Do you have an idea that excites you? Are you motivated to do the work it will take to bring your thoughts to fruition? Well, that’s a good first step. But it can’t be the ONLY reason you start a business. People get into startups for any number of reasons – the desire for wealth, fame, freedom, galactic dominance. But seriously.
In this article, we outline some reasons someone might want to start his own business. Reasons to delve into the world of entrepreneurship are so personal and vary from one human to the next that we are reluctant to throw too many adjectives into the title. While words like “Best” “Top” or “Indubitable” could have fleshed out the headline a bit, we’ll leave the judgment of what kind of reasons these are to our readers and will simply present 7 reasons we’ve come up with that you might want to start a business.
1. YOU are the boss, YOU control your time (for the most part, anyway)
While being the boss does mean that you are, ultimately, responsible for everything, there are positives outside of that little stress point. You create your own schedule. If you work best in the early morning hours, need a midday nap, and then like to burn the candle at the other end, you can. If you want to jump on the elliptical for 20 minutes in the middle of the day, you can. The ability to determine your own time makes it easier to make time for your kids’ swim meets, play on the Tuesday softball league, or to simply spend time with your family.
If you are someone who loathes being told what to do, problem solved. If you hold that same disdain for meetings and meetings about meetings, problem solved. If you are able to quickly analyze a situation, formulate a handful of strategies, and efficiently choose the best way to move forward, you will find countless hours of your time saved (compared to working for someone else). That time can then be spent on other aspects of growing your business.
The results of this freedom and efficiency are shown in many ways. You will find you are healthier when you base your working hours around your natural body clock and ensure you squeeze in some sort of daily exercise. If you dedicate some of your time to your family when they need it, not just when it happens to work out, your relationships will be stronger.
And, truly, you save time when you can work in your sweatpants and t-shirt instead of dedicating your morning to getting pretty or dapper so you can look “appropriate” at the office. (We do not recommend overlooking personal hygiene, just saying you can relax your standards a bit!)
2. No commuting
Even if you work for a company that allows some flexibility in pushing your day early to avoid morning and evening rush hours or shifting things later for the same purpose, you still waste time and money when commuting is involved. Most people also build up a fair amount of stress during their commutes. Plus, there is always the risk of being involved in an accident. If your business grows to a point that you can no longer justify working only from home, you still have control over where you might have an outside location and can do your best to minimize any commuting affects.
3. Location independence
On a related note – if your business is conducted via the Internet and your mobile phone, you can run things from anywhere in the world. You can relocate on a whim to take advantage of more affordable areas of the country or the world, for that matter. You can take a multi-week work-cation and combine travel with your entrepreneurial efforts. If you are the old-fashion adventurous sort you can RV around the country. So long as there is cell service and a strong Internet connection, you are golden!
4. Resources are readily available to help you
The Internet and marketplaces that cater to the professional development and support of entrepreneurs offer a vast wealth of resources that weren’t available ten years ago. Affordable freelancers are out there looking for part-time gigs in graphic design, social media, content writing and more. Apps are easily downloaded to help run various aspects of your business, forms and such are available electronically, and search engines can help you gain an understanding of how to do just about anything you want to learn to help grow your brand.
5. You have networking skills
Not that you can’t have a start-up that is totally independent. However, if you have a solid foundation of connections and the skills to expand on that network, you will find doors open for you that will expedite the growth and success of your business. Email and social media platforms make initial interactions quick and easy.
The fear of reaching out will stop any entrepreneurial efforts before you even get off the ground floor. Establish a solid reason to connect with someone, if you can, provide something to that person before asking for what you need, and don’t be offended if you don’t get a response. Simply move on to the next connection and try again.
6. You have lots of ideas on how to approach things differently
One of the common complaints we hear is that businesses approach things in the same way, year after year because that approach has gotten them where they are today. There is a certain comfort in doing things that way. However, if you thrive on change and can embrace what is new and “better” instead of sticking with what is “okay” simply for the sake of tradition, you’ll do just fine as a business owner. Stretch yourself to move out of your comfort zone and try those crazy ideas bouncing around in your head. You might be surprised by the results.
7. You want to see a stronger correlation between effort and reward
Certainly, there is a certain sense of satisfaction gained from a job well done. However, it becomes less and less satisfying when the big company or your higher-ups are the ones who constantly benefit financially from your efforts and ideas. When you work for yourself, you remove the politics and favoritism that exist in any larger business. The financial gains created by your work are completely yours and can be used to invest back into your efforts or reward yourself in some way. Of course, any negative financial repercussions are also yours and yours alone to bear. That reality can serve as a strong inspiration to always do what is best for your business and should also motivate you to always deliver your absolute best work.
If you’ve been saying, “yes, I can do this,” as you’ve been reading, perhaps you are meant to become the captain of your own ship, the head honcho, a business owner. We’d recommend some additional self-reflection on a few points before you take the plunge. There are some common characteristics of successful business owners you should inspect yourself for:
Positivity: Owning a business is a difficult, lonely task at times. You have to be your number one cheerleader and need to believe you can succeed.
Strong work ethic: There is no passing of the buck. Yes, you can make time for non-business things important to you, but you should also be willing to live and breathe only for your business during the times that level of commitment is called for.
Can-do attitude: Your response to challenges and roadblocks must be an automatic re-routing of your path to go around, above, below, or straight through the challenge. You have to be willing to learn how to do new things – there is no task that doesn’t belong to you at the end of the day.
Comfortable taking risks: Risks can be financial, they can be emotional, or they can involve your reputation. Regardless of what you might have to give, as a business owner, you have to be willing to take risks to grow your business.
Strong listener: Miscommunications can be costly, misunderstandings even more so. There is a great deal of truth of the thought inspired by words from St. Francis of Assisi. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Open to constructive feedback: Good, bad, or somewhere in-between, constructive feedback can help us grow and improve. The key is to accept it with confidence in the knowledge that the words are not a personal attack, but rather, advice on how to do things more efficiently or with more successful results.
The team at Strategy Driven Marketing understands the challenges and thrills of entrepreneurship. We’ve walked the path of being new business owners ourselves and have assisted many others in their journey to start and grow businesses across a broad range of industries. We’d love to help you with business and marketing strategies, the creation of a sleek, modern website, graphic design, or whatever your needs may be as you begin the road to owning your own business. Contact us today for a free consultation. Let’s get started!
Cover photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi from Pexels