The entrepreneur and Police officer

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Entrepreneurs become successful as they gain mastery in their perception and effective use of time to actualise their dreams. In life, it takes time to succeed!

Aspiring entrepreneurs transiting from paid to self-employment should understand that they can only thrive in business when they break free from the limitations of eight-hour working day mentality.

A comparison of apples and oranges

The entrepreneur and the police officer have one thing in common. No, it is not what you think. The former is a business person focused on making money but the latter, law enforcement officer focused on protecting people and property; we are not trying to compare apples and oranges.

The essence of this analogy, however, is based not on the nature of work but similarity in the time they both spend at work. It was McBeth that said, “Being an entrepreneur is like being a policeman – you are never off duty.”

How entrepreneurs spend time

Fundamentally, the entrepreneurs have a life. They enjoy themselves. But they do not have a time they close from their work. They multi-task and work round the clock with unending laundry lists of ‘TO-DOs’ and deadlines.

Your mindset should change the moment you set out to work for yourself. You can no longer apply the eight to five rule. Notwithstanding the time you start your day, you can no longer close by 5pm working only Monday to Friday.

Entrepreneurs succeed because they are always thinking, planning, working and earning money while others who love their comfort are long gone into the deep sleep stage. This is one of the secrets of the rich people that the poor do not know.

Time and the dilemma of employees

Most employees will like to quit their jobs to become entrepreneurs if they win a lottery that would take away the stress of raising start-up capital.

Ironically, they loathe their current jobs because they are made to work longer hours. They also criticise their bosses for making them to work extra hours. They prefer to work for themselves so that they can work less but earn more money.

The motivation to quit your job on the basis of work hours is counterproductive. Becoming an entrepreneur is not an escape to ‘work-less-earn-more’.

The mirage of ‘work-less-earn-more’

The entrepreneurs do not have the luxury of eight-hour working day. They are committed to seeing their businesses succeed that they cannot afford to switch to pleasure when they have work to do. This is their life and they enjoy what they do.

Although the International Labour Organisation stipulates an average of eight hours in the day for the generality of workers, it is a mirage to assume that ‘working less to earn more’ is the path to becoming an entrepreneur.

People who aspire to work only for eight hours in a day may never become an entrepreneur. You should pay a visit to the police station and interview a police officer on his hours of work before you take the leap.

You are never off duty

This is because you will never have a closing time when you become an entrepreneur. There is, of course, a place for work-life balance, and you will attain that when you gain mastery over your perception and use of time as you start up or manage your own business.

Gaining mastery of time

You are the boss now and require a paradigm shift. You have work to do and bills to pay. You need thinking, planning, working and winning customers to make money. These take quality time. You have to be ready to invest efforts and energy in order to create an impact in the marketplace. Working eight-hour a day is a luxury that you cannot afford.

The longer hours you have to work, the better. Extra hours do not harm. You become smarter and more productive when you spend quality time improving your processes, products and people to give your business the competitive edge you need in the marketplace.

You should make a habit of investing in self-development because it enhances your capability to perceive time correctly and manage your business for productivity and profitability. Investing in self-development takes time, and money. You should create time to learn more about yourself, business and industry. Learning new methods of what works at personal retreats, seminars, conferences or collaborating with strategic partners enhances your viability in the marketplace.

You should also make punctuality in business a habit. This is one quality of successful people that most people ignore. You show that you respect yourself and others when you are prompt for meetings, events and appointments. You have watches, calendars, year planners and computers, and you should use them to your advantage in managing your life and businesses.

Entrepreneurs are in business to enrich lives and the society, and earn money from their ventures. Money has time value, and the key to making it is to shift your paradigm, redefine your worldview on work hours, and learn to effectively manage time to plan, nurture and grow your business venture.

Source: Punch.