Bravery in Entrepreneurship

A Letter to Entrepreneurs 

Dear Reader,

You’ll notice that it’s been a while since my last blog post. This installment isn’t going to be about the law (sorry, or perhaps “you’re welcome”), but I think it’s important and may even abstractly explain my absence from the online world. This is going to be about bravery in entrepreneurship.

When I first started my practice, people would constantly tell me how “brave” I was. Maybe it was due to my own insecurity in my decision to start a practice by myself right out of law school, but I never accepted it as a genuine compliment. I shrugged it off as the polite thing to say to someone you think is nuts for doing something irrational and risky. It isn’t until recently that I give myself the kudos others have been trying to give me for years.

It is BRAVE to choose entrepreneurship. Being an entrepreneur means taking ownership in all of the failures and shortcomings of your venture and, sometimes, allowing them to be a reflection of you as a person. It also means making a bold statement to the world about who you are, what you want, and what you think. This is where it can feel personal.

You pour your entire self into your business. If someone doesn’t want to buy my product, aren’t they essentially saying they don’t like everything I stand for? Entrepreneurs face the world and solicit judgment. As human beings, opening ourselves up to criticism can be one of the biggest challenges and vulnerability can be painful at times.

All the while, we are betting on ourselves to succeed. We are forging ahead with the belief that we are capable, all the while noticing “signs” that we are not. We hear “no” and “are you sure you can do this?” but, like the masochists we are, we push through to the next roadblock and the next. It’s like walking around with your heart on the outside of your body asking for people to punch it.

And if you come across personal hardship on this already treacherous path, you have to decide if you have enough bravery for entrepreneurship and yourself. You come to find that courage is not finite; it expands as far as you push it. But there is a reason we continue to propel forward – we see something worthwhile either in the journey or at the destination. Otherwise, what’s the point?

So, I suppose this is my letter of appreciation to all the business owners out there and, frankly, to myself.

Let’s be brave together. Let’s be entrepreneurs.

Signed with gratitude,

Shushan Barsegyan