Here’s How Entrepreneurs Think Differently Than Employees

I’ve found that when people get into business they’re usually very motivated and often even excited. Everything is so new, exciting and great. But at a certain point, every person who gets into business, and every person who becomes an entrepreneur, hits a wall.  It’s like a plateau. When you’re learning, and you’re reaching mastery, you’re going to hit these plateaus where it seems like you can’t move forward. This can happen even if it seems like you’re doing the right thing.

My First Client: My First Pain

Back in the day, I actually got my first client. This was many years ago, and it was a client for some video work. The client was awesome, and I was super excited. I felt like I was finally an entrepreneur and everything was going to work out. Here’s what happened though. It turned out that it was actually a lot of work. I undercharged for the project and I had to do everything myself. At the time, I didn’t know how to delegate or how to partner up with someone. For a very small amount of money, I had to do everything myself.

So I hit a roadblock, and I thought wow, is this really it? Maybe it’s not as good as having a job. Maybe it’s even harder and the rewards are smaller. Because I was brand new I had all these doubts. I didn’t have any proof yet and I didn’t know anyone else who was successful with what I was doing.

Learning To Outsource The Work

Now I have clients who I teach how to build a business. I see that it happens to them sometimes. Some people will get a project, they’ll get their first or their second sale, and then they will realize that it’s actually a lot of work. They’re doing it all themselves and they end up feeling very stressed about it. I have to talk them out of quitting because they didn’t realize that it was going to be so difficult.

There is a common misconception from people who are used to having a job, that you have to suffer through this yourself. You have to somehow manage your own time and figure it out. As an entrepreneur, there is a much better solution to this. When you get your first sale, you don’t have to sit there and figure out every little part of the project all by yourself, if you can outsource it. If you can pass some of the work along to another person for $4 an hour, then there is no reason to stress yourself out about it.

The lesson is that from day one, as soon as it’s possible, give away the work that you’re not able to do or that you don’t want to do. Delegate the simple tasks to someone else. Learn this skill as soon as possible.

That doesn’t mean that you’re going to be sitting on your yacht while all these people do the work for you. That’s not what I’m saying. You still need to work, but your job in the company should be the person who gets the sales. You need to be the person who actually produces the stream of leads that are eventually converted to sales. As soon as possible, your job in the business has to be focussing on the processes. You need to build the processes so that the business can grow.

You shouldn’t feel like just an employee in your business. If you want to grow your business to six or seven figures, you need to figure out how to create a business process. If you don’t do this, you will get stuck at a certain point. There is going to be this invisible wall that always prevents you from going further. The wall is actually just time. You don’t have thirty hours in a day, even if you work your ass off you still only have sixteen. This wall is going to stop you from ever growing past a certain point of revenue. Unless you learn how to delegate and outsource work, there is no way around this wall.

Your Job: Getting The Cash Register To Ring

Here’s a real life example of this from one of my clients. He’s been a developer for several years, working for $15 an hour. His job is very hands-on and he has to take care of every little detail himself. So he ended up getting his first sale as an entrepreneur, and it’s the same kind of work that he’s doing during the day. That made it simple, and he just buckled down and went straight into the work.

As it turns out , it’s actually several weeks of difficult work. That means he’s been coming home from his job only to work on this client’s project. It just took up all of his time. So because he’s doing all this work himself, what else has he been doing during those weeks? Absolutely nothing. What could he have been doing? He could have been producing more of these sales.

The actual hands on labor that he’s been doing, how much does it cost to outsource it? We checked, and you can get it done for $4 an hour. How much money can he be making if he closes one sale per week? Thousands of dollars every week. So is it profitable to outsource that work for $4 an hour, and to spend his actual time on getting new clients? Hell yeah.

Making The Transition

So that’s what we’re doing right now, and that’s actually the advice that I gave him. Now he has the time to actually build this into a business, and not just work it as a freelance gig. More to point, if he keeps getting these sales and he keeps building this business, he can hire an army of these people! They can do the work for him while he brings in the sales. That will allow him to grow his business to six or seven figures.

When you hit that point, when you hit your first couple of sales, don’t be afraid that you’re going to get stuck. Don’t be afraid that you won’t be able to handle the workload or get the project finished in time. There is always a solution.

As an entrepreneur, you have to be looking for the solutions. From the sale and handling the objections, all the way down to managing the project. This even includes delivering the project and getting paid. Everywhere you are going to run into problems and objections, issues that you’ve never had to face before.

I recommend that you get a mentor, a person that has been through it before. You can also figure it out on your own, either through my videos or maybe something else on YouTube. But whatever you do, you need to figure it out.

There is always a solution. Make sure that you always proceed, don’t quit. This is where the real fun starts. This is what it takes to build a profitable enterprise. It is one of the skills that you will develop as you work to grow your business.

That’s all I have to say about it. If you liked this article or have any questions, please leave a comment below. Also, if you’d like more free information about sales, marketing and entrepreneurship, check out my YouTube channel.