No, it’s not about the coveted movie.

To me, Iron Man is the right description of entrepreneur that, days in and days out, thrive in entrepreneurship challenges.

What do you mean exactly? Entrepreneurs ought to be like iron mans? Yes, they ought. But, alas, not many are iron mans.

There are people that called themselves entrepreneurs, but what they did is start a business, face adversities, and they give up right away. They doing this are not entrepreneurs – they are quitters.

Sure, you have to know to call it a day. But after one or two trials? That doesn’t make you an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is hard work – lying on a beach with a laptop is nice, but it still a hard work.

You know what bothers me? When people say that entrepreneurs are lazy – they start a business, make it automatic, and run it like a beach bum with laptop. They also say that what entrepreneurs did was create jobs for themselves because they simply couldn’t enter the corporate world.

Starting a business – for whatever end results, sell it, make it automatic, or operate it yourself – is hard work. And while creating a job for him/herself is true, an entrepreneur often CHOOSE to do so.

The real work is the pre-natal period itself – constant planning, constant pressure, and constant challenge.

Then, during the start-up period – this is when an entrepreneur is made. Days of sleepless night. Days of worrying about the loss making period. Days of worrying that one in five business fails within the first year of operation. Days of pressures. Days of trying hard to motivate oneself and stay positive. Days of critics faced from others, even the closest ones.

What about failure? Failure is what make an entrepreneur. It’s something that make or break an entrepreneur. Some say that entrepreneurs are defined by the failures they have experienced.

No gut, no glory.

But I can’t help not to say that entrepreneurship is, by far, the most exciting career path I take.

Forget about the riches and glory – they are just residuals. The real excitement is being in constant challenge itself.

I often lose interest after years of owning a business. I just need those excitement. I strongly believe that every real entrepreneur out there love the excitement of starting-up. It’s the excitement that drive entrepreneurs.

Some suggestions on how to be an iron man in entrepreneurship

1. Knowing that entrepreneurship shall face failures. For entrepreneurs, to fail is to learn.
2. You have to be a persistent person – every time you fall, you have to get up again.
3. Learn to deal with critics and the negativities – don’t whine and pity yourself.
4. Stay awake and stay alert – never lose sight of your business. A small misconduct can destroy your business.
5. Bring it on – love the challenge, not running away from it.

Be the Iron Man and be a successful entrepreneur. Or else, just quit and get a job.

Ivan Widjaya
Entrepreneur is Iron Man