You Must Eat that Sh*t Sandwich !

It was a wonderful afternoon.
“I am done! It was too much! “, My friend almost shouted.
She just had conducted her fabulous workshop which I attended.
And now we were out for lunch, in one of my favourite restaurants.
We had already finished our first round of appetizers.

Let me tell you something,
When she said, “I am done”, she was not referring food.
Because very soon we ordered our second round of appetizers & started checking for our main course. Yes, we already planned desserts too. :-)

She continued, “It’s happening with me again & again & again”.
“I had done a lot of research, conducted surveys, shared loads of free information, and prepared this wonderful workshop.
There were more than 30 of them who already said, “I am in”.
But no one came today!”
“And do you know how many turned up? Six just Six…ha”
She was so frustrated that she forgot that I was among those six.

We two left our corporate job nearly at the same time to start our individual businesses.
I started my chocolate business & she started social media consulting.
She was really good at that.
She was technically doing everything right.
Sending newsletters, free content campaigns, Facebook updates, conducting workshops & doing personal consulting.

But the response was not great.

She kept on talking,” You know what? I am going to join back the corporate world. This business thing is not for me. I have 10 years of experience & this horrible one year of business I can easily manipulate.” She had given up.

My hands were burnt with my chocolate business too.
I was also craving for the same stuff she wanted…success, rewards & acknowledgment.
But I was no stranger to this disappointment & frustration.
And that ‘One Year’ she was talking about was the best time I lived.
It was full of valuable experience.

Here is my take on it.

If you want to start any sort of business then handling your frustration is fundamental aspect of work. Holding yourself together through all phases of business is where the real trick lies.
If you want to be an entrepreneur but not ready to handle rejections hundred times, if not thousands of times then you are done before you start, just like my friend.

You get rejections in many forms.
No Facebook likes, blogpost being ignored, Low attendance for workshops, sales not as per expectation, bad reviews, horrible comments or less opt-ins.
You have to face it every day.

But if you love & want something - whatever it is- then you really don’t mind handling those rejections or eating that shit sandwich which comes along with it.

I think my friend was extremely talented but was not ready to eat those shit sandwiches.
I can see her plate was full, full with shit sandwiches.
And she was done.

Mine was full too. But I was hungry.
I saw her half-eaten shit-sandwich & wanted to ask, “Are you going to finish that?”
I was prepared to finish mine!

Now it is your turn. What about you?
Are you ready to Eat that Sh*t Sandwich?

Let me know in the comment below.

Did you like this article? If so, share it with your friends.

Thank you so much for reading!
I will catch you next time.
Stay Tuned.
Take Care
Sheetal Mulay