“I’m Not Cut Out to Be an Ecommerce Entrepreneur.”

Or are you?

There’s a quiet moment a lot of ecommerce entrepreneurs have—usually late at night, after the orders are packed and the emails are sent—where they stop and think:

“Am I really doing this? Or am I just making it up as I go?”

I’ve been there.
More than once.

In 1997, I launched my first e-magazine/ecommerce business with two partners.
None of us had experience. We were winging it—on dial-up internet, building an online store before most people were even shopping online.
They didn’t think of themselves as entrepreneurs. I did.
But if I’m being honest, I was just figuring it out like everyone else.

Six years later, I started my second company.
Similar idea, pure ecommerce, better tools, more confidence.
But I still had moments where I questioned what I was doing.
Not because I wasn’t capable…
But because I was still becoming the kind of person who builds businesses.

That’s the real work of entrepreneurship.

Whether you’re side-hustling after hours or running a growing business full-time—
every day is a process of becoming someone new.
Someone who trusts their instincts.
Someone who learns from failure.
Someone who doesn’t need a boss to tell them what to do.

And let’s be honest:
That shift is not easy.

Especially if you spent years being “the reliable one” at your job.
Especially if your friends and family don’t really get what you’re building (I experienced this in the early days).
Especially if no one told you that entrepreneurship is mostly about making decisions with incomplete information and learning as you go.

“You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
— Richard Branson

Here’s what I know after 25+ years:

1. No one feels fully ready.
   Not in the beginning. Not even later. You grow into it—by doing the work.

2. It’s supposed to feel uncomfortable.
   You’re building something new. That tension? That’s your brain stretching.

3. Entrepreneurs are forged, not born.
   The more you build, the more you become one.

“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
— Peter Drucker

A few ways to lean into the process:

• Track progress, not perfection.
  You don’t need to go viral. You need to keep showing up.

• Stay connected to other builders.
  This journey can feel isolating. But there are thousands of others navigating the same path. Find them. Talk to them.

• Let yourself evolve.
  Who you were at your 9–5 isn’t who you need to be to build this. And that’s okay.

So when that thought creeps in—
“I’m not cut out for this…”
Maybe the better way to say it is:

“I’m learning how to become the kind of person who is.”
And that’s the most entrepreneurial thing you can do.

Keep going.
You’re not behind.
You’re becoming.

Keep building,

Ramin

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