In this Expert’s Corner Q&A, IMT reader Grayson Porter draws from her own experiences to describe the key challenges and perks of being an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. Consider the long hours, lack of sleep, high risk, high stress and often slow financial return as down payments on the potential benefits of being your own boss.

In this Expert’s Corner, business owner Grayson Porter — who is in the early stages of entrepreneurship — draws from her experience to describe the key challenges (and perks) inherent to being an entrepreneur. Incorporated in March 2009 in Florida, Porter’s small business Three Palms Consulting LLC (3PC LLC) “is beginning to come out of the learning phase and into the earning phase.”

IMT: What drove/inspired you to break from corporate life and strike out on your own? What was the most challenging part of your transition from corporate (full-time logistics for GE Energy division) to a small-business owner?

GP: The catalyst for my second attempt at business ownership was Hurricane Charley‘s destruction of my townhouse in 2004. The distraction hindered my ability to play the corporate survival game. On the management side, my terrific boss was replaced by a less dedicated and mediocre one. On my side, no one appreciates a predictor of bad outcomes — especially when they come true. An outside logistics management opportunity with an 11 percent salary increase came along, and I went for it. Unfortunately, my first paycheck was 11 percent short. So I decided to stop working and use up my savings to take the time necessary to rebuild my home and work on starting a business again.

The most challenging part of this transition has been time management. My business is a sole member consultancy that forms client relationships as both a broker and an advisor. I am responsible for figuring out how to survive on a bootstrapper’s income, network, train, research, systems development, etc., while helping those near and dear realize that I am NOT available until the weekend — just like when I worked for someone else.

IMT: While skills, experience and expertise are vital assets for any business professional, there are certain traits that set entrepreneurs apart from everyone else. Do you believe there is a distinct “entrepreneurial spirit” that amounts to more than just hard work?

GP: There absolutely IS a distinct entrepreneurial spirit. You have to be like Walt Disney who failed five times — and then be ready to fail another five. Some weeks and months just don’t seem to add up to anything. Whenever I feel at a loss on any level, all I have to do is think about going back into a corporate office environment. My spine straightens, inspiration for solving the insoluble comes out of nowhere, and we’re off and running again. Pure stubbornness, a high level of curiosity and multi-vitamins help, too.

IMT: What are the best perks of running your own business?

GP: Three things: One, I set my own salary and benefit levels. Two, I manage my own schedule. And finally: freedom — from office politics, pay/advancement discrimination, unfulfilled career promises and, above all, corporate team-building events!

IMT: What are some key lessons you wish you had known that you can now offer to prospective or new entrepreneurs?

GP: I wish I had understood how the proportionality of these three resources would play out for me: Energy versus Time versus Money. Entrepreneurs span a huge variety of endeavors from the microscopic consultancy to the venture capitalized manufacturing importer. But, in the end, even for the big guys, human beings have to sleep, there are only 24 hours in a day, and there’s never enough money.

IMT: What do you consider the biggest obstacles for start-ups in the U.S. today?

GP: For your average Joe employee, the biggest hurdle is personal and emotional. If anyone wants to be an entrepreneur, they have to accept 100 percent responsibility for everything they do, think and feel. I once had a recently laid-off entrepreneur yell at me for politely declining to explain corporate federal tax I.D.s (FEIN numbers). My job was to manage the administrative set up process for supplying his existing retail operation. It was not to explain how to start a company. I could really empathize so I suggested he visit his local Small Business Development Center. His response was to scream at me that he wasn’t going to “sit on the phone with the SBA pressing option No. 5!”

My guess is that learning to start and manage a small business in the U.S. is equivalent to about 2 years worth of community college training. Most serious entrepreneurs find plenty of subsidized or low cost start-up and business planning advice, but very little daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual financial management training for actually keeping their enterprise afloat and out of legal issues in the years ahead.

IMT: Do you believe managing through the recession has made you a better business owner?

GP: For every previous recession, I just happened to be in a lucky spot (college, out of the country, a corporate growth sector, a large urban area). This time, I’m right in the trenches with everybody else. It has made me very appreciative of every higher-level explanation, scrap of information, idea, networking connection, etc. A couple weeks ago, I saw a bumper sticker on a big black SUV that said, “PADDLE OR DIE.” This recession has made me learn to refine my stroke on a daily basis.

IMT: Your work at Three Palms Consulting involves strategies for improving public sector procurement. What are some of the major challenges you’ve found in building stronger private/public sector relationships?

GP: The No. 1 major challenge for helping a small business land a public contract is scale. The questions I ask myself when I meet potential clients revolve around their ethics, business experience level, and existing professional/industry expertise. I love it when they know more than I do about business in general. If they do know more, the seemingly excessive administrative requirements of public agencies are not as daunting to them. They can see the value-add of hiring me.

But a lot of the time, while they are very competent in their industry, they are “just” self-employed. I would be kidding myself if I thought they could create the will and ability to grow their business enough to satisfy a public contract overnight. Of course, on the flip side, I’m an optimist and hope springs eternal. If I see something anyone I know might try, I send it over. If they bite, we’ll give it our best shot. If there’s no response — that’s perfectly OK.

IMT: In your professional career, you’ve held a diverse range of positions — from factory-line supervisor to dog groomer, Peace Corps forest researcher to tilesetter, office manager to logistics consultant. What skills or knowledge have you carried over and applied to your newest venture as an independent consultant and business owner?

GP: Confession: My whole life I have been an obsessive-compulsive researcher and collector of information, on and off the job. Time wise, it is perilous to be OCD, but with brutal personal honesty, it is possible to manage it for a superior outcome. Fortunately, I can now go from point A to point B very fast and leave the proverbial dishes in the sink. Background and understanding of multiple industries, process development and communication also came out of my past and help me immensely today.

All the rest, from FastTrac GrowthVenture small business training, to Quickbooks, to all those SBDC/PTAC seminars and my small business networking activities — are all new to me. This business of constantly learning is what makes me feel confident to call myself an entrepreneur and keep moving forward regardless.