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Category:
Published: July 2007
Starting your own business is an uncertain venture.
Do you have the drive and desire to succeed?
I always had odd-jobs growing up. At first it was something simple, like delivering newspapers in the morning. My mother would drive me around the development and I would bring the Sunday paper to my neighbor's doors. Later on, I did the job on my own with a bicycle I bought with money earned from my paper routes. As I got older, I started to devise my own businesses: I mowed lawns, shoveled snow, tutored classmates, and even gave driving lessons. Every now and then after I finished a job I would go down to my local ice cream parlor and buy myself a Vanilla-Pineapple milkshake. I have no idea how I originally stumbled upon the flavor, but I do know why it always tasted so sweet and deliciousit was bought with my own money, hard earned by my own ideas and initiative.
After college, I entered the workforce for a prominent retail company in New York City. In short time I had a high-salary position and was well on my way up the corporate ladder. But, I felt like I was missing something. I enjoyed my success and the work I did, but somehow my accomplishments did not resonate within me the same way they had when I was younger.
One day I realized why. I certainly had the income to go out and buy as many Vanilla-Pineapple milkshakes as I wanted, but they would never taste as good as they did in my younger years. They weren't the prize for my own ideas and they weren't bought with the dollars that I had earned purely from my own initiative and drive.
While this article is not about finding out whether you have this innate drive to become an entrepreneur, you can probably find out just by rating your response to the above two paragraphs. If you thought my reasoning was shallow and egotistical then you probably do not have the peculiar drive that sends businesspeople into high risk situations. If my dilemma resonated with you, however, then you probably have an entrepreneurial spirita desire to take an idea and make it into a profitable reality. Before quitting your job and starting up a new store, salon, or service, there are a few things that, from my own experience, I think you should consider.
The Trade-Offs of becoming an Entrepreneur.
Freedom vs. Security
When you leave your job and start up your own business, you have the highest theoretical degree of freedom possible in the business world. You are your own boss, the only stock holder, and what you say is law. There isn't an uptight suit sniping your ideas in the meeting room and there are no risks of random firings because your supervisor is having a bad day. You set your own goals. You make your own hours. You determine the course of your life.
The downside to all of this is that you have absolutely no security. While you have limitless freedom to do what you want, you will often have financial limitations on making your dream a reality. There is little to no safety net. If the business fails, it is your failure. There is no severance package if your company goes under. Being the sole founder and CEO of your new company certainly has its benefits. However, most people don't realize that 'being your own boss' also means that you are your own employee, secretary, accountant, lawyer, and consultant. You can make your own hours, but they will likely be longer and harder for the first few years than if you were merely trying to climb the corporate ladder. Make no mistake, becoming an entrepreneur is a risky venture.
A Hail Mary Pass
In some ways, going out into the world as an entrepreneur is equivalent to throwing the "long bomb" pass in a football game instead of trying to squeeze out a few yards at a time. If it works out, you will be greatly rewarded and avoid a lot of the grunt work required to get down the field in corporate America. If your pass doesn't work out you have a few more shots, but each time you run the risk of an incompletion or, worse, getting sacked. The majority of small businesses fail in the first few years, a frightening possibility that employees in major companies rarely, if ever, have to contemplate. Do you think your idea is worth taking that kind of risk? Do you think you can complete the pass?
Still Confident?
If after reading this article you still feel that you have what it takes to succeed in the business world then, by all means, go for it. I have certainly seen both the good and bad sides of being an entrepreneur and I can say that, while sometimes you wish things were a little more secure, the good things in life never tasted so sweet.
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