Motivational speakers and career coaches will tell you being an entrepreneur is the sweetest thing after Sunday rice and chicken. Well, not having someone boss you around anyhow is sweet but there comes a time when you’ll realize every serious minded person needs to be bossed around.
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You want to do the things you want. Spend like you want. Wake up when you want. Decide to stay off work as you wish. Be your own boss. Employ people yourself when your business grows. Yes, those and more are the beauty of being an entrepreneur.
There is a particular story career coaches tell their students. Let me share it with you.
One day, a CEO of a company arrived at work with a brand new car. Latest model of the particular brand to be precise. On sighting him and the new ride, one of the employees ran to him, greeted him and sang praises on him given the worth of the car.
The CEO replied, “Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate the love. You see, life is about working hard and being smart. Take it from me, if you work harder, take your tasks more seriously, increase your productivity in your unit by being smarter, I’ll buy a new, more expensive car by this time next year to add to this. “
Shocked? Don’t be. Career coaches will conclude by telling you no matter how hard you work, you are only enriching your employer’s purse.
They are right. The only problem with them is that they capitalize so much on the good side and neglect the bad. And in reality, less than 30% of startups exist past the first 5 years. This is to tell you that of every 10 persons that decide to be an entrepreneur, only about 3 will stay in business past the first 5 years. This is owning to the several clauses associated with being a decision maker and risk bearer because in short, that’s what you are as an entrepreneur.
This brings us to the 5 things everyone who intend to be an entrepreneur must know before they quit their 9 to 5 job. These tips will help you decide.
- Do you have a sustainable capital?
On rare occasions, if you have a huge followership on social media, you can easily create a GoFundMe account. Most times, you get to take a loan from your bank. You now have the capital right? Good. But ask yourself, how sustainable is it? imagine you take a loan of N5million from the bank and everything goes south eventually, can you make do with the debt?
- Aren’t you building a business amidst thorns?
No. This is not the kind of witches with airlines. What I’m saying is, are you sure your environment is favourable for your kind of business? Thing is, every business built in an unfit environment is doomed even before it starts.
Thing is, if you are a Nigerian starting a business in Nigeria, failure is already leading you by 1 to Nill, because truth be told, the current Nigerian system has nothing to offer small business and startups other than worries and trouble.
- How well do your know your market?
An adage says you don’t open a saloon in a village of bald people. Before you launch your business, have you drawn a survey of what your market is like? What is the size? What is their age range? How financial buoyant will anyone be to become your customer? Do you have an already created channel to interact with them?
Before you start, you need to know what you are coming into, whom you are proposing to work with as clients or customers and their problems that need solutions.
- How strong are your competitors?
You can’t start videography today as a startup and expect to outrank Clarence Peters in 3 years. It’s not possible. And while you may think you are not in business to compete with anyone, entrepreneurship is all about competitions. However, economists advice a healthy one just as the case of Pepsicola and Coca Cola: A change in one brand prompts an immediate action from the other, at the gain of the masses.
As a startup, your competitions play a huge role in your success. Expecting to monopolize any market you think about is a waste of time.
Study your competitors, know their strength, selling points and weaknesses. Draw out a plan to coexist with them in the market and maybe outrank them in the long run. If you are able to do this successfully, and taken other things into consideration, then entrepreneurship may actually be your thing.
- Are you ready to endure?
Those who tell you how well entrepreneurs enjoy life won’t tell you about their toils before they are where they are. Are you ready to spend less than you earn? Are you ready to starve and invest your income? Are you ready to work late nights and burn candles? Are you ready to go through the stress of deliberations and confusions? How well do you handle set backs? How well do you access risks and how often do you take them?
Ask yourself this questions, and if you still want to go ahead, then the floor is set.
Personal advice? If you have a 9 to 5 job, keep it then take extra time out to find and nurture a side hustle or business. Grow it with your own money if you earn enough. But whatever you do, don’t quit your job yet. You will, but not yet.
Originally posted 2020-11-22 16:58:35.