Journey of an Entrepreneur – Part II
In the first part, we read about a successful and sustainable entrepreneur. We also understood who an entrepreneur is. In a nutshell, Entrepreneurship is not just about making money, rather it's about building your capacity to take risks to reap in monetary and other rewards.
Career Options
Everybody can start the entrepreneurship journey, however, some become successful while some become sustainable, some fail, and some go on to start multiple businesses and call themselves as “serial entrepreneurs”.
Some are of the mindset that they can study courses, get accolades and certificates, which will help them get high paying jobs. That is not entirely true. Hence the need to properly evaluate the options with data and in a systematic way to make an informed decision.
The Decision-Making Process
For many, the first thing that is taught to us is to study to take up a job. Is that really what all of us want to do? For some, yes… for the others, no. For aspiring entrepreneurs, some initial groundwork needs to be done. Consider the below questions:
1) What is your passion?
2) What product and/or service are you looking to offer?
3) What makes your offering special?
4) What problem are you solving?
5) Have you shared your concept with your friends and family?
6) What is the initial feedback?
7) Do you have faith in your offering and it's potential?
8) Do you have any family members or friends who are willing to support you unconditionally to take your concept forward?
Once you have answers to most of these questions, it becomes easy to a certain extent. These questions are not an exhaustive or an exclusive list. These have been compiled based on personal experience which is sharing.
Considerations
What you also need to contemplate on are the pros and cons of a job. Draw a comparison between being salaried versus being a business owner. Each has their own merits and demerits. Question is, what are you interested in? What is your passion? What is your dream? Do you want to be a successful employee? Do you want to become a sustainable entrepreneur? These are additional questions to mull over.
One good approach would be to list a comparison chart on a whiteboard – job versus entrepreneurship. This will give a clear picture of the career options by weighing the pros and cons of both. Take the help of family and friends for the brainstorming session. Apart from the above, they may add additional points that may have been overlooked.
A word of caution: it is good to take advice, suggestions, and recommendations from near and dear ones. Do not blindly trust anyone nor take anyone’s word based on sheer experience. Do additional research on that aspect before arriving at any decision.
Synopsis
To conclude, you need to weigh the pros and cons of entrepreneurship versus “servantship”. For the former, you further need to weigh the responses to the questions mentioned above. Take your time. Do not rush your decision. Just make an informed decision.
Thank you for reading the second volume. Stay tuned for the next. Until then, do feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments box below. Do not forget to share this series with your friends who may find it useful.
