Confessions of a 30-Year-Old-CEO

It was not easy starting a company and achieving what I did at a young age and it doesn't get much easier being a 30-year-old CEO.

Running a business and making headway, thus gaining a positive reputation in your vertical, takes a dedication that only few have. Small business never stops and the young CEO must keep up.

However, as hard as it may seem at times, I don't think that working for someone else would suit either me or anyone else with the right mindset to become a young CEO and business owner.

Since I started my company in 2005, I have come to recognize are some hard and fast truths to young entrepreneurship. Hopefully the below will help the aspiring entrepreneur succeed in his or her goals.

The Fun Aspects of Young Entrepreneurship:

The more enticing aspects of entrepreneurship prove to be the most rewarding on a personal basis, however they can also prove to be quite paralzying to the entrepreneur's aspirations of having a successful business.

Why is this so?

Many young entrepreneurs like to focus too much on their strengths, thus avoiding their weaknesses altogether and never improving upon them - a necessity for any business professional let alone a young entrepreneur.

While running a business is exciting, especially when young, if you make it all fun and games, you're not going to be in business for too long.

Knowing Your Weaknesses and Not Avoiding Them - Attacking Them

It is human nature for anyone, including many young entrepreneurs, to entirely avoid their weaknesses. Unfortunately, by doing so the young entrepreneur creates a ticking timebomb of sorts.

Although it is painful to look deep into ourselves and admit to ourselves that we are not perfect, it is quite relieving when the I find myself getting into the habit of deducing then improving upon what I feel that I am missing as the CEO of my organization.

I have found that the most effective and timely way to correct the weaknesses is to study. As the CEO, I make it a point to read and learn, always taking notes and going back over what I have read.

The young entrepreneur needs to understand that only they are in control of improving where needed.

Testing, Seeing What Works, Switching the Business Philosophies and Practices

Being willing to test new business theories and thus leave yourself open to making mistakes is a crucial differentiator between the effective young entrepreneur and the ones who remain stagnant in their careers.

Since I started my firm, you could say that my philosophies and practices have changed dramatically. But rather than "change," I look at my business philosophies and skills and see the more positive verb "evolve," as change is merely a neutral synonym for a word that implied forward motion and improvement.

In the end, my "confession" is that as a young CEO, or in any state of business leadership, you can never stop examining yourself. You can never be afraid to try and fail.