Twenty years ago, I started a business. I didn’t know what a balance sheet was. I didn’t know what an income statement was. I didn’t even know how to fill out a simple payment form correctly. But I had a vision, and like most new entrepreneurs, I believed that was what mattered most. For the first few months, it seemed I was right.
Work was coming in. The phones were ringing. People believed in the story I was telling. Every small success only convinced me further that I knew what I was doing. But the truth was, I had no idea.
Not everything was a click away. There wasn’t as much content, advice, tutorials, people sharing their experiences, software, tools, and answers as you can find today in a matter of seconds.
I learned as I went, and some of those lessons cost me dearly.
I didn’t know how much I was actually earning. I didn’t know how much each mistake was costing me. I didn’t know the difference between revenue and profit. I didn’t know that a company could look vibrant on the outside while slowly bleeding on the inside.
Then comes the moment that almost every entrepreneur faces. Not one big problem. But ten small ones all at once. Bills. Salaries. Taxes. Delays. Miscalculations. People who leave. People you overestimated. People you underestimated. And suddenly you realize that a vision alone doesn’t pay the bills. It doesn’t solve problems. It doesn’t make decisions. It doesn’t save the company.
That’s when, for the first time, you stop pretending you know it all. And that’s when you actually start learning. Today, when I look back, I wouldn’t tell myself to take fewer risks. I wouldn’t tell myself to dream any less, either. I’d say something much simpler: “Reshide, find people who know what you don’t.”
A business doesn’t always fail because of a bad idea. It can also be threatened by the belief that you have to know everything yourself. And the ego is especially dangerous when it has no basis in reality. It whispers that you’re ready. Life then goes out of its way to show you just how far from ready you are. And that’s exactly where the true path of an entrepreneur begins.
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