What my five-year-old daughter taught me about being an entrepreneur
We say, our kids learn from us. And that is because we teach them, but they also imitate us. But sometimes, we should step back and take a note from what our kids teach us!
I have a five-year-old daughter and three older stepsons. I am an entrepreneur and founder of ezebee.com, a social commerce platform where people can buy and sell anything and everything from all over the world.
My venture would not be what it is today, if it was not for my five-year-old daughter. Here are the five things she taught me about being an entrepreneur:
Get inspired every day
For a child, everything is new and inspiring. They see the world with new and curious eyes every day.
As an entrepreneur, you should look at the world in the same way kids do. Get inspired! Don’t just say: this has always been like it is and it can’t be changed! That way you will never succeed in building a new, disruptive company!
I can do that alone
My daughter always wants to do everything alone. No way to help her out. That’s how she learns in the first place. If she does not succeed, she is also willing to accept help. Or she even forces you to help her.
Being an entrepreneur means you have to try to do things for yourself, see if they work and how you could handle them. But it also means asking for help at the right time. You need to build a strong team that will be your strength and pillar of support.
There is no failing, only learning
This is a very important fact that we often forget, but our children know intuitively: there is no failing, just learning. When learning to walk, for example, a toddler will fall over and over again. But they will not stop! And if they can’t succeed one way, they will try another. Either way, they will definitely learn to walk.
Having your own company means you are learning all the time and it also means you will have to adapt your strategy fairly often. Sometimes you might get to your goal by only changing the direction that you started with in the beginning.
Don’t let them get you down – Be cheeky, wild, and wonderful
This phrase from Pippi Longstocking just came back to me, when my daughter started watching it on TV.
As an entrepreneur, we can learn a lot from Pippi – as she is the best wild child ever seen. But one of the most important things we can learn from her is not to let anyone get you down. Whatever others might say, take it into account, think about it. But don’t stop believing into yourself. Be cheeky, wild, and wonderful!
Get to bed early and sleep like a baby
A kid could play all day, learn lots of new things, laugh a lot and also get frustrated and hysterical once in a while. But however their day was, in the evening, they will be too tired to stand and fall asleep wherever they are.
We should do that too! We get up early. We work all day. We make decisions. We steer the wheel. But we should always keep two things in mind: there is more than simply working (mainly our kids and families) and everyone needs a good night’s sleep!
So the next day might find us curious, willing to get inspired, to learn and to be wild and wonderful!
People working in administration can also learn from kids.
There is one more thing I would like to add: it’s not only parents who can learn from having kids, but those working in administration too. When opening a company, there are many administrations and rules to follow which can sometimes take you off track and you only end up focusing on the rules you can’t break. What we need as entrepreneurs is the freedom to learn and to grow without a million rules to take into account. Because if you don’t let your kids explore and learn by themselves, the only thing they will be able to do later on, is follow your rules. But they will never be able to walk alone.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)