Entrepreneur Torture & Vulnerability

My friend, Jake and I have shared a few booths at local craft fairs and Farmer's Markets. On a particularly slow day I looked at him and said, "Why do we put ourselves through this torture?"

I mean, we make all our products, we setup our booth (sometimes in the rain or extreme heat), we have to deal with all the customers and many times we don't make back what we put in.

Yet we keep going back.

Even though the last couple weeks in Midwest Illinois have been ungodly humid and in the 90s to 100s I keep setting up my booth at the Farmer's Market.After all the no's and false hope I still offer my homemade Tea Tree Lotion to every women (and sometimes man) who walks by.

So, why do we do it? A smarter person would just stay home or get a 9-5 job. But not Entrepreneurs. Oh no, we like to feel the hope when someone says, "Ooo, that's cute. How much is it? Not bad, my daughter would love that." And then the crushing defeat when they add, "Well, I'm just looking around at what everyone has." Or that woman who can't quite just tell you No. She has to string you along for a few weeks saying, "Will you be here next week? Ok, I'll buy some then." (This is a true story. The woman said this to me for 4 weeks in a row. Thankfully, she stopped.)



Whenever you create something with your own hands or mind you make yourself vulnerable. You put yourself out there for everyone to see. And when we are seen we can be judged. It's horrible. But we go back again.

Vulnerability can be refreshing though. It's like you're saying, "I'm here. Now what are you going to do about it?" Or "I dare you to do something about it."

But that's just what humans have to put up with. Our ancestors weren't sure if they would make it back from a saber-tooth tiger hunt and we aren't sure if we will sell enough homemade lotion to pay for our booth.

Well, I must be a glutton for punishment because I wouldn't want it any other way.