Entrepreneurship & the Family
Now that we are 2.5 years into FundingUniverse and past the “we might die tomorrow” stage that usually happens during the first year of any bootstrapping business, I’d like to start writing about some of the aspects of mixing family while trying to be an entrepreneur. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some comments from my wife — because her input is going to be much different than mine.
During the early days, both you and your company are usually “hanging on a thread” and most people don’t like to talk about those details while they are going through it (bc they obviously don’t want the world to know). But… now that we have been through those tough times and are (hopefully) beyond that, I’d like to talk about the struggles in detail so that others can relate and benefit.
Let me give you an idea of where I’m hoping to go with this:
- As an entrepreneur, sacrifices must be made for the sake of the business. In my opinion, no one sacrifices more than the entrepreneur’s spouse. I’d like to get specific with the types of sacrifices that are made so that entrepreneurs (and their spouses) will know what they are getting themselves into.
- Aspects of bootstrapping. What did we do in order to get resources and stay alive.
- Aspects of fundraising — when you really need the money (and you don’t want the investors to know about it).
- Asking your employee’s family to sacrifice and believe that we’ll make it through (very difficult).
- Health Insurance, babies, etc.
There will definitely be more… and I’ll try to focus on how all of this affects the family. Josh Steimle wrote a ton about “You Might be an Entrepreneur if…” and provided some great content. There might be a little overlap, but I’m trying to focus more on the family than he did.
The family is important to me. Entrepreneurship is important to me. Entrepreneurship has ruined families — and/or usually puts a huge strain on the family. I am no expert… but am hoping to provide some good discussion.
If you have any specific topics that you would like me to cover… let me know.
