By Alexander Lah
If you’ve ever ventured through crocodile infested waters, heroically swinging from vine to vine as you narrowly dodge poisonous darts being shot at you from all angles by savage indigenous tribes, then you’re either Indiana Jones or an entrepreneur.
There’s no getting around it. Starting a business is difficult—for many, one of the most difficult things you could possibly attempt in this wide world.
I’m a Cambodian American who decided to come back to my roots on a journey to understand the country where my parents herald from and to find a way to give back to a people that deserves it. My vehicle of contribution? Co-founding a food manufacturing company called FoodFrienz which produces soya milk that can be found in your local wholesaler.
Somewhere in between the past few months of consolidating our vision of empowering the Khmer food industry, laying the groundwork for our company’s sales strategy, and meeting owner after owner of wholesalers, restaurants, gyms—the whole shebang—I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs.
As a new entrepreneur, you will have days when you question your every move. Should we really get these flyers printed with our limited funds—will anyone even read them? Am I approaching this sales pitch with this mini mart owner well—will they be convinced? Am I wasting my time designing this brochure when I could be going out and closing sales?
For every single success you experience, you will first undergo a hundred failures. There is a silver lining in all of this, however, and it’s that those successes will be some of the sweetest you’ve ever experienced. They’ll elate you, revive you, give you that second wind you need to tackle the next hundred problems that await you in your business.
And so the moral of the story is perseverance. Amidst all the skeptical people in your life that tell you can’t do it, amidst all the roadblocks you’ll run into, you will have to find a way to push through. Do what you need to in order to preserve your mental fortitude—eat well, sleep on time, practice yoga, take up a martial art. Find what works for you and allows you to stay sane while you’re pursuing your business.
Above all, know that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow truly does exist if you push long enough. From a fellow small business owner who’s in the same plight as you: keep going—I assure you, the satisfaction of knowing that you pursued your dreams is greater than anything you could possibly receive from a conventional 9-5 career.
If you’ve ever ventured through crocodile infested waters, heroically swinging from vine to vine as you narrowly dodge poisonous darts being shot at you from all angles by savage indigenous tribes, then you’re either Indiana Jones or an entrepreneur.
There’s no getting around it. Starting a business is difficult—for many, one of the most difficult things you could possibly attempt in this wide world.
I’m a Cambodian American who decided to come back to my roots on a journey to understand the country where my parents herald from and to find a way to give back to a people that deserves it. My vehicle of contribution? Co-founding a food manufacturing company called FoodFrienz which produces soya milk that can be found in your local wholesaler.
Somewhere in between the past few months of consolidating our vision of empowering the Khmer food industry, laying the groundwork for our company’s sales strategy, and meeting owner after owner of wholesalers, restaurants, gyms—the whole shebang—I’ve had my fair share of ups and downs.
As a new entrepreneur, you will have days when you question your every move. Should we really get these flyers printed with our limited funds—will anyone even read them? Am I approaching this sales pitch with this mini mart owner well—will they be convinced? Am I wasting my time designing this brochure when I could be going out and closing sales?
For every single success you experience, you will first undergo a hundred failures. There is a silver lining in all of this, however, and it’s that those successes will be some of the sweetest you’ve ever experienced. They’ll elate you, revive you, give you that second wind you need to tackle the next hundred problems that await you in your business.
And so the moral of the story is perseverance. Amidst all the skeptical people in your life that tell you can’t do it, amidst all the roadblocks you’ll run into, you will have to find a way to push through. Do what you need to in order to preserve your mental fortitude—eat well, sleep on time, practice yoga, take up a martial art. Find what works for you and allows you to stay sane while you’re pursuing your business.
Above all, know that the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow truly does exist if you push long enough. From a fellow small business owner who’s in the same plight as you: keep going—I assure you, the satisfaction of knowing that you pursued your dreams is greater than anything you could possibly receive from a conventional 9-5 career.