posted by Andrew Hartley - Business Consultant & Entrepreneur on Feb 3
One of the most important things to do when considering becoming an entrepreneur is to know your “whys.” Why do you want to own your own business?
This seems like the most obvious thing that anyone could say - that it would be easy to explain why someone would want to become an entrepreneur. Some common answers to “why” include:
- Be my own boss
- Set my own schedule
- Make more money
- Enjoy my work
- Etc. etc.
Having said that, I feel that most of the above reasons are cop-outs. Everyone wants to set their own schedule, make more money, and enjoy his/her work. But why do only a few decide to become entrepreneurs? It’s possible to make more money and enjoy your work in a “traditional” career-path… so what’s the REAL reason you want to start a business?
This takes some more thinking and soul-searching, because in reality starting your own business takes time and commitment - so “making your own schedule,” at least at first, means scheduling yourself 12-16 hour days and “burning the midnight oil” more often than you have since undergraduate school (only then it was more fun and you didn’t remember it the next day!).
So I have come to the conclusion that to make the decision to become an entrepreneur, you must be a very self-aware person; often you know, deep-down, that you want to start and run your own business, but you don’t truly know why. So you fall back to one or more of the cop-out answers above. And then, if you’re lucky, you have an epiphany as to REALLY why you want to be an entrepreneur.
I had that epiphany just the other day, and I think it will help me get off my ass and actually start moving more quickly to the goals I’ve set for my businesses and my life.
So here it is:
My father died when I was about twelve or thirteen years old. I take a lot of his traits and interests - in fact, I’m sure the main reason I went into aviation is because of Dad. He was a private pilot and a mechanic for a major airline, and I thought he was the coolest person in the world. Thinking back, I may be kind of lucky - in a way - that he died while I was so young, because now he will always be coolest person in the world to me.
But this isn’t specifically about Dad - it’s actually about Mom. After Dad died, it was just Mom, my brother, and me. Mom had been working part-time for the county. Though we’ve never really talked about it, I’m sure the plan was ultimately to retire on Dad’s pension and some savings - a good plan, had it worked out. But it didn’t. Dad died, and Mom and we two kids had to make do. And we did - well. My brother and I wanted for just about nothing, and mom worked very hard and long hours to provide everything that we needed - all of us.
But now, Mom is still working long hours and is “buying back” retirement years (she works in public education) so she can actually retire at a reasonable age. Fortunately, Mom works in a field that she is passionate about, and she makes it about the kids, not just about making a living - so it is bearable for her.
I, however, have not found a job that makes me want to put in twelve-hour days (or more) - not one where I am making someone else rich. My time is my time, and if I’m getting paid for eight hours, I’m rarely going to work beyond that if I can help it. But if I start and run my own business - if I become an entrepreneur - each and every hour I work directly benefits me. My pay does not become diluted if I spend more time working.
Most importantly, if something were to happen to me, my wife wouldn’t be left holding the bags, so to speak! My mom had to sacrifice too much to ensure that my brother and I had everything we needed because the plans that she and Dad made were dashed when he died unexpectedly. I don’t want that to happen to my wife should I go down in flames someday.
