The road to success always looks smooth from space. However, every self-made entrepreneur knows that if you look closely enough, pitfalls, dead ends, misleading loops and seemingly insurmountable hurdles invariably riddle the path to eventual success.
At WIT Japan & North Asia 2017 last week, a trilogy of entrepreneurs each told didactic tales of their experiences throughout their careers.
Emi Takemura (co-founder, FutureEdu Tokyo; co-founder & advisor, Peatix.com; fellow, Mistletoe, Inc.) in particular, offered a much needed but often overlooked nugget of advice – the importance of maintaining a solid grip on your life’s priorities, throughout the company-building process.
During the early days of being an entrepreneur, Takemura said she was careful to keep her priorities in check although she felt as if her start-up and private life were sometimes competing for her attention in a never-ending tug-of-war.
She told a story of how her daughter and son were both going through their first exams in elementary school at the same time she launched Peatix. She described the experience as “a little hairy”, trying to juggle her role as a mother with her role as a founder. Yet, she made it a point to never undermine the importance of her family, despite pressures to focus on other matters.
Takemura found value in how the pressure to juggle her focus between her family and work actually let her live a life both inside and outside the company, with a clear divide between the two. Keeping the two separate meant she was able to step away and gain perspective on matters in ways she perhaps did not expect.
Emi Takemura was interviewed by Aya Aso (AGORA Hospitalities) at the WIT Japan Bootcamp
It is a vital lesson to learn. I imagine many entrepreneurs become doggedly focused on their start-up ideas, at risk of losing sight of what else truly matters to them… with loved ones often falling unfortunately (and usually unintentionally) to the wayside.
Reflecting on her role as the head of an accelerator for socially conscious start-ups in Japan, Takemura found that many founders often find themselves so absorbed into what they are doing, they fail to seek enough perspective from the outside.
“Start-up people are really courageous and take big risks to start, but a lot of people are too afraid to speak to enough stakeholders to gain meaningful enough insights before starting to build products.
“I often find start-ups are moving too far along and they could have cut the damage had they spoken to more people sooner.
“Though it’s a double edged sword because you don’t want to talk to everyone and lose your soul… but you really want to at least have a group of fans that are willing to pay from the get go.”
Through this, Takemura continued to signify the dangers of having a laser-focused business idea that absorbs all of your attention, and losing sight of the bigger picture.
That is why Takemura strongly advocated the importance of “hav[ing] co-founders to balance your need for priorities and direction.” Sharing the responsibility with a trusted partner could ease a bit of the burden, letting you step away, if only for a moment, and evaluate matters from a much needed distance.
In fact, Takemura felt this advice was perhaps even more crucial for female entrepreneurs who still often face the pressures of raising a family and a start-up at the same time.
Her tale was a stark reminder that sacrifices will inevitably be made when building a start-up, but budding founders must never lose perspective on what they truly value in life beyond their business.
It is challenging to balance private values with public aspirations, but Takemura’s story offered clues about keeping your entrepreneurial dreams alive whilst maintaining at least some reasonable semblance of a balanced life.
Images courtesy of @viktorchenovsky
