There are dozens, maybe even hundreds or thousands of reasons not to start a business including risk, fear, conventional wisdom, and the advice of caring family and friends.
While all of them possess some degree or another of validity and truth, the reality is there has never in the history of the world been a better time to start a business than right now.
Here’s why.
1. Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong
Conventional wisdom says go to school, get a job, work that job for 40 years, then retire. The problem with this is that college tuition is at an all time high, while job prospects after graduation are at an all time low.
Combine this with economic recessions, cutbacks, and outsourcing, and you’re more likely to work a job for 4 years than 40 (by a long shot!)
2 There’s No Better Investment
There’s no better investment you can make than an investment in yourself, your future, and your education.
I’m not talking about school education either, I’m talking about an ongoing commitment to learn, stay curious, and soak up as much knowledge and information as you can about a subject you care about.
Ideally you’d be learning about a subject that also provides value so you can be compensated for what you know, but with a little creativity and a ton of hard work, you can make money from just about anything.
The key is to keep investing in improving your skills and knowledge so you can become more and more valuable to the marketplace.
3. Not Starting A Business Is Risky
Relying on a job is risky.
We need to change the way we think and speak about business and entrepreneurs.
Now I know if you’re reading this you likely have the same belief that I do, that relying on other people for your future is the riskiest move of all, and yet this is what 99% of the population does when they rely on their current job to provide them a safe and secure future.
The truth is there is no safer venture than relying on yourself.
100% accountability and the understanding that you and you alone are responsible for your income, wellbeing, happiness, and future is a surprisingly liberating feeling.
If you can’t make a phone call and directly influence the future of the company than you’re not in control.
4. It’s Fun (And Rewarding)
I’ve never worked so hard in my life, and I’ve never had as much fun doing it.
It’s true what they say about doing work you love.
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. -Confucius
There’s a level of fun and satisfaction that arises when you’re doing what you love, but it goes much deeper than that.
When you own a business that provides value (which all successful businesses do) you get to experience a level of success every single time you help a client or customer.
Their success and happiness becomes your success, and you get to share that happiness and excitement every time you help someone.
5. Success Takes Time
If you get to work starting your business immediately, even before you have a fully finished product or service, you’ll be miles and miles ahead than if you waited until everything was in place and perfect.
Perfection is procrastination. -Adam Erhart
It takes time to build up
- Brand Equity
- Social Media Following
- Portfolio/Case Studies/History
- Testimonials
- Systems and Processes
- Clients and Referrals
And the truth is the best way to build all of these assets is to dive in and just start creating.
Start putting the pieces together and so when the time does come to launch, you’ll already have a substantial number of assets, and you cut your risk of failure dramatically.
Start Today
The beauty of the world we live in now is that you don’t need to quit your job, sell your house, move to a new city, or take out a 6 figure loan to start a business.
In fact, you probably shouldn’t do any of these!
You can start today, where you are, with what you have, and build a wildly successful business from a laptop on your kitchen table and armed with only a cellphone.
It’s ok to start small, in fact, it’s encouraged. For inspiration and useful tips I advise reading The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.
Yes many startups fail, but many of those failures are preventable.
If you don’t know where to start, start a side business, and work at it until it can replace the income from your other business or primary job.
This way you can test your new business concept and your entrepreneurial desires while minimizing your risk exposure.
The only way to succeed is to get started, and there’s no better time than today.
If you’ve had an idea for some time but haven’t been able to get going remember to start small, but start today.
