The Roller Coaster Ride of an Entrepreneur: Lessons Learned on my Journey

Being an entrepreneur is a roller coaster ride. There are highs and lows, and it's a journey that is full of lessons. In this blog post, I will share some of the lessons I have learned on my entrepreneurial journey. If you are an entrepreneur or are thinking of becoming one, then this blog post is for you!

The Start of my Journey

My entrepreneurial journey began in 2013. At the time, I was on maternity leave with my youngest child. I was looking for projects to accomplish. I set my heart on the idea to find a natural remedy for my children's eczema. It had always bothered me as a mother to lather some chemical ointment to soothe their skin irritations. After trial and error, I finally found a winning combination of natural ingredients that helped ease my children's skin irritations. That is how ELUCX Miracle Balm came into existence.

Then a lightbulb went off! I decided to start my own business making and selling natural skincare products. That was the beginning of my beautiful journey as an entrepreneur. 

Like any entrepreneur, the journey is filled with many ups and downs. The highs are incredible, but they don't last forever. There will be times when you feel like you're on top of the world and other times feel like you're at the bottom of the pit.

Can you plan for them? It would depend on your personality type, and come with the experience. I am a very organized and analytical person. These personality traits have served me well in creating and putting the necessary steps into my plan to make it happen. 

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

So what are the highs?

I am grateful to have encountered many great people who have helped me along my journey. They include my family, friends, mentors and even my employees. Each one of them has contributed to my growth in its way.

I would not be the person I am today without their love and support. I am incredibly thankful for those who have challenged me to think outside the box and push myself to new limits. They have helped me to grow in ways I could never have imagined.

What are the lows that I have encountered on this entrepreneurial journey?

In the early stage of my journey, I had lots of self-doubts. Are my products excellent and compelling enough for people to spend their hard-earned money on? Do I have money to continue investing in this project, not knowing if it will result in a positive outcome?

Also, it is easy to get overwhelmed when you are just starting. So many things to accomplish yet so few skills and financial resources.

These are the sentiments of many entrepreneurs, so if that is how you feel as you begin your journey as an entrepreneur, you are not alone. 

What are the lessons I have learned as an entrepreneur?

Many entrepreneurs start their businesses with the sole purpose of making money. While there's nothing wrong with that, it can be motivating to think about something bigger than yourself when you're working long hours and facing challenging setbacks.

That's why I decided to make social responsibility the foundation of my business. By employing men and women in precarious situations, we are not only helping them to improve their lives, but we are also making a positive impact on our community. It's a great feeling to know that our work is making a difference, and it gives me the motivation I need to keep pushing myself to new limits.

So if you are thinking about embarking on this journey, find your why.

Also, as an entrepreneur, I need to learn to do all the things for the business before it starts making any money. This includes everything from bookkeeping and marketing to product development and customer service. By doing everything myself, I have gained a deep understanding of every aspect of the business. This knowledge will be invaluable as I grow the company and start to delegate tasks to others.

So the moral of the story: be willing to learn new skills! We all have a certain level of talent and capability, but sometimes it takes a willingness to learn new skills to realize people's true potential.

Another thing I have learned on this journey is to trust my instinct. When I started to doubt myself, I was comparing myself to others who have been in the business for a lot longer or who seem to have it all together. It's easy to forget that we are all on our journey, facing our own challenges. 

Another invaluable lesson is to adopt the bootstrapping process. So what is bootstrapping? It refers to self-funding a business without relying on outside investors. In either case, the goal is to grow the business gradually, using internal resources instead of taking on debt or selling equity.

It was not easy in the beginning since I wanted to have everything in place as soon as possible. But as I quickly realized, having financial peace is much more rewarding than having the financial stress of growing a business by relying heavily on borrowed funds.

I hope that my story and the lessons I've learned will help you as an entrepreneur or give you some insight into what to expect. Of course, this isn't everything – some highs and lows go along with being an entrepreneur that I haven't mentioned here. But these are the things that have helped me stay positive and motivated during tough times and continue on to this day. 

What do you do to keep your morale up when things get tough? Let us know in the comments below! 

Thank you for being part of my journey if you are reading this far. ♥️