So you want to start on your own but think it is too risky? Think again!

There are many people out there who have nurtured a dream of starting on their own. It has been a dream that may have carried them through a mundane existence, a dull job or an otherwise predictable routine of everyday life. Nothing wrong with it all, but when you nurture a dream of finally going on your own, it is something only another entrepreneur can understand. It is powerful; it is the kind of dream that drove the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs into history. It continues to be the opium that drives many. It certainly is a power-packed concept and it often succeeds – assured that you know what you are getting yourself into.

So, the dream’s been there, you have vacillated between going and staying many times in your head – you have the idea all planned out but you cannot take the risk. It is a chance you believe you should not take because it involves many things. Sure enough, when you have a good job and a dependable pay cheque at the end of the month with which you pay your bills, leaving it can be unimaginable – more so if you are the family breadwinner. So you keep wondering – should I or should I not? 

It’s been done before. There have been many down the history of entrepreneurship, who have forsaken all they had – the job, the house, the savings – to start on their own dream venture. Now no one is suggesting that you give up all to start on your own but what we also need to keep in mind that as long as you live assured by the safety and security of a regular paying job, you will not venture out.

Another thing that must be understood is that entrepreneurship is not for everyone. You may think about it but at the end of the day, it must be a practical and a realistic dream as well. It cannot and will not be a success if it is not a workable idea. Being an entrepreneur is also about being a good businessperson; it is all about launching a product or a service that will generate business and of course profits. While it might sound all good, would it make money? If it doesn’t, then you are wasting your time thinking.

Mostly, as we have seen, what holds many people back is not that they do not have a good idea but the initial fear of venturing out into the unknown. Entrepreneurship is about making up the rules as you go along – you are in charge but you also must know what to do and when. You must be disciplined about your work and able to give of yourself wholeheartedly to your venture. Putting in a number of hours per day, interacting with customers and building the business are critical moves that can build or break the business.
 

No cakewalk 
Too many get into it without comprehending the game plan. Entrepreneurship is not fashionable as I have written before – it is all about hard work, commitment, consistency and the ability to steer a business through tough times. Ask anyone who has ever started a business and they will tell you that it certainly is no cakewalk. Starting your business is one of the crucial decisions you will take in life and will be life changing and rewarding if you can walk the talk.

There are many steps along the way that you must take before you take the final decision to start on your own – your idea must be tested through and through, your pricing done, your product finalized. Do your own homework in research – talk it out and test it out on friends and colleagues. Would they become a customer? 

For many young people today, entrepreneurship is appealing. Being your own boss is great news but it is one that involves a lot of homework. It is all about playing many different roles at the beginning and sometimes well into building the business – it can be overwhelming and if you are not ready for it, challenging enough to fail you. 

Another shortcoming is that there is no Plan B – there must be a fallback plan – one that will sustain the business through the tough times, one that will consolidate and build the business through the lean years, enabling it to emerge stronger, better and more in tune with what the customers want. A business may look like it is working well at the start but as the settling down part comes you must have everything in place to handle the sustenance phase, the most difficult one. This is where it will settle down like a newly constructed house into a base, moving past the honeymoon stage into what will be your regular, everyday business.

Entrepreneurship is not always about the highs alone – there will be plenty of lows too. But it is gratifying when you see happy and content customers; you see the business that you have built, the people whom you have empowered through the business. It is worth the while. While you can always work for someone, you cannot get the same kind of satisfaction you get when you see something you gave all of yourself to, come alive as an entity of its own.

That is the kind of entrepreneurship that continues to drive the world.
(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior journalist, writer and a PR professional, can be contacted at [email protected])