Being an Entrepreneur Vs. Punching A Time Clock

March 2, 2017

I don’t care what type of industry you are in. While trying to launch a start up campaign especially in the St. Louis T-shirt printing business, there are always a few common denominators. Every new company who is starting from nothing will share certain things that are in common, but at the same time they are all unique unto themselves. One of the things that all new entrepreneurs need to do is to get out of the thinking or mindset that they need to put in extra long days and even nights. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not insinuating that hard work is not important, but I am stating that when it comes to making a name for yourself and setting yourself apart from all the other St. Louis screen printing and custom embroidery companies out there, it is much more important to work wisely. You are no longer getting compensated for simply punching a time clock and showing up until it’s time to go home. I’m not saying that I’m against that, as it certainly has its place if that’s all you want out of life. But if you’re chasing the American dream of owning your own business, then you need to approach it completely differently.

I remember when I had a 9 to 5 job and as soon as that clock hit 5:00 p.m., I was out of there and did not give it a second thought until it was time to show up again the very next day. I can also remember having my weekends to myself. Again, there’s a lot to be said for this and am not knocking anyone for approaching life this way. That being said, I am an entrepreneur, which means all the rules have changed when it comes to making ends meet and earning a living. Just like everything else, there’s an upside as well as a downside and you have to weigh it out accordingly. Every Monday I start from zero. No matter how good of a week I had prior. This means that there are times when you can really start to feel the pressure by the time Wednesday rolls around and nothing has kicked in yet. The deeper into the week you get, the more pressure you feel until something finally kicks in. The very first jobs are always the hardest ones to get. After that, the momentum starts going the right direction and the other ones seem to follow quickly. It’s kind of similar to trying to get a train started. After the train gets going and picks up speed, it’s equally difficult to stop it. In other words, the better you do, the easier it gets from that point on. One of the things I like best about being in business for myself is that there is no limit to how well I can do. Unlike someone who earns the same guaranteed paycheck every week. Mine can be quite a bit different from one work week to the next. Another thing I like about it is that there is no commute in the morning. I can simply enjoy my morning drinking a cup of coffee and head to my office and fire up my laptop and I’m instantly doing business

It’s great to live in a digital society where information can shoot across the world at the speed of light. Distance doesn’t matter anymore as I can run this St. Louis digital T-shirt printing company from anywhere in the world as long as I have a cell phone signal and Internet.