I wrote myself a 90-day escape plan as I sat at my desk pretending like I loved my job. I didn’t hate my job, but I knew I needed more out of life. So, I mapped out a game plan that would lead to an eventual resignation from my position. It included how much money I needed to save in order to be comfortable, a list of bills that could never be late and detailed how many connections I needed to make that would provide me with assured customers while I was on my journey to entrepreneurship. One week after I wrote this, I was let go from my job. God has a sense of humor. Immediately after this happened, I knew it was go-time!
I had to hustle, just like I always told people I would if the day came that I was out of work. I did just that. For months, I built my business from the ground up and, thanks to friends and family, while I humbled my lifestyle, I never lacked anything. Months later, I had a pretty popping start-up for an entrepreneur newbie. My first book had sold out of stock and my speaking/lifestyle-coaching business was taking off.
Out of 585 US billionaires, 62 percent are self-made, according to Wealth-X 2016. If that’s not a stat that encourages one to pursue your personal ventures, I don’t know what will. This tell us that it is possible to start a business from the ground up and be super successful. Genhc.com provided statistics that show over 60 percent of millennials believe job security is within owning their own business, and over 30 percent already have already established one. Beyond these stats, after graduating college, my circle of friends journeyed onto corporate jobs, yet, now more than half us no longer work a nine to five because we’ve started businesses. This is the new wave. We have low-risk starting businesses because we have less to lose. Many of us aren’t married yet or have children, so we have the freedom to sacrifice, fail then try again, work hard and give entrepreneurship our all without neglecting those priorities.
Among the Atlanta circuit, entrepreneurship is popular, fashionable and quite easy to do, if you ask me. We foster the environment for it. Especially among innovative African Americans, there is a strong community that encourages small companies. The National Association of Education Statistics informed us that black women are the most educated segment within the U.S. population. With this education, we are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the U.S. This utterly excites me.
Our generation is not lazy. We millennials love to work, but if we can’t get into a career field that suites us, we create our own. Sometimes our jobs aren’t paying enough and we create business to supplement our income. This is ingenious. We create opportunity and don’t wait for anyone to hand anything to us. With the rise in technology and the potential for many jobs to become extinct thanks to robots and such, we create a better future securing our own access to wealth and longevity within the market we so choose.
My favorite part about entrepreneurship is working harder for myself than I have ever worked for anyone. I love going to my office and putting the eight hours I work for someone else into my dream. The flexibility of being your own boss is amazing, and so is the freedom. It is exhilarating knowing you’re going from being employed to being the employer. You can be that amazing boss to someone else that you wish you had.
The hard part is that no one is writing a check for you. You’ve got to go out and create your own everyday. Most often, you work overtime nights and weekends; your business is your baby you never want to neglect it. Money comes and goes and there are definitely peaks and valleys. Sometimes you’re the CEO, accountant, fire extinguisher, marketing director, recruiter and maintenance all in one. Some days you tell yourself to give up and just go get a job because it’s easier. This road isn’t for the faint of heart, yet, it is quite rewarding.
Everyone isn’t meant to be an entrepreneur. If you’ve found a career path you love, kudos, seriously. Lucky you. Being a creative is tough. You seem crazy all the time because ideas never stop flowing, and you’re often restless. I never felt comfortable anywhere except in my own business. Why? Life wouldn’t let me be at peace until I connected to my divine purpose. Because of my connection to the creator, I’ve been blessed to be so in tune with myself that I feel shifts in my life before they come. I just try to prepare as best as I can for their arrival. You are the master of your fate; you are the delegate of your time. Whether you work a nine to five or you own a company, choose a path you know at the end of it you will be fulfilled. All I want to express to you is that millennials are changing the game, whether it’s being innovative on their jobs or creating their own. Don’t miss the wave!
