My Best Advice to Start-Ups: Don’t Start.
When doing one of my Entrepreneur Sanity Check consultations, the first question I ask is, “Why are you doing this?”
If the answer is something like the following:
“I’ve got three kids and I want more flexibility.” This, recently coming from a young single Mom, was when I had to bite my tongue hard to keep from blurting, “Are you #!&#ing crazy?”
“I want to be the boss.”
“I want to take time off whenever I feel like it.”
“I want to make more money.”
(You micro and small biz owners out there - please stop laughing so hard, you could sprain something…and you probably don’t have disability insurance.)
And then, if after more discussion, the would-be entrepreneur still seems unrealistic, my best advice - couched in as tactful language as I’m capable - is “Don’t do it.” I’m all for taking chances and [aarghh] “following your passion,” but that’s just it - if you don’t have the passion, you’re not going to be too happy out on your own. It’s long, hard hours; everyone is your boss; and if you don’t work, you don’t eat.
And, even if you are passionate (about software, cupcakes, plumbing, art, whatever) - you also have to do a lot of “crap” work that you don’t like just to keep the business running.
It’s as simple, hard, fun, boring, exhilarating, exhausting as all that.
However, you can still be entrepreneurial when working for someone else - if it’s the right someone and you’ve got the right perspective. (I’ve had some great “real” jobs - even in big bad Corporate America.)
Related Posts:
Business is Hard. (Duh)
Can You Learn To Be An Entrepreneur?
How Do I Become A Consultant?
Start-Up Success: What Do You Wanta Be When You Grow Up?
Thinking you might need a sanity check? You can start by downloading the one-page PDF, Entrepreneur Sanity Checklist - 15 of the questions I typically ask in my Entrepreneur Sanity Check consultations. Everybody and every idea is different, but the basics remain the same.
I also do Sanity Checks via phone. Drop me a line if you’d like to know more. I won’t abuse your email address. No “special deal” or “limited time offers” junk. You’re not a “lead’ - you’re a person with a question.
Tags: entrepreneur success, entrepreneurship, entrepreneur sanity check, start-up success
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March 14th, 2008 at 7:05 am
[…] uncanny how often she writes something just when I’m in the middle of thinking or living it. Por […]
March 16th, 2008 at 1:33 am
Good post. Far from getting rid of your boss (assuming this is one of your reasons), you will just be substituting one type for another (or several others). This thought has always been on my mind especially now that I’m starting an enterprise and holding a job at the same time. Reading this post is a great reminder. Thanks.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:48 am
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