External influences on a business digitalbloggers.com /jonboy/external-influences-on-a-business/
How your circle of influence and society can destroy your dreams There are many external influences on a business. It could be financial, technological or changes within your market, but what I’d like to discuss is the influence society has on your business.
In a society that tries to standardize thinking, individuality is not highly prized - Alex Grey
If you’re like me and have started your own business them I’m certain at some point you’ve encountered some of the many negative influences society can throw at us. For some it’s the hardest part of getting your business off the ground. I know it is for me. Making the decision to become an entrepreneur is also making the decision to step outside the norm, to walk a different path and society finds it hard to accept this. Don’t get me wrong there are many that encourage entrepreneurship and these are the people you should seek out and be inspired by, but I’m talking about the large proportion of society that’s programmed to think a certain way. It’s something I need to change myself if my business is to be a success.
Don’t blame society, it’s not their fault
For most people they go through the educational system, find employment and try to progress their careers as much as possible along the way. For society this is the foundation to achieve all things great in life. Start a family, buy a house, have regular holidays and drive a nice car. Just the thought of giving up that belief and the security of mind that brings is enough to scare society shitless. So they carry on, feeling safe and secure spending the best years of their life working for somebody else, making somebody else rich under the pretense it’s the only way to get what we want in life. I don’t blame society for thinking this way, what choice did they have. They were taken as young children and programmed this way, and as the years go by society reinforces this belief until it’s just accepted as normal. I decided recently I did not want to follow this path, I wanted something different, to spend my energy on building something for myself, but everywhere I turn it feels like society is bringing me down, pointing out all the reasons why I should stay on the same path as them. “Don’t leave us, it’s scary over there” I can hear them say. While I understand why they feel this way and believe me I don’t judge them for it, but it’s also something I’m not prepared to listen to anymore. They’re not saying anything I don’t already know and feel myself, but I don’t need to be put on a
1/3
permanent downer by the people around me. It’s hard enough without fighting against these types of external influences on a business as well.
Beware your circle of influence
One of the biggest e xternal influences on a business however is your circle of influence, and none so more than you partner. After all this is somebody you’ve chosen to share your life with and any decisions you make will impact on their life too. Yes, your friends and family may not believe in what you’re doing but mostly they’ll be supportive if it makes you happy and to a certain extent you can control or limit their influence, but they don’t have to live with you either. If you’re entrepreneurship is supported by your partner then this is obviously the perfect situation but for most their partner will be from the part of society that doesn’t feel the same as you. Starting your own business will be hard especially if the only commodity you have at the start is your time or you’re still working a job to finance your new business. Your partner will feel threatened by the change, your lofty ambitions and scared for your future security. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind any discouragement comes from a good place, the person who cares for you most feels they need to protect you from potential disappointment and doesn’t want to pick up the pieces later on, but there is also some selfishness involved here. They will at first be more concerned with how their life will change by what you’re doing and give little thought to the fact that this is something you really want. Don’t forget you’re challenging the foundation on which their beliefs are based. They don’t want to trade perceived security for insecurity and changing this mindset will be hard for them just as it was for you at some point. There is some understanding required here, but if it’s something you really want then you need to hold your ground and find a solution that can work for both of you. I can offer no perfect solution for this problem, if you have one then please let me know, but this is, in my opinion, one of the biggest External influences on a business in infancy. Ultimately I believe we should all be given the chance to follow our dreams no matter what they are or how many people disagree with them. We’re all individuals seeking our own happiness and your circle of influence needs to jump on board or jump overboard. My last thought is this, don’t let anything prevent you from starting your own business but make sure you protect yourself from the external influences that don’t serve you or your goals. Don’t be ashamed to tell people you’re starting a business, shout it from the rooftop if you want, just don’t be surprised if society doesn’t respond the way you want them too.
You can also check out my previous post “ I want to start a business from home “. If you feel that fear or anxiety are getting in the way of starting your business then this article could be of interest.
I hope you enjoyed this post. If this is something you’ve experienced yourself then I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below or connect with me on social media.
2/3
I wish you all the best on your journey.
Jon Petrou-External influences on a business-Top of page � Previous Post
About Jonathan Petrou Hi everyone, I'm 32 years old and currently living in Berlin. I'm originally from London and arrived in Berlin via Amsterdam where i spent four great years of my life. l moved to Berlin with my girlfriend for a new adventure. New city, new apartment & new jobs. After arriving in Berlin I had what you might say was a "Wake Up Call". Realising the career I was trying to create for myself was not what I wanted, not something i was passionate about. I was really not happy and finding my new life in Berlin very hard going. I decided to draw a line in the sand and made a commitment to myself that I was going to make some changes. Find my purpose, my passion and make some changes, but most importantly not allow myself to return to the place that had made me so unhappy. So... I"m now trying to make some big changes in my life and as I do this I would like to motivate and inspire people to do the same. This is the reason for the my blog. Change is hard at the best of times, people need support, so as I grow, learn and make progress i want to share my experiences in the hope of helping others do the same.
3/3