Rescue Desk

There’s a man I’ve known for more than 10 years who has been through all the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. His timeline for the past 10 years goes something like this: He started a small, family-run publishing business. He sold the small family-run publishing business for a hefty sum. He then lead a corporate Web division with gigantor profits within the first few years. He made to the leap to run a venture-capital-driven start-up. He then had to close the doors to said start-up for various reasons. He’s since started a new Web-driven business and, to date, it’s gone from a few-person operation to a multi-national company with content contributors from all over the world.

This man is a former boss, who has easily made the transition to mentor and friend over the years. He’s one of the first phone calls I made when I was neck-deep in business planning for Rescue Desk.  “I’m so excited about doing this, and I know I’ve got the skills. And Lord knows there’s a market for this,” I told him. “But, I could use a few words of wisdom from someone who’s been there. What’ve you got?”

“You know what they say, Rach,” he said. “The definition of an entrepreneur is someone who would rather work 16 hours a day for himself if it’ll keep him from working 8 hours a day for someone else.”

Considering I’d just spent another 8 hours tethered to a cubicle, trying to guide a huge project through a complex bureaucracy that was akin to herding cats, I knew he’d hit the nail on the head.

It was EXACTLY what I’d needed to hear because it was EXACTLY what I was chomping at the bit to do.

So, when I’m feeling discouraged in the world of small-business ownership, I pull this little nugget of truth out from behind the files and papers piled high on my desk.
 
Lord knows I’ll happily plug along herding my own cats for 16 hours if it means I don’t have to herd someone else’s cats for eight.