If they hadn’t started their ‘entrepreneur’s A to Z’s, I’d have happily sailed on, but something like that, to someone like me… well, you can see from Chris’ blog where he published his A-Z that I was compelled to offer some kind of ‘harsh truth’ alternative. And then he asked me nicely if I’d do my own social entrepreneurs’ A-Z, based on my own experiences of being a micro enterprise these last 9 years, and supporting countless others over the last 3 decades….
So here it is – a no-holds barred, ‘what they don’t tell you about what it’ll be like’ A-Z of being a (social) entrepreneur. And I’ll probably change my mind about most of these after Chris has posted them up, but nothing lasts forever, so here’s my alphabet for now:
A – anxiety; this is natural. Best to medicate symptoms with beer and cake.
B – bluster and bravado; people will take you more seriously the more confident you sound, so don’t be so British: be more American in how to present and promote yourself!
C – coffee; there’ll be many late nights. And even longer weekends, so make sure there’s always plenty in the kitchen.
D – denial; you’ll deal with a lot of this in your clients. Brush up on your diplomacy with them.
E – eggs; they’re good for you. Eat healthy. You’ll thank me for that later.
F – fooling around; don’t forget to try and have fun in what you do. It you wanted a boring job, you should have got that job stacking shelves in a supermarket.
G – goosebumps; there’ll be moments of such excitement when you realise you’ve pulled off what you thought wasn’t possible within the laws of this universe. Enjoy them, revel in them, and encourage others with stories about them.
H – hype and spin; there’s a lot from sector bodies and politicians. Learn how to spot it, and how to ignore it.
I – internet and social media; a wonderful source of faux companionship, and also of filling those odd bits of time between meetings and other things.
J – jumping through other people’s hoops; you can choose not to, but then you won’t get any paying work. Choose your hoops carefully…
K – kleptomania; keep your stationery supplies topped up by taking the free pens, etc from exhibitors and conferences
L – lies, damned lies, and statistics; you’ll start out wondering how anyone can behave apparently completely dishonestly in their dealings with you. If you’re not careful, you’ll eventually start to turn into them…
M – money; you can never have enough, and you often won’t have enough. As much as you wish you could get through this world on love and fresh air, someone’s got to pay to keep the lights on.
N – naughtiness; get into trouble – it’s the best way to get noticed and create impact (and you can always apologise later…)
O – opportunistic; grab chances where you see them – they’ll probably not come around again for some time…
P – pubs; you won’t see the inside of these as much as you used to/would like to.
Q – questions; people don’t asked enough of them, especially about (sometimes questionable) advice they’re offered from ‘expert advisers’
R – research; you can never do enough: keep learning about everything or you’ll quickly be surpassed by others.
S – stories; in the end we’re all stories. Make sure yours is a good one.
T – time travel; you’ll wish you had this to cope with shifting deadlines by clients.
U – universe; the universe is a big place – don’t forget that: it might help keep things in perspective.
V – values; know what you stand for, what you’re willing to compromise on, and where you’re not happy to go: once you’re out there, it’s easy to drift into ‘bad habits’ otherwise…
W – wives (and other types of spouse); you’ll spend less time with them, so make sure when you do, that they know they have your full attention.
X – xenophobia; don’t avoid outsiders – they’ll often be more interesting and challenging to your ideas (and therefore success) that you usual crowd of mates will be.
Y – yellow snow; never eat this. And never overlook the value of advice and support that also reflects common sense – it’s a rare commodity.
Z – zoos; sometimes you’ll be the zookeeper, sometimes the animal being expected to perform. Remember that both have their place, and neither can flourish without the other.
This post first appeared as a guest blog on enterpriseessentials blog on Dec 17 2014
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