Being in love is great. Being in love with your business, when you’re an entrepreneur, is even better. Waking up each morning knowing you are getting to do exactly what you love is more than most people could ever say about any job they have had. Although there are days when tossing in your hat seems like a viable option, remembering how much you love your job can quickly snap an entrepreneur out of that mentality. Different business owners also have different reason why they love their business. It might be the products or the customers they deal with, or it could even be the fact that they are the ones in charge of it all. The reasons are as varied as the businesses themselves.
#1 – Bringing People Together
I love the reward you get by bringing people together and helping them grow their business. It is amazing to know that my success is tied directly to the success of my members. Our events are designed to get members to connect through the experience as well as the interactive social exercises we do. (We do fun things like fashion shows and have comedians perform and our exercises really help you to get to know the social interests of the person so you can establish a friendship first). Constantly creating these new relationships and being able to be creative in a way that is not traditional boring networking is invigorating and helps to continue to propel our success as every day is something new and fresh.
Thanks to Scott Eisenberg, Swap The Biz
#2 – New Challenges
Being in the cyber security industry, which has one of the greatest challenges right now due to the rapid rate and magnitude at which cyber crime is growing, there is never a dull moment. Every day there are new motives and techniques used by cyber criminals, and there are new technologies emerging from Silicon Valley to help keep up with the cyber criminals. The fact that no two days are alike is what drives my team of talented thought leaders and the fact that we get to work, not with the IT people as most in this industry do, but with the CEOs and boards of directors is what I love the most about the organization I have grown from concept to success. Having to make the complex simple, through metaphors, analogies, and pictures means that I throw logic out the window and get the satisfaction of expressing cyber security creatively, as the art I believe it is, rather than the science most mistake it for.
Thanks to Andrew Bycroft, The Security Artist
#3 – Unique Test Prep
My business, Regents Review, LLC, helps high school students excel on state and national standardized tests. I love my business because of our unique test prep method – we review all content for a subject in only one day. Students today are so busy with schoolwork, after school clubs, sports and outside of school organizations that they do not have the time to properly devote to studying. They also do not have the time to commit to a prep class that is spread out over the course of one month to six weeks. Our method allows us to help these busy students in one day. Kids are happy, parents are happy and that makes us happy. I also love hearing from these parents each year. They call to tell me where their older children are attending college, graduate school and how they are doing in school. This year, one of our parents called and told us her son just found out he is the valedictorian of his high school.. Hearing the success stories is my favorite part of my business.
Thanks to Michelle Zakarin, Regents Review, LLC
#4 – Great Flexibility
I love the flexibility of being a Virtual Assistant (VA). As a military spouse who experiences frequent moves, I wanted the ability to continue working in my area of expertise and earn a consistent income in spite of the transient lifestyle. The ability to work from anywhere gives me the portable career and consistency of revenue I was seeking, while allowing me to maintain steady working relationships with my clients. Using ones administrative, creative and/or technical skills along with the available technology and entrepreneurial acumen, launching a Virtual Assistant (VA) business is easier than ever with low overhead and minimal startup costs.
Thanks to Melissa St. Clair, Paper Chaser
#5 – Being a Kid Again
Cosplay. Less then seven years ago I did not even know what the word meant and you may be thinking the exact same thing as you read this today. Cosplay is a combination of the words Costume and Play which is at the heart of my business As we get older, I'm 35, I find myself and many others missing the more simplistic time of being a child and getting to play with friends. If playing has an origin point, it would be imagination, something which gets ground out of us as we go through the daily routine of life. My business helps you find that imagination, that ability to let go and play, to be part of a community that is bigger then yourself, I help you discover Cosplay Conventions. Many people reading this have been to a trade show and you probably fall into the category of loving, tolerating, or hating them. Cosplay Conventions are trade shows that are fun to attend. Comics, Science Fiction, Anime, Collectibles, Toys, Famous Actors, Artists, Writers, Photographers, and small businesses all the way up to larger ones attend these conventions. You can meet your favorite movie star, buy the vintage toy from your childhood in mint condition, and just hang out with a very diverse and accepting group of individuals. Cosplay is fun, if it wasn't fun, no one would do it. Discovering conventions as well as the merchants and cosplay groups whom attend them is what my business has decided to make easier for you.. At the end of the day, I love my business because I get to help everyone discover these wonderful conventions where they hopefully feel a bit like a kid again.
Thanks to Benjamin Santos, Cosplay Convention Center
#6 – My Message
What would it feel like to go to work unhappily? What would it feel like to start a business, but be uncertain of its message? What would it feel like to be a leader of a community in which you don't believe in its message? I LOVE my business because I love my message and I believe in it! I live and breathe my business idea – a simple, easy-to-remember, and effective way to get unstuck and promote emotional well-being. I apply it in my life every day, several times a way. Because I believe in it, others believe in it, too, and my community is thriving. Is there anything better than that?
Thanks to Shira Gura, The S.T.U.C.K. Method
#7 – Removing a Fear of Technology
It's helping other businesses remove their fear of technology. The big bad computer is a necessary evil most small businesses say when they don't understand what they have. When you tame that beast, their business thrives. It is exciting when you come back and review the services that you've done over the last few months and their business has exploded in growth utilizing the same tools and utilities that they currently have but making the most of them. Giving them secure, easy to use systems, and spectacular customer service is something that most businesses do not know what to do with or have never had with their computer systems.
