The life lessons I learned from leaving the entrepreneurial life

I left the entrepreneurial life.

It began on a whim. I’d grown bored with making different folks rich whereas staying in the identical place and determined I wanted to do that for myself. I used to be between jobs and had simply moved again to the Austin space, so I began a kitchen-table graphic design firm with the assistance of my daughter, who can be a designer. In two years, we have been a four-person workforce, with shoppers starting from Journey Texas to TGI Fridays.

We labored remotely, have been family-friendly, had a four-day work week, and had the posh of taking up initiatives that we cherished. It was ideally suited however fragile. There have been feast or famine moments, and whereas we formally solely labored 4 days every week, enterprise growth and technique was my round the clock obligation.

We hung in there for almost eight years. When my daughter obtained a possibility of a lifetime to work overseas, she grabbed it. Across the similar time, my largest consumer determined to take their artwork division in-house, so we misplaced half of our annual income. It was an enormous loss. I attempted a rebrand, a partnership, and some podcasts, however my little company was treading water.

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Main shoppers become gigs, and cash was tight. I needed to discover a job.

There’s a language you communicate with different entrepreneurs, and a sure reverence is reserved for many who have succeeded. They’ve clout, grit, moxy, and chops. They’re courageous sufficient to go toe-to-toe on a job with corporations that possess fats financial institution accounts, strategists, and precise artistic departments. It’s an incredible feeling to be on the helm, to see your work in main media, and to see your shoppers thrive. To go away that for the security of a gradual paycheck and healthcare is without delay an excellent reduction, and terribly heartbreaking.

When trying to find a job as a former entrepreneur, you’re seen as a little bit of a renegade.

You could have the abilities and expertise they’re searching for, however lack the pedigree of an enormous company, and the civility of company life.

You’re too bossy or artful to be an affiliate, however too tough across the edges to be a frontrunner. You’re in a little bit of a no-man’s land, which type of solely resonates with different entrepreneurs or start-ups. And dealing for these guys is why you left workplace life within the first place.

Six months later, all of us entered the Covid period, and I used to be and stay glad to have an excellent job. I nonetheless do one or two gigs a yr. I say that it’s to maintain my company’s portfolio lively, however I think about it’s largely as a result of I nonetheless want I had a chunk of that life.

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