Joys of being an entrepreneur

After having spent a valuable number of years with renowned corporate houses and justifying their communication needs to the best (or not) of my abilities, I realised, not really joyfully, I had reached a mental saturation. I started feeling like a robot. It became a compulsion to ‘get out’, but the question was ‘get into what’? There was no shower of lucrative offers but there wasn’t any dearth either. Was I willing to continue in the corporate rat race or was there a choice? What was the priority? Pat came the answer – Happiness … and the decision was made. To go solo … to be on my own!

Believe me the decision to turn into entrepreneur was not easy. Turning away from a cushy job with a substantial back up to fall upon, good infrastructure and basic amenities being taken care of, and, turning into a proprietor starting from scratch, being a (forgive me for using a cliche) one-man army, being in charge of the pettiest of chores, exploring right projects, doing own business development, the list goes on, was tough.

But trust me, when I say, that the decision was worthwhile or is it too early to claim that? The seed of entrepreneurship was sown couple of years back but has been brought to fruition very recently, after a lot of contemplation. The feeling is awesome and certainly brings me a lot of joy, hence the brand name. That is what I precisely expect out of my venture, a lot of joy and a lot of positivity.

Having said that, being on your own demands a lot of hard work and sacrifices/compromises. There are perks, and there are losses. Still it gives a lot of joy in terms of creating your own norms, work culture and ethics. it gives you a control over your life and you can set your own pace. Not denying the fact that this joy comes along with a whole lot of challenges and struggles but, it is perhaps worth its while.

However, there are no shortcuts and there is no magic mantra for success, what matters is passion, sincerity and integrity in what you do.

By turning into an entrepreneur, I know I will be constantly discovering myself, my strengths, weaknesses. I will be on-the-go always, busy making pitches, writing content, creating promotional campaigns, trying to get media attention. Well, there is a cut-throat competition out there, yet there is room for everyone. I am happy that I will always find room to improve upon myself.

What also gives me joy is that I will own my time and will be able to follow my other passions by the means of creating my own schedule as per my priorities. Owning and driving my own brand gives me an adrenaline rush. I will take decisions for myself and it will be such a breather not to go through various protocols and layers of approvals. There will be no end to creativity and innovation. Now that is joy!

As an entrepreneur one is constantly learning, changing, adapting to situations, and proving your own worth to yourself. One gets a social joy out of meeting and interacting with different types and genres of people. One has the prerogative to choose the people one wishes to work with unlike a job where many a times, one has to work with, and, sometimes has to even prove their worth to absolute mediocrity-occupying decision-making positions. I have experienced it and am certain many others would also have. This leads to frustrations and creative mental blockage. Not worth it.

Turning into entrepreneur, every sense of achievement will give me joy, which will be empowering, challenging and exciting. The joy in my own brand will be mine. I will be able to express my thoughts, my views freely with a readiness to bear any consequences. Yes, monthly paychecks will be missed and there will be zero monetary flow in the initial months but it is nothing to beat the joy of being on my own.

 

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not reflect that of Reputation Today.

Ritu Bararia
Ritu is a Corporate Communications leader, Mentor, Author, Public Relations Evangelist, Thought leader, Advisor. She has nearly two decades of working experience having spearheaded Communications, PR and Corporate Affairs with corporate brands such as Kingfisher Airlines, The Park Hotels, Bird Group.

She quit her corporate career in the beginning of 2018 to try her hand at various related things within communications space. She turned into a published author in 2020 with her maiden book ‘Little Joys of Communication’.

Currently Ritu is Senior Director at SCoRe and, Executive Director Communicators Guild – India (CGI).

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