The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America's startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today's answer to the question "What are some of the biggest misconceptions about startup life?” is written by Ed Mitzen, founder of Fingerpaint Marketing.
Being a startup entrepreneur definitely has its perks. You're your own boss and you get to build something that's truly meaningful to you and hopefully the consumers or clients you're trying to attract. It's great when things are going good, but the weight of responsibility and accountability can be too much bear when things turn south and it's all on you. So here's three harsh lessons I learned thus far:
Businesses don’t fail because they aren’t profitable. They fail because they run out of cash.
Cash is absolutely king when it comes to starting a business. You have to plan for slow times and unforeseen costs. There is nothing more stressful than not having enough cash coming in to pay your bills and staff. I've been there. It's agonizing and can take your energy away from growing your company.
When we were starting Fingerpaint, there was a period early on when we had our largest client pull back their spend due to unforeseen issues. We made the decision to not layoff staff in hopes it would instill loyalty and galvanize everyone to find new clients. While it did that, we were literally two weeks away from defaulting on our financial obligations and closing the company. There was a period of about three months when I didn't sleep and had health issues due to the crushing pressure. Fortunately, business turned around just in time and we pulled ourselves out of the abyss, but the lessons I learned in the beginning related to cash flow will never be forgotten.
If you think you will be able to take vacations and holidays like you did when you worked for someone else, forget it.
There are no days off in start-up life. You will be working around the clock just to survive. I've been in our office on Thanksgiving morning every year for the past 9 years, because to me, that morning is just another Thursday. While I've never missed a Thanksgiving celebration with my family, early on it was a struggle to "be present" when I was constantly thinking about surviving as an entrepreneur.
With all the companies I have helped to start, it was at least three years in before I could truly relax on vacation. Early on, you are always on. Emails, texts, voicemails and conference calls are a vacation reality. Several years ago we had an opportunity to earn some work at McDonald's. Yes, that McDonald's. The pitch was during my vacation, so I took two days in the middle of my vacation to make the meeting to try and win the business. We didn’t get the work (we came close), but if I had to do it again, I still would have made the decision to leave my vacation for a few days. That type of "do what it takes" attitude while you are taking a break is imperative for keeping your business alive in the start-up days.