Something I learned about myself while starting my pastry business: I’m stubborn. Don’t be stubborn! In social settings its good to make compromises, because people enjoy you more. In business, stubbornness can lead to failure, because you could wind up operating your business in the wrong way and fail to change course. For example, I had my heart set on starting a stand from which to sell my pastries. Never mind that there are no food stands in Seattle. I devoted ridiculous amounts of money and time to making this stand a reality. In the end, it was a poor venture; I lost more money than I gained. I had some idea that this was going to happen even before I created the stand. I had just spent so much energy on my current course of action that changing would have seemed like failure and my stubborn head could not fathom a bruised ego.
A key in business and life is to be flexible. If you believe that everything you set your mind to must become a reality, you will run into problems. Before I started my business I was unaware of the degree to which I was stubborn. Now I understand this part of my personality and work to fix it. Entrepreneurship, indeed, helps you understand yourself.
