As we journey forth in this life and keep building our future and bolstering VanaVerse, I started to think about what it means to be an entrepreneur’s life partner after having a look at this video by Dan Lok and his wife. Is it all long days at work and no time for the relationship, slaving through obscure and disruptive hours, or could it be a path we walk down together, as a team of two against the world?
My general observations
I am in a very fortunate place in which my husband’s area of expertise is something he can do from anywhere in the world, including home. That means I can see him often and get lulled into the fantasy of my perfect ideal, where my favorite person (in Borderline’s Terms) would never have to go out for the whole day, only to come home and be too tired to do anything with me. This is also due to the fact that he is incredible at his profession, passionate and smart, which allows him to make things seem like they are effortless and take no time at all.
It took me a while to understand that while he is doing an impeccable job, it does not mean in the least that he is breezing through life without effort. The learning curve became clear when the stresses of running a business and trying to live with a chaotic woman clashed: I gained a level of understanding about the true meaning of creating a sanctuary for my husband to come to in the middle of his work life. I had been going about this whole wife act all backward. The point is to bring peace, not tear it down with my general craziness!
As far as femininity goes, and the role of a wife, having an entrepreneur by your side will truly test your mettle even more than usual. There will be tough times that demand an extraordinary amount of faith, patience, and trust from us. To hold on, and wait for that golden opportunity that we may not even see yet, but have the trust in our husband’s ability to keep us in bread and butter. And when the tough times come to an end, we get to reap the rewards of the success that we as wives had a crucial role in achieving as the ultimate support for our men.
The blessings of a businessman
As I mentioned above, I am truly fortunate that my husband’s area of expertise is such that he can do it from where ever he has a pc. As a businessman, he has more access to managing his timelines so that we may do things that otherwise might not be doable, especially in the western Mon-Fri, 9-5 regime. Since we are also pretty much homebodies, it is not unheard of that we would both spend time on our own stuff, side by side. I mean, our stations are literally touching each other so that we may be close even when duty calls.
Another huge blessing my husband has brought to me is his immense sense of responsibility and passion. His ambition to realize his dreams, even when the hurdles ahead would take down many others. This was shown in his incredible decision to come to this cold, foreign country where he does not even know the language and put up a business to provide for us both. He even burned his savings during the time he spent here before our marriage, making sure we had everything we needed. A true Disney Hercules, from zero to hero!
All of this made it also a necessity to grow, for both him and me. Moving from the hellish, unhealthy life I had been living into the household of an extremely orderly man was not the easiest transition in the world. And I am sure that all the hoops and loops he had to hop through on his way to being an entrepreneur in Finland were not too kind either. I mean, banks would refuse him a business account, and one even behaved in a manner that made me wonder whether there was some serious prejudice within the establishment against my husband’s origins! (Needless to say, I followed my husband to the bank that did not behave in such shady manners.)
The dark clouds of self-employment
As newlyweds and a fresh corporation to his name, we had no support systems in place to help us if something would’ve gone wrong. No family of mine came to our rescue in the tough times, and unfortunately, the extended family is far and wide across the globe. Even the noble state left us to ourselves, as it turns out here in Finland if your spouse is an entrepreneur, that automatically means you are too. Don’t have any income to your name as an unemployed person? Well, that’s too bad, either you submit yourself to the abuse of the system here or deal with it in other ways.
This means that naturally, everything is in our hands. In a way, it is everything I could’ve ever hoped for since now we can build something glorious, something of our own. I would nearly dare say that VanaVerse has become our child, a creation where we both pitch to the best of our abilities as it pays our love and effort back a thousand-fold. Our labor will dictate how far we go and what lifestyle we get to live, to which causes we want to put our efforts in, more so than if he was to take on a day job.
What haunts us the most, I would say, is the everpresent problem of clientele. While everything is going smoothly at the moment, we can never know if it will be that next month or even a week from now. We have to plan ahead and make sure, that in case something were to happen to our income, we can survive until the tides turn once more. And I won’t even start talking about the crooks of the world, that tried their best to cost us our livelihood not too long into our journey!
The potential of a businessman
The future is bright, and the options are limitless. Especially with a team like my husband and I, where he can make pretty much anything come to life with his coding ability, and I can create realms from nothing in mere moments. Our strengths combined will see us do something amazing down the line, of that I am certain.
We have been playing with the thought of creating something together, as a project for both of us. It would most likely be a game for which I will write the story, perhaps make some art and assets and all the other fluff, and he would bring it to life in supremely functional code. Or maybe it will be an app or software for the benefit of the people around us. Either way, I am looking forward to it.
As we ponder about the things we could do, we sometimes will come across new terrains and topics that interest us both. We’ve toyed with the thought of making a proper pizzeria happen in our town since there is nothing that can quite satiate my beloved husband’s Mediterranean tastes. Although that does not quite tickle my fancy, having been a waitress before, I see the possibilities in it. Another topic we often times speak of is getting into the publishing business via my writing. Going through new terrains and conquering fresh areas has proven to be quite the thrill and also supports our continuous growth.
Is it worthy of sacrifice?
I would say it is. While my husband works hard to provide an amazing life for us both, I take on the immense task of support. We have both made sacrifices, him more than most, for us to be able to walk down this path of life together, as a unit. With these sacrifices, however, comes the freedom and purpose that one can have only by doing things that matter, and in my eyes, we are truly doing the things that we care about the most. Both of us have put our talents to use in an attempt to enhance people’s lives, and thus make ourselves prosper as a result.
With the committed efforts of two people, one at the helm and the other as support, you can create a realm of your own, a livelihood. You can bring business to your local area, or in our case worldwide, and perhaps once you grow a little bit, you would be able to bring some jobs as well.
For me, this is a lifestyle I didn’t even think would be mine in all reality, but one that I embrace with everything I have. My husband’s entrepreneurship provides so much more than the roof over our heads – it provides growth in the way of sometimes harsh lessons, showcases to us how resilient and imaginative we can be, and gives us the opportunity to combine our unique, well-fitting talents in ways I could never even have dreamed of. In the end, VanaVerse brings us closer together.