The main difference between entrepreneurs and everyone else is that entrepreneurs are self-starters. We don’t have a boss that gives us work to do; as entrepreneurs, we must create work for ourselves. The rest of the working world is told where to be, when to be there, what to do and how to do it. Entrepreneurs don’t get to clock in and clock out so easily. No one pays us for our time. The hours we spend creating work for our companies, which may or may not actually be the right moves, go unpaid, are never given back and tick away with no guarantee of reward. In fact, we’re expected to fail.
All businesses, big or small, are simply groups of people working together. How do businesses come about, though? We all have great ideas, why is the success rate of start-ups so minuscule? Business is hard, let alone starting a business among these corporate giants. The reason any business is here today is because the founder took that risk in their life to pursue their great idea.
What is the risk?
Imagine being 30 years old, you have a spouse and child, and earn a slightly above-average salary at your miserable job. You have bills to pay at the end of each month and you can’t go more than a few months without income or you will lose your house (and probably, spouse). Starting a business requires taking an idea, applying it to a scalable process and testing its feasibility in the marketplace. Failure to correctly identify your customer and target your marketing towards them can cripple the business. Failure to secure revenue streams can be fatal for the business. Too many months with no income and you lose everything. You have a job that pays you what you need- why throw that away? That is the risk.
The stress and emotional toll that goes into starting a business would make most men quiver. Combine that with the actual difficulties of doing business in a competitive, capitalist market and you’ll see why 90% of start-ups fail. Be in the 10%, you loser.