Thanks to Trave Harmon, Triton Technologies
#8 – Unending Honeymoon
As I'm sure many business owners would say it's hard to narrow it down to just one thing, but I guess what I love most about my firm is that the honeymoon is never over. My partners and I have built a great team that thrives on exceeding client expectations, and regardless of whether a client in the onboarding process or has been with us for years, they receive the same level of service. Even as our small firm grows, in clientele and in number of employees, I'm proud to say that providing quality boutique customer service is at the heart of what we do, and I love that. I started my business because meaningful client-advisor relationships in the financial services industry were quickly disappearing. Centerpoint brings those relationships back.
Thanks to Jennifer M. Wolfsberg, Centerpoint Advisors
#9 – Experimentation
As an entrepreneur, I can decide to experiment with new products and services and to take the business in new ways. This freedom keeps my job exciting, and it's exhilarating to be able to apply my creativity on fresh projects. I love being able to set my own hours, so I can most efficiently balance my professional and family lives. But perhaps the most rewarding aspect of entrepreneurism is helping others achieve the same occupational freedom and enjoy these same rewards. I love that my businesses, Affilorama, SaleHoo and Doubledot Media Limited, help others to find their own career independence through e-commerce pursuits. Everyone deserves to love their job.
Thanks to Simon Slade, SaleHoo
#10 – Improving the World
I love that I'm improving the world rather than filling it with more trash. Before I founded Loftii, I'd worked for several large ecommerce retailers who sold everything from treadmills to contact lenses. I absolutely loved my job, but was tired of selling things that would eventually end up in the landfill. I wanted to do something more meaningful – something that would truly matter in the world. I co-founded Loftii – a company that connects consumers, retailers, and charities to enable philanthropy through consumers every day shopping. I love that I've been able to found a business where I still get to do what I love every day, but know that instead of selling something disposable, I'm helping provide clean water to people in Cambodia and saving children from sex trafficking or any one of 100+ other worthy causes.
Thanks to Amy Larson, Loftii
#11 – Creating Beautiful Things
As an artist of course I love to create beautiful things that make people happy. But what I really love about my business is the freedom it gives me. That freedom means everything. I wake up without an alarm and decide how and where I spend my time. I can hug my dog whenever I need to. I determine my work attire (shorts & t-shirt in the summer / sweatpants and sweatshirt in the winter). I can choose to take the afternoon off and go with my dog to the beach when the weather is nice. The freedom I have means that I am able to do what is beneficial for me, and my business, rather than blindly adhere to rules that make no sense. Of course I work hard, and sometimes longer hours than if I wasn't self-employed, but it's all worth it because of the freedom that I have.
Thanks to Ana V. Ramirez, Ana Ramirez Photography
#12 – Spreading Positivity
I love that my business helps spread positivity. On the springpop app, users can easily send Happy Notes, GIFs with positive messages, to friends. Springpop users also receive five posts each morning containing inspirational quotes, uplifting stories, and motivation for the day. I also love that my company saves people time. The springpop app values quality versus quantity, ensuring that whether a user has two minutes to scroll through their feed, or twenty, they will always find interesting posts, without the need to waste time searching.
Thanks to Alexandra Pierson, Springpop
#13 – Changing the Future Workforce
What I love about my business is that we're modeling the future workforce. The typical 9-5 isn't the right structure for work in a digital age. There's something to be said for the flexibility to work from anywhere around the world and to have the ability to work when you're most productive. Millennials are leaving the traditional workforce at alarming rates – opting for a work life that often puts quality of life before salary. I love my business because I'm never burnt out, I work with people who want to be here, for clients we carefully choose and love and I have time and energy to spend with those I love. To me that's the definition of success.
Thanks to Rachael Seda, Mix+Shine Marketing and PR
#14 – Preserving Freedom
I help defend citizens charged with violent crimes. The average person may think of legal defense professionals as the bad guys, but we are saving lives and protecting citizens' rights. In the past two years alone, I have helped save three men from wrongful convictions and life in prison, and a handful of others from lesser sentences. They were innocent! Defense work holds the government accountable and helps maintain balance in our justice system so that it can work as intended. You may or may not be surprised about the vast number of malicious prosecutions happening every day. I love what I do because not only am I helping certain individuals, but also I play an indirect part in empowering all of us. I love my job because I help preserve our freedom.
Thanks to April Higuera, P.I., ADH Investigations
#15 – Giving Insight
My work with highly talented executives and entrepreneurs focuses on identifying critical inflection points in their leadership. At times leaders who’ve experienced tremendous success find themselves stuck or dissatisfied with the status quo. Through coaching, leaders address pressures of over commitment, saturation, or feeling fractured; frustrations of discovering themselves working the job rather than loving the work; and not seeing expected results in their organizations, start ups, projects or careers. I love the opportunity to serve as a catalyst for insight and action. Often the path to achieve focus, navigate personal and organizational change, increase leadership impact, and execute authentically involves a very practical process. Leaders learn to strategically filter the flow of information and opportunity, while tapping into the contextual intelligence and behavior that leads towards meaningful objectives.
Thanks to Dr. Kathryn Bingham, LEADistics