Blood, sweat and tears – the journey to becoming Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year®

 You see the awards, the magazine features and the highlight posts on social media. But building a successful business from the ground up is a really tough journey behind the scenes. Outsourced CFO co-founder Louw Barnardt opens up to Entrepreneur Magazine about what it actually takes.

I can tell you about all the exciting successes. I can mention things like two to twenty-six professional staff in under five years, more than R500 million in growth funds raised for SMEs, some notable awards and many other things that make the headlines. This is a part of the story and we do try to stop and celebrate the successes as we go…

What I would rather share with you are the trials and tribulations, the challenges and heartaches of the process of building a company. It is in this trail by fire that one learns the most about being a good entrepreneur. The most challenging of times often determine your path and hold the best lessons.

Blood

For me, blood represents the big losses. Bleeding financially is definitely a part of the journey. Very few companies have started up without some months or years of bootstrapping, of keeping it lean. For us, that meant continuing on articles salaries for more than a year after we had qualified. It took years to get to and exceed market salaries. This has been a painful sacrifice, but one that all founders need to make in order to get out of the rat race. Live a few years like no-one would so that you can live the rest of your life like no-one else can.

Relationships are also often counted among the losses. Many a time we have invested a lot into a staff member only to see them jump for a better deal. Many times people close to you try to steal ideas or copy direction. It hurts, but it has definitely been a reality.

Sweat

Sweat represents hard work. Outsourced CFO was built on many long hours of hard, focused work. We’ve made this fun by working from coffee shops on weekends or from the beach for a day. But hard work has definitely been a part of getting things to where they are today. Nothing worth building is easy. Don’t start a business if you want to work less!

Sweat also means stretching. Coming from a finance background, there are dozens of core skills that you need to teach yourself in order to be successful at business. Sales, marketing, public speaking, networking, people management, technology. It is a process of continuously stretching your mind and your abilities. Treat learning like a superpower!

Tears  

Tears just refer to literal tears. I have yet to meet an established founder who has never come home after a ridiculously tough day to a good cry in the dark. The journey has massive emotional asks. Disappointment, rejection, temporary defeat (which feels like failure in the moment) and other experiences are a part of the game. You have to learn how to dust yourself off, refocus and keep moving forward. But sometimes it’s okay to just shed that tear. Heaven knows I have.

Fait has a cruel sense of humour

The funny thing is that our biggest successes have very often been followed in quick succession with our biggest disappointments. The week we received the Premier’s award as one of the top two Emerging Companies in the province is the same week we had to postpone paying our own salaries. The month I came back from honeymoon early in our second year of business is the same quiet April that we had to seriously consider if we should continue with business. The list goes on! Business teaches you in a very real way to hold both the extremely high and extremely low moments at the same time.

Pivotal moments and the grind

In every young company’s story there are pivotal moments. Things that happen that change the game. I’ll share two of ours with you. At the end of the very April month mentioned above, we won the contract to become the national financial service providers to Microsoft’s BizSparks Program, allowing us to work with the top 10% of a pool of one thousand tech start-ups being incubated by Microsoft. This set us on a coarse to become the leading authority in the country on finance for tech start-ups.

Another such moment was the Fundraising Readiness Program that we ran with Investec, where we helped over a dozen private companies prepare for and pitch for growth capital. The brand association and fundraising processes that came from this also changed our trajectory. These pivotal moments change your game – but don’t take anything away from the weeks and months of hard grind in between them.

Entrepreneurship is a team sport

No great company has ever been built by one person. It takes a village to build a business. I have been blessed with two co-founders that I have been friends with for over a decade. Their work and support as well as that of our team (which include my sister Dore too) has been the secret sauce to our success. Don’t try to go it alone. Surround yourself with like-minded people who share in and contribute to your vision.

In summary

The road to building a successful company is a steep and rocky one. It is scattered with high mountains as deep valleys. You will need patience, dedication, willingness to sacrifice and a sincerely, fierce belief in your vision for the road. But if your why is big enough, you can get up every morning and make that dream a reality!

This article first appeared in Entrepreneur Magazine in November 2018.