Dear Entrepreneur,
Get ready to lose friends, and be alone. Yes, you read it right.
Your close friends and immediate family members will always be supportive of your business, and the alternative lifestyle you’ve chosen to live, by sharing your work on social media, buying your product or using your service, and calling you to check up on you, when you decide to spend the night at the office.
However, your college mates, bar drinking buddies, and ex-colleagues from your previous workplace may never understand why you’ve chosen to take this uncertain path, and the work it takes to build something worthwhile from the ground up. They can’t understand why you are no longer able to sit at the bar and drink with them, or grab dinner with them and catch up on lost times.
Slowly and surely, these kinds of friends will eventually get tired of asking you to have a drink or grab dinner with them, and they will soon become mere acquaintances. Over the years, I have watched many of my friendships turn out this way. I wish I knew how much damage being an entrepreneur would have on my personal relationships. But, if I’m given the opportunity to re-live every moment, I won’t change a thing.
With love,
Chidi