Choosing whether to stay in what you may consider the comfort and safety of your current job or to venture out on your own can often be a very difficult decision to make. Before you hand your boss a letter of resignation, it’s important to determine whether you’re truly feeling an entrepreneurial impulse, or if you’re simply sick of the way things currently are and grasping for a change.
As we highlight in Small Business, BIG Vision, one of the amazing things about entrepreneurship is that you can create your own destiny. Not only that, but it’s quite an adrenaline rush to build something successful from the ground up. Starting up isn’t nearly as easy as is often depicted by the media, however. It isn’t usually a life filled with neato office studios, pinball machines, and late-night collaborations with an endless supply of pizza. Rather, it’s very long work days – and nights – often alone. You can also forget having relaxing work-free nights and weekends. Often times, business owners use these times to catch up on all of the work that they were unable to get to during the week.
Some Things to Consider Before Quitting Your Job
When venturing into entrepreneurship, many people find that if they don’t have a large savings, they need a credit card advance in order to pay for business expenses, and to cover living expenses too. You’ll also most likely be spending far less time with your family, and more time with business associates. And if you’re thinking of hiring people to join you in your venture, you’ve got to realize that the success of your business means not only being responsible for your own livelihood, but also the livelihood of anyone who joins your team. (This is one reason why, in the book, we advocate outsourcing as much as possible.)
Uncertainty is also a harsh reality of entrepreneurship. Then again, remaining with a large company where you aren’t building any equity is living the reality of uncertainty as well. Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, there are risks involved. What needs to be done is an assessment of exactly which set of risks you are willing to take.
The HUGE Up-Side to Entrepreneurship
You may be asking yourself why on earth anyone would venture into entrepreneurship after learning of all of these difficult aspects. Obviously, there are also some outstanding advantages to entrepreneurship too. If there weren’t, the numbers of entrepreneurs around the world would not be increasing at the fantastic rates they are.
The day-to-day life of an entrepreneur can be utterly exhausting at times, but as we discuss in Small Business, BIG Vision, if you’re truly passionate about your vision, it will become a labor of love and you’ll wind up enjoying yourself more than you’d ever imagined. Being an entrepreneur gives you the opportunity to build a company of your own, contribute to the world in a meaningful way, and truly fulfill your dreams. There really is nothing else like it, and once you get bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, there’s no turning back.
Sure, the path to entrepreneurship can be a bumpy one, but if you have the right reasons for starting your new business, and have realistic expectations, the road will be smoother, and you’ll find that it’s actually immensely enjoyable.
Regardless of where your entrepreneurial urge comes from, making the decision to follow that urge can be life-changing. When it comes down to being truly serious about venturing into entrepreneurship, the fundamental question to ask yourself is this: Are you willing to give it your absolute all, knowing that you may fail? And when you experience setbacks, do you have the resilience to get back up, dust yourself off, and try again? If you can answer “yes” to these questions, then it really is time to go for it! There’s no guarantee of success, but one thing is certain – you will never be bored!
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