What does entrepreneurship mean to you? Perhaps the experience of the cartoon character Dilbert will sound familiar. A wonderful cartoon shows an unhappy employee leaving his company with the caption underneath reading: “I guess I’ve just become an entrepreneur.”
There are many reasons why people open their own business, including the one Dilbert encountered. Some feel it’s the best way for them to make a lot of money, some leave because they don’t like their current boss and some want the freedom to make their own decisions.
Advantages to owning your own business include:
- Being your own boss
- No restrictions on the potential income you can make
- Self-fulfillment
- You can choose where and when you do your work
- Provides you with an opportunity to develop your creative skills
Of course there are a number of possible disadvantages as well, including:
- No guarantee of income
- Major responsibility
- Potentially long hours and lack of flexibility
- Potentially large financial risk
- Significant impact on family life
So…should you become an entrepreneur?
At Silver + Goren we believe that decision is a very important one and should only be made after careful consideration of all potential risks.
The starting point, as with everything we help you do, is to clearly define the objectives you want to meet by starting the business. If you are not clear on your goals it is impossible to develop effective strategies for a successful operation.
There are several main reasons those business fail. Many entrepreneurs launch into industries that are stagnant with little potential for grown. Often, startups offer no innovation or competitive advantage. Most startups are significantly under capitalized. Last and maybe most dangerous, the majority of new businesses have no clear definition of who their customers are going to be or what specific needs the organization will satisfy.
It is possible to reduce these risks considerably through proper analysis, evaluation and planning before any business get started.
Please contact us for a short checklist of key strategic issues that should be evaluated prior to a launch in order to help you determine if you should in fact become an entrepreneur.