Dear failing entrepreneur: What's wrong with being an employee?

This post is gonna hit some nerves. Not apologizing in advance either.

Over the years of running community events in the entrepreneurship, startup and the SME space, I've met entrepreneurs who are world class, local champions, thought leaders, down to those who are just doing it as their main source of income (self-employed). Always a great feeling to connect with them, to learn from them.

But then, there's another level. Nope, not the wantrepreneurs, because they have yet to take action.

I'm referring to those who did (take action), and really suck at it.

And they have been sucking at it for years, scraping by, begging for short-term loans, avoiding friends and family members for fear of the question "how is your business?" They've lied too often that they are feeling ashamed during those quiet moments at night.

They talk a good game, bold even, but over time, you know they are not cut out for it. When you talk to them, you'd know they haven't grew much, not just personally, from within their own industry.

And the sad part, even as the bills accumulated and their spouses have to support the dream in quiet desperation, they refused to go back to employment. They would rather brave on, putting promises on hold, in the pursuit of a failing dream.

A dream that their realistic selfs were trying to wake up from, and yet, the delusional, stubborn counterparts tried to prolong for as along as they could.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate a good hustle. As a matter of fact, I admire it! There’re hardly anything that could tug my heart string more than a true blue story of a hustle, rags to riches, failure to fame.

But the very objective of a hustle is progress. Even a small step, a minute move is progress.

Sadly, those "entrepreneurs" who kept themselves busy, buried in their ignorance, drowned in their own denial, hiding under the “hustling”, they are not moving. You’ve seen them, you’ve talked with them, you may have even worked with them. Years could go by, and you know they are still at the same place they started years ago.

And when they were hanging by the last line of credit, last favour from a friend, last prayer for a miracle, they would still refuse to go back to employment. They have the certs, they have the resumes, they even have the connections. But because they have confused their delusion with determination, incompetence with initiative, and somehow, they think entrepreneurship is a class above employment. They couldn’t downgrade now, can they?

That’s BS, really.

So to the failing entrepreneur, I say this:

If you can’t make it work for you even after years of trying, seriously, perhaps you’d have greater success working under someone for a while. Your bills will get paid, your spouses won’t have to be woken up by anxiety attacks, and your kids will get to spend quality time with their parents. And in those moment released from the grips of desperation, perhaps a new path will surface, a better one that you couldn’t see before under the rumbles of worries, stack of bank letters and broken eye contacts from family members.

Some of the most well-balance, contented and happiest people I know are employees, and they get to spend time on their passion projects on the weekend. Some even ran part time businesses while keeping their full time jobs, and because they have lesser time to work on it, they are more focused, more effective, more productive with the little time they could afford.

Is going back to employment so humiliating that you’d rather hold on the a failing dream, a crumbling vision?

Is working for someone so degrading that you think you deserve better?

Is drawing a salary such a stab in the ego that you despise it?

Seriously, get a grip. You have a family to support, and you have responsibilities to uphold. You lack the necessary skills, so learn them during the evenings after your work. You lack the connection, so expand your network within and outside your job. You lack the strategy, so volunteer your time with mentors in exchange for wisdom.

But if you can’t see that, then the lack is of something much worse. Attitude. That, you gotta figure out on your own.

Here’s something others may not want not tell you in the face. You’re just not cut out for entrepreneurship yet. So stop denying the fact that you have a place somewhere else. Stop deluding yourself with dreams of fame. Stop derailing your family members from the happiness they deserve. You had your shot. You’ve outlived those years of trying and hustling and not moving. You know it before you go to sleep, in those moments of brutal honesty, when you feel most alone in the world, that you have to put your dreams on hold and go back to employment.

So do just that. Maybe that’s just what you need right now. Maybe that’s why you’re not progressing - you can’t see beyond the lessons you’ve yet to learn, and you’ve been skipping those classes.

And when I opened my eyes, and I looked over the horizon, in the stillness of the night, in the cool of the midnight breeze, I know what’s needed to be done.

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