The E-Entrepreneur

Have you ever felt a lack of satisfaction or a lack of accomplishment even after the completion of a big project/task? Often times, we are just so focused on getting the work done that we never really pause and ask ourselves why are we doing what we are doing?  Do those reasons align with your beliefs and values?  Because if they don’t, then you are going to have a hard time doing those tasks in the long term and you are better off spending your time on doing something else.

I was inspired by this great book recommended to me by @SThomps: “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek.  He emphasizes that we should always have a clear understanding of the purpose.  Here’s the author’s TED talk:

I look at marathon runners and Iron men/women.  Why do they keep running despite feeling pain, discomfort and exhaustion? Life is like running a marathon.  You could give up at the three-quarters mark or you could keep running.  Those who continue on are those who have not lost sight on the purpose of the race.

I decided to take a pause to reflect on what I am doing.  The life of an entrepreneur is not easy.  After a long day, I do ask myself why I’m putting up with this sh!t: getting hung up on the phone, being turned away from annoyed receptionists, living on paycheck to paycheck, working long hours, stressing out, losing out on time with friends and family.  But then I would remind myself of the underlying reasons for choosing this path.

Here are my reasons for becoming an entrepreneur and they keep my engine running in all conditions:

1. Not Gold Rich, but New Rich.  Many people have this misconception that entrepreneurs are going to be ultra-rich, well you might want to think about that again: 90% of new businesses are going to fail within the first 3 years.  If it’s not about money, then what is it? As Tim Ferriss would say, it’s all about the New Rich.  New Rich is the currency of time and mobility.  I cannot stand the 9 to 5, or the cubicle, or the rules, or the micromanagement that comes with any big corporation.

Freedom + Independence + Fun = Booyah!

2. Personal Development.  It’s a definite fact that I won’t grow anymore when it comes to height, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t grow personally.  I’m constantly learning, picking up new skills and challenging myself to explore the unknown territory.  Not only that, but I feel that I get to be myself and do things that truly reflects my character and personality.

3. Community.  I feel so privileged to be surrounded /+ to be meeting /+ to be working along with some of the most enthusiastic and intelligent individuals.   I’m always constantly learning from them and I enjoy being part of a community that shares and exchanges thoughts and knowledge.

4. Live a meaningful and fulfilling life.  At the end of my life, I want to be remembered as someone who has contributed to the community and has made a difference in people’s lives.  This may be through Clinicbook or through other means.  To me, being able to do that is what makes life meaningful and fulfilling.

About two weeks ago, I had the pleasure to Skype-meet with a fellow entrepreneur from Toronto Spencer Thompson (www.sokanu.com). During our insightful conversation, Spencer recommended a few books. One of them was Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh.

I recently finished reading this book written by the CEO of Zappos – an online shoe company that was acquired by Amazon for $1.2 billion dollars worth of stocks. In the book, Tony shares his life story from starting a button business during his childhood to founding and selling his first company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $245 million when he was only 24 years old!

If you are an entrepreneur, you’ll find that he’s someone who you can relate to and you’ll learn the importance of maintaining a strong company culture.

If you are not an entrepreneur, it doesn’t matter, you’ll still find his book insightful and inspirational.

During the early years of Zappos, the business was not profitable and it was struggling to raise money from investors despite Tony’s good relationships with venture capitalists from his first venture LinkExchange. On the verge of company bankruptcy, he put the money from the sale of his properties and investments into Zappos to keep the company afloat.

It is no doubt that many people did not understand why he did that. But to him, it didn’t matter what others thought because he believed in the business. Tony showed that as entrepreneur, you do what you do because you are passionate about what you are working on and you find it meaningful. Your company might not be profitable at the moment, but you continue to work hard on growing the company because you believe that your product would deliver a positive impact on people’s lives. Today, many companies focus on maximizing profitability and completely neglect on delivering value and purpose to its customers.

The same can be applied to individuals. Are you delivering what you really want to be delivering? For me, I want to deliver WOW’s in life — to people around me and to myself.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you are a business-owner or not, you will take away something valuable from it.