I was probably lucky in my entrepreneurial journey that the first business I ever was part of launching was an investor backed startup.
I was in the MBA program at SDSU, and in my second year, I got an internship to work with two experienced business owners who wanted to launch a new business. This was in 1999, at the peak of the frenzy of the dotcom era- everyone was trying to launch an internet business.
The one we came up with (narrowed from a long list of ideas) was called TheRent.com. The idea was we’d allow apartment communities to have an online hub for everything related to their buildings- including a place for tenants to pay their rent online.
Sounds basic now, but at the time there was nothing like it, and paying online for things was still relatively novel.
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We worked on it, built mockups and then a full working site, had meetings with big apartment owners (who were all very excited) and small property managers, and wrote and rewrote and rewrote the business plan and pitch deck.
Some days, it looked like everything was going our way, and we’d have millions of dollars of investment within days. Other days we’d get a string of no’s and we’d wonder why we were wasting our time on this useless venture.
Some days we’d go through intense highs and terrible lows between morning coffee and afternoon snack break, and then come back the next day and do it all again. It was a serious emotional washing machine. And I didn’t even have any money invested, only time! But I was given a part ownership stake so I had upside if it all worked out.
Which it didn’t. Eventually, the founders got tired of funding the effort and threw in the towel. I ended up with a great nine month education in all the things you face when trying to start a new tech business and raising the money to do it.
More importantly though, it taught me a lot about staying level-headed which has served me well in my 25 years of entrepreneurship since.
There are going to be days where you feel ecstatic about how things are going and like you couldn’t dream of ever having decided to do anything else. You’ll be so bursting with positive energy you’ll practically vibrate.
But then there are going to be days where if someone offered you a dollar to buy the entire business on the spot, you’d take it and walk away without a second thought. You’d feel like the weight of the world suddenly lifted off your shoulders.
Most days are in between, of course!
The thing to keep in mind is that the lows usually aren’t nearly as bad as they seem at first, and sometimes are a blessing in disguise. And the highs are rarely quite as good as they seemed either, although enjoy the feeling until it fades!
Either way, the best path forward is just to keep moving forward, working on things you can fix and doing your best to ignore things that are completely out of your control.
Even now, 25 years in, this is much easier for me to say than always to do, but I try and I can console myself with knowing it’s true even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
So if you haven’t been at this as long as I have and you’re starting to feel down about things then take comfort in knowing there is always a way forward. If you’re feeling great about things, enjoy the moment but don’t let it make you overconfident or ready to rest on your laurels.
Either way, a calm attitude and slow, steady progress forward are how you can keep being a business owner during the day from taking over your entire life or sending you on your own emotional rollercoaster!