January 5, 2013

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How Professional Sports Prepared Me for Entrepreneurship

Fast forward to today, and although I did not make it to the big leagues I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. My first job made a man out of me and thoroughly influenced me to become an entrepreneur; preparing me for both a challenging and rewarding lifestyle.

As an entrepreneur I quickly learned, like professional baseball, business ownership has its own mess of adversity.

While most people believe working for yourself — self-employment — is the way to go, the idea of building a business from the ground-up is incomprehensible. When you start a business or launch a startup, your name, reputation and personal assets are on the line.

And while baseball taught me strength and perseverance, becoming an entrepreneur has taught me accountability and responsibility.

When you start a business no one will provide a detailed schedule for you to follow. I used to go to sleep at sunrise, however I now begin my day before dawn.

I figure the best way to make my business successful is to work harder than everyone else, a habit I pulled directly from my baseball playbook.

Most importantly, what I have learned from being an entrepreneur thus far is how to be a leader.

It is a huge responsibility to make decisions for an entire company. As a business owner it is essential for me to do my due diligence, ask for help when I need it, and ensure I make the best choice possible for the company as a whole. Additionally, I have learned that a true leader is accountable for the decisions they make. As such, I alone bear the consequences of my actions.

In my opinion, nothing is more unbecoming of a leader than placing blame. It is my duty to be the leader my business partners, coworkers and customers expect me to be.

I have experienced and learned more from playing professional sports and starting a business than most people will in their entire employee careers. I am also proud to say that despite the challenges, both experiences have and continue to mold me into the man I am today.

The lessons I have learned from high performance athleticism and entrepreneurship will never be far from application in my future business endeavors.

Connect with Nick on Twitter.

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Photo: Franklin & Marshall

Nick Arata, a former professional baseball player turned entrepreneur, is the Founder of BC Insta_tees, an innovative custom t-shirt company that turns Instagram pictures into custom t-shirt designs with an emphasis on the design process, taking customers step-by-step to their finished product. Nick holds a Masters in Entrepreneurship from Florida Atlantic University.

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