Thoughts on running your own business
As I sit here on the verge of creating something truly great (and not just for money – to to build something that will truly last), it occurs to me that the reason most people don’t start their own business is pure fear. Afraid of the risk, afraid of failing, afraid of the lack of stability. What they don’t think about is the downside of not venturing out – assuming you have the idea and the means to make it happen of course. What about:
– Working somewhere forever for a company you don’t believe in
– Working for a company that sells a product that doesn’t really benefit anyone
– Working for a company that knowingly steals from people
– Working for a boss who has no original ideas of their own – and doesn’t reward anyone else for theirs
– Working for a rampaging idiot of a boss, who yells to make people feel small – and make himself feel more like a man
– Spending your whole life doing something for which you have no passion whatsoever
All of those sound MUCH worse than any risks I can think of.
2 Comments
I agree, it’s a very frightening thing to go into business for ones self. The first couple of years can be very rough, particularly if there are significant fixed costs, such as mortgage payments.
If you’re fortunate enough to have the house paid for and you have a plan for health insurance, entrepreneurship is the way to go.
Alas, I do not have my house paid for, and so I am working for “the man”. Well, ok, it’s not that bad. But maybe one of these days, I’ll get to flex my entrepreneurial wings again.
Having to work for someone else and being less marketable than young, fresh graduates is something that is more fearful than the risks of going into business for oneself. At some point, the fear of not taking on the controlled risk of venturing for oneself will overtake the fear of losing a supposedly secure job.
Here’s how I look at it. I can take a job that pays 80 kilo-USD per year and feel somewhat secure with a job that can be eliminated by someone else, or I can put myself on the line in order to gross 2 to 4 million per year at a job that I give myself and provides me with returns that are limited by my abilities and ambition. Before deciding to put myself on the line, I have to consider my likelihood of success. In other words, I need to have a good idea about the frequency and magnitude of the losses that I may experience before I am able to win big.
If the venture is realistic and has a high probability of success, it might be worthwhile to either short the house or take out secondary mortgages for funding. Like investing in securities, investing in and placing faith on “Me, Inc.” may be better if done earlier rather than later. Time is on one’s side when making the right investments.
It’s also important not to believe that things cannot be done. Instead of thinking that things are impossible, it is very important to think about ways to meet those objectives that are seemingly impossible. For example, saying, “Getting one million dollars to fund this venture is impossible,” is not the recommended mindset for success. Instead, ask oneself, “How do other people get one million dollars to fund their ventures, and how can I do it for myself?” Then, get it done.
It has always been and will forever always be about a positive mental attitude and backbone to mold one’s environment into one that is beneficial to oneself.
—
As an aside, I would rather have 2.8M USD for myself and for each of my nine employees than have less than 100K USD after being valued at 28M USD for only a short period of time while allowing my key personnel to be compensated with less than 200K per year. But that’s my 2 dollars, adjusted for inflation, of course.