When you're an up-and-coming entrepreneur, negotiating the ins and outs of managing and scaling a business can be quite a challenge. When these growing pains start to seep into your personal life, you owe it to yourself to figure out the best ways to manage them--for yourself and your business's sake.
Seven entrepreneurs from FounderSociety (FS) share challenges they've had to overcome in order to be successful.
Q. What business challenge affects you most personally, and why?
1. Learning How to Say No
As is the case with so many founders, I love people and I love crazy ideas. And as a young woman, society has trained me to want to "be nice" and to always say yes when people ask me for things. As my company grows, I'm continuously challenged to turn down ideas and conversations that don't move my business forward.– Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli
2. Finding Balance
Getting myself out of the office is always a struggle. Running a business can easily use up all of your time, effort, patience, and energy. You forget what it's like to prioritize non-work things after a while. I recently vowed to myself that I will prioritize a more balanced life between my family, my friends, and myself this year.– Jeff Gapinski, Huemor
3. Hiring a Team
Growing a company from scratch takes tons of time and effort. When the time comes to expand the team, thoughts of personal sacrifice almost turns into resentment when bringing on new employees. A helpful perspective for me is to view the growth phase as something that is enjoyable. Focusing on the upside of the growth phase creates a positive spin for new hires during tough times.– Brian Chiou, Enigma Systems LLC
4. Wanting to Actually Use the Product or Service
As entrepreneurs and business owners, we are continually offered new opportunities on a daily basis. One of the biggest challenges for myself is to decide whether or not this product or service is one that I would actually use and recommend to friends or family. Knowing and wanting the product you represent is one of the best ways to build a successful business that you are truly passionate about.– Zac Johnson, Start a Blog
5. Prioritizing
The biggest challenge is prioritizing work. I have two kids, ages three and one, but my firstborn is my company, Hey Gorgeous! I am constantly being pulled in every direction. When I am home with the kids, I want and need to be present and focused on my kids and not my phone, though there is a constant worry/guilt that I am missing something happening at work.– Aimee Cheshire, Hey Gorgeous
6. Maintaining the Work-Life Balance
As a business owner, it is easy to work around the clock building your business, and putting your personal hobbies and needs on the back burner. It's important to find a good balance between your work life and your personal life; otherwise, you will burn out quickly.– Courtney Spritzer, Socialfly
7. Avoiding the Allure of the 'Next Big Thing'
At my core, I'm an inventor. I love to throw stuff together and experiment with new ideas, code, and hardware. I spend my (extremely limited) free time coding up everything from games to email automation software. Some of these work way better than expected, but none of them are worth jumping ship from my current business. I have be sure of my focus and how to best apply my time.– Ben Gamble, Quincus
