How Starting a Business Can Bring Out the Entrepreneur in You
by Nazir Daud
What is entrepreneurialism? Have you ever thought how entrepreneurs get where they are? Did starting up a business ever crossed your mind? If you have an eight-to-five job have you thought of working any hours you wish?
Entrepreneurialism is not only working the hours that you want to work, but usually involves working more! It's also about taking the risk and having the initiative to realize your dreams. It's not an easy way to make money at the start, so don't consider it if you are dreaming of getting out of bed at noon and enjoying cocktails on the yacht. That comes later - much later. It does mean that you don't have to keep the boss happy (unless you are married!).
It could also mean enjoying the things that you love and having the time to enjoy them, but also means passing it all up until you are able to do that. But to top it all, it means earning a higher income in the longer term with a business of your own. It usually takes anywhere between three and five years for a business to start making serious money. If you are luck to breakeven in the first couple of years you are doing well.
Having your own business will definitely give you a lot more freedom to do as you wish in due course... but there is a price to pay. If you do decide to take the plunge into entrepreneurialism and find a gap in the market, you will realise a new world of possibilities.
The things you will be able to do if / when you are successful are usually only dreams of a regular employee, but have you ever thought about making it a reality? Most people will tell you that a business of your own is the key, but how do you go about it?
There is no more job security and it would then be up to you to maintain your family in a good standard of living. However, if you have the spirit of entrepreneurialism in you, then you will be able to provide your family with a much higher standard of living than they have enjoyed to date; and the security of knowing that your fate is in your own hands.
Think about what you are doing now: you are working hard for the company, not really for your family. With the work that you do, who is earning the most? The answer to that question is obvious. Not you! How about setting up a business of your own? This is the day that you can open up your eyes to a different perspective of work, and make the decision to work for yourself.
The first step to becoming an entrepreneur is to make a choice. You decide whether you want to work for yourself or somebody else. You should decide whether you want a better quality of life, not only for you but for your family. In fact, entrepreneurs usually involve their families in the business and it is a great gift to pass on to your children someday.
The second step is learning what kind of business you're going into. What field will you enter? What kind of business fits you? What type of entrepreneur are you? Note down all your strengths, weaknesses, interests, desires, and the hobbies that you like. What is your passion? What interests you the most?
Make sure that it is something that you love. It should be something that you enjoy doing. It should not feel like work! Most successful businesses will relate tales of founders who lived and breathed the business that they started. Most successful entrepreneurs would say that they enjoy their business life as much as they enjoy real life.
In becoming an entrepreneur, the third step involves researching your chosen business, and finding gaps in the market that have not yet been filled or can be handled much more competently. This is the most important part of the entire process: you cannot be an entrepreneur by being a 'me too'. You have to lead the field, and do something new or a lot better.
Without enough research, your new business will only lead to an expensive hobby. Chances are, instead of the business supplying you with a steady income, you will be providing unnecessary expenses for a business that might fail in a very short period of time. Research involves checking out the market and the competition, and deciding that if competition is high, you look elsewhere. A gap in the market is what you should be looking for. Entrepreneurialism is all about finding that gap and taking advantage of it.
You cannot just decide to be an entrepreneur, nor are you born to be one. You must know how to take advantage of an opportunity, and also how to find that opportunity. However, when you do, you must put yourself into it wholeheartedly and stay with it until you own a chunk of that market segment. That is entrepreneurialism.
