Wantrepreneur.
I saw the term wantrepreneur used in a blog post a few weeks ago and I bookmarked it by throwing it into a draft blog post so I could come back and look more into it. What I found is that most websites define wantrepreneur as a person who is always in the planning stage of starting a business but who never actually gets it off the ground. In the business world, a wantrepreneur is pretty much a joke - they design a logo before they have an idea for a product. In my own mind, though, I think of a wantrepreneur who is trying to get a business of the ground but has no idea what they're doing or where to go next. Clearly business skills come easily to some people and not to others, and for those of us who aren't quite sure which way to go, it can turn into a frustrating mess.
As I talked about yesterday, I have been in a bit of a slump - a funk, if you will. I have not had the drive to do anything with Milo and Molly and the idea of sitting down and trying to create something, even things I've made hundreds of times over, is overwhelming. There is all kinds of advice out there for what to do when you're stuck - learn a new skill, take a breather, do some brainstorming; the list goes on and on. But what happens when none of that works and you're just in an icky place?
Right now, and for the past several month, when there has been time that should be spent working on my business, I go clean out a closet. I bake muffins. I organize clutter. I read Buzzfeed articles. I eat a snack. What I should be doing, as someone who owns a business, is reading up on how to take better photos with my DSLR camera. I should be listing items in my sleepy little Etsy shop. I should be looking for information on how to better my business. I should be testing out new products. Something, anything to keep the business moving.
I should be using my time more effectively to help my business.
In my head, I know that a person whose business is successful is the person who puts their all into it. They are the person who never stops thinking about it, never stops working at it, puts other things aside to build it up, the one who sacrifices in order to achieve their goal. And then they set a new goal and start all over again. And I know in my head that I am not currently that person - I am the wantrepreneur who needs to figure out what to do next. Or maybe I'm not, and I just haven't quite realized it yet.
So what do you do when you have no motivation and no drive? How do you regain the passion for what you've worked on, or how do you know when it's time to let it go? I know that once September rolls around I will have a consistent period of uninterrupted hours every day that I will be able to devote to work. In the interim, it would be really helpful for me to figure out what it is I want to do, what I want Milo and Molly to become, how I want to be perceived, and what I need to do to achieve that. I'm tired of being the wantrepreneur. I'm tired of saying, "I should..." and I want to say, "I did."
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A few weeks ago, I put out a survey asking people ten really quick questions about me and my business, and if you're reading this and can spare a minute, I would love a few more responses.
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