewarding, Daz talks us through five lessons so far that she has learnt from her experience as an entrepreneur!

 

It’s a new world.

A whole new world! (Enter Aladdin and the Genie…. Gosh I could really do with Will Smith or Robin Williams to grant me three wishes right about now!)

A new world. 

One that I was already super unfamiliar with.

The world of business.

The world in fact of being a tech business!

The world of being in business as a “green as green can be” start up.

Now everyone else who used to be the masters of this world.

The most knowledgeable.

The most experienced. 

The pioneers.

The OG’s.

The GOAT’s.

They have no idea how to navigate this either!

The ones we would normally have gone to for directions don’t have a road map.  

The world literally shut down! 

(Can you hear the GPS saing “make a u-turn when possible?”)

The rule book was thrown out with the bath water!

We have 3 blind mice leading 3 green mice and everyone is crashing into each other! 

 

Five lessons I have learnt…

So here are FIVE key lessons of a greener than green fledgling Entrepreneur in the middle of a worldwide pandemic that are still relevant today!

 

1. Perspectacles – glue them to your nose!

1. 1. 1. Resilience 
      2. Resilience
      3. Resilience…to find your second wind, third wind, fourth wind…. Sixtieth wind! 
      4. Be comfortable with being so far from your comfort zone that you can hear the crickets
      5. Have a rating system in the back of your mind to triage and scale the various challenges and problems you encounter, because there ain’t no time to sit and worry or dwell – you have to park things and keep moving forward.
      6. And did I mention resilience?

 

2. You have to see challenges as a training partner (and not one that is all that easy to defeat!)

1. 1. 1. 1. See every challenge as an opportunity and remember that luck is when preparation meets opportunity… so be ready! (thanks Randy Pausch).
         2. Anticipate challenges and welcome them with a smile. 
         3. Be able to fail fast and pivot where needed to make sure you recover as quickly as you possibly can and bounce back without deflating. 
         4. Always be in learning mode, student mode – no one knows it all, there is a golden nugget in every conversation, every blog, every podcast, every experience – be open to learning and pay attention!

3. Re-evaluate your definition of perseverance and hard work

1. 1. 1. It has tested every limit I thought I had and created new “limits” – not a bad thing at all, you never know how strong you are right? Until you need to be. 
      2. A strong work ethic is an absolute non-negotiable when the buck literally stops with you. 
      3. Hustle – you have to push yourself forward every single day, developing the mindset that nothing is going to shake you, that you are all in, that the power is yours and that you are going to keep on keeping on.
      4. Find your zone and dig deep.
      5. Also ensuring that you take the time to reflect, reset, reboot where needed so when detours occur you are equipped to deal with the unexpected.

4. Take care of you

1. 1. 1. Set your intentions, remind yourself of your strengths every single day and remind yourself to dial some of those strengths up on a hyper scale for what may be in front of you that day (ie. negotiation, patience or kindness).
      2. Positive self talk – you need to be bloody nice to yourself, none of this Evil Queen, you don’t deserve to be here, imposter syndrome shit.  You need sunshine, roses, the Bring It On cheerleader “I’m bitchin” kind of internal korero. 
      3. You can’t pour from an empty cup, as Gabrielle Pritchard puts it, if the plane is going down, you need to put your mask on first before you can help others!
      4. Have a village of experts who are there to help you grow, help you stand strong to withstand the storm and help you see beyond the horizon.  
      5. You also need to have a village filled with your whanau, your friends and amazing team who believe in you, challenge you, support you and still have your back regardless of your crazy new ideas!  
      6. Know what energises you and make sure every day you have that cup filling goodness to lift yourself. 

5. Think bigger than big… the biggest… 

1. 1. At the heart of decision making, in the face of the climb, remember your why, connect to your vision as this is your fuel to keep you moving towards the goal – and to know the direction you are moving in is the right one.
   2. Connect to your non negotiables and stick to your guns, ie. If you say you don’t work with shit heads, back that up with your actions and stand by it regardless. 
   3. Remember anything legendary takes risk and reflect often on those legends you respect and the paths they carved! 

 

So we ran

So the blind mice, during uncertain times we saw how they ran.

Some ran away from the challenges.

Some ran towards.

Some ran with integrity.

Some ran with desperation.

Some ran with the cool crowd.

Some ran with heart.

Some ran selfishly to help themselves.

Some ran selflessly to help others. 

 

The entrepreneurial running. 

However you do it.

Is not for the faint hearted.

You are often running like a cadet in the army with a very heavy backpack, navigating unknown terrain, unforeseen challenges and an opposition you can’t anticipate the actions of. 

 

But it is worth it!

So worth it.

If your vision is helping others.

If you stay true to yourself and keep your integrity intact.

And if you manage to pull off the dream… even in an MVP (or as Saskia van der Geest calls it MLP – Minimum Loveable Product).

Then it is worth it.

You learn more than you could ever imagine. 

You grow and open your mind. 

And you become helpful to others in similar situations with your sellotaped together roadmap that might help them in their journey forward too.

 

Daz xx