Are you trying to figure out how to make your startup company experience a little less painful? Do you think you can avoid some of the stresses and trials that all of the “other” entrepreneurs face when trying to create something out of nothing?

If so, my advice is “don’t bother” – starting a company is a crap sandwich – it won’t taste any better if you add condiments!

Let’s call it what it is - a painful experience that will put a strain on you financially, emotionally and physically. Try as you may, there is no way to completely escape the perils of building a company.

You’re better off accepting your new found pain as a reality and dealing with it head on instead of pretending that you can avoid it.

You’re going to lose money

Starting a company means that you need to get used to writing checks out of your savings account, not your checking account. The simple fact is that you’re now paying to work instead of being paid to work, so you’re going to lose money in the process.

The best way to deal with this problem is to accept the loss from the get-go. Instead of being shocked that you are eating through your home equity you need to just accept the fact that it’s no longer there. You need to think in terms of “I’m going to be broke, and that’s what starting a company costs.”

Any other fantasy you might have of living the good life while building something from scratch is just going to distract you from the bitter reality of your present situation.

You’re going to lose time

We all want to live a balanced life of work, family, friends and spiritual harmony. But if you’re going to start a company, you can pretty much throw harmony out the window.

You can’t work 80 hours per week starting a company and expect nothing else to give.

If you’ve made promises to your spouse and family that you’ll keep spending time with them it may be a good idea to reset expectations a bit.

Everything comes at a price, and success at a startup company costs more than just money. You’re going to lose time with the people around you. You’re going to miss events and spend less quality time with people. That’s pretty much the way it works.

Instead of kidding yourself and those around you about how much time you’ll have, try setting realistic expectations about how much time you will really have. It’s more about embracing the time you do have than complaining about the time that you don’t.

You’re going to be stressed

Writing checks out of your savings account and having no time to yourself is stressful. Even the most seasoned entrepreneur that’s been through it all before can’t avoid this fact.

Everyone will tell you that you should just relax and take it easy. But pouring through all of your savings and relaxing just don’t go together. No one is that laid back. If you’re going to live through this, you’re going to have to accept some basic truths.

The first is that no matter how hard you work there is going to be even more work to do. In fact you may actually create more work by getting stuff done. Don’t look for a white light at the end of the tunnel when everything will finally be finished. It never will be, so don’t stress about it.

The second point is to find some way to blow off steam. Employees are going to drop the ball, partners are going to back out on you and customers are going to take forever to pay you. Without some way to vent all of these frustrations you’re going to explode, most likely around the people that don’t deserve it, like friends and family.

If you know you’re going to be stressed all the time then the only answer is to give yourself some sort of outlet. Go exercise, force a vacation, or buy a punching bag. Without an answer for blowing off steam you’re going to kill yourself and take everyone with you.

Embrace the Pain

Many entrepreneurs create more stress than they need because they simply aren’t realistic about what they have gotten themselves into. Instead of embracing the struggle they try to avoid it, and of course they fail in the process.

No one has ever figured out how to start a company and avoid all the pain of a startup, yet everyone seems to spend an awful lot of time trying to soften the blow. Avoiding the struggle is like trying to lose weight without exercise, pain and sweat. If you plan on making progress, you need to prepare for a little pain.