My top 4 reasons to be an entrepreneur!

July 20, 2007 · Posted in Choices, Entrepreneurship, Motivation, Success

So you aren’t sure whether you want to be an entrepreneur or not. Let me see if I can help you by listing my “Top 4 Reasons for being an Entrepreneur.

1. You are your own boss

Hey this is great. I get to come and go as I please. I get to work or not work. Its all up to me. Therein lies the caveat. If you don’t work, you don’t get paid. If you don’t get paid, then nobody gets paid:

Suppliers/manufacturers must be paid if you expect them to produce or supply products to your business in a timely fashion in the future.
Overhead must be covered. Power, water, telephone, rent/lease/mortgage, internet access, etc. These bills must be paid just to keep the doors open.
Liabilities must be covered. The always necessary insurances must be kept up to date:

auto insurance for your company vehicles
product liability insurance for any products that you produce
accident/health/life insurance for you in case you are injured,sick or dead
fire protection insurance if you own your facilities
workers comp. if you have any employees
“key man” insurance if you or a partner are vital to the businesses success
general business liability insurance to cover costs in the event someone is injured on your business property
specialty insurances: environmental liability, loan pay back insurance, etc.
an attorney should be kept on retainer for any emergency contingencies

Your family expects to eat three times a day, everyday. You may feel that you can cut some corners here and there to make ends meet, but don’t expect those choices to be met without resistance. Your family expects you to make it all work out, because that is what you do.

2. You get to make all the decisions

If I don’t like the way something is being done, I can change it. Great! Right? Not necessarily. Your decisions often have an immediate impact. Your business becomes your own real-life business experiment. The decisions you make affect:

yourself – will the supplier you just changed over to, be as conscientious in filling your orders as the company you just got mad at and fired in a fit of insanity? Were they (the new supplier) the best available or were they all you could get to “cover your butt on short notice”?
your family – do you want to install that new production processing equipment or take your family on vacation this year?
your employees – everyone likes to work 60–80 hours a week without extra pay, right?
your customers – can you explain why your new widget which looks just like your old widget costs 25% more?

3. Being a business owner is prestigious

If you own a business, you are “rolling in the dough”, right? Well, if you do everything right and the market stays good, and the planets are aligned then you are going to make a profit this month. It may look prestigious but it is more work than you have ever done. Your job does not end when you shut the doors. You must:

be on call 24/7
be the full time customer relations specialist no matter where you are or what you are doing
be the problem solver. the fixer, the cleaner
always be looking for new business opportunities
stay abreast of emerging technologies and how you can implement them to make your business more profitable or efficient
be the pseudo accountant and make “snap” financial decisions, because you know your business better than anyone
be your own advertising agency (everyone is a contact, potential customer or knows someone who is)

4. It is an adventure

I have been a little bit harsh to this point, but don’t expect starting and owning your own business to be a cake walk. It’s tough, but it is worth it. Everyday is a new opportunity to sell the world on your product, your business and yourself.

It is great to be your own boss, because you get to determine your own destiny. For driven people, there is no substitute for the rush you get in knowing that the harder you work, the better your business will be.
You do get to make all the decisions. If something does not work, change it. It really is your business experiment. Tweak it, twist it , try something new – it’s all up to you. You determine your destiny.
There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction from being a business owner. I don’t know if I would call it prestige, but it will make you poke your chest out a little and be proud of what you have been able to accomplish.
Everyday is a new adventure. Absolutely nothing stays the same – except of course change.
I love every minute of it.

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