Next comes the hard part!
“Actually I’m an overnight success. But it took twenty years” – Monty Hall
Most people who dream of owning their own business, which according to some studies as much as 61% of Americans, understand that it takes a tremendous amount of work and sacrifice to start a business, at least conceptually. What they fail to understand is that their superhuman work often pays very little, at least at first.
Most people who have “made it” will tell you that it takes many months, even years, of toil before you start seeing the fruits. In the book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell promotes the “10,000-Hour Rule,” suggesting that you need to plan on spending 10,000 hours on a subject before truly mastering it. To get to 10,000 hours he estimates that for most of us it would take at least 10 years of intense labor.
School Doesn’t Count
But you’ve spent 16 years working at it already, in school getting a well-rounded education and then later in college learning about your profession. That has to count for something, right? Yes, somewhat, but not very much.
First of all, everyone else in your chosen business probably has about the same education as you. Second, entrepreneurship lacks the structure of school, and this lack of structure makes us uncomfortable. After all, the aim of school isn’t to train you to be an entrepreneur, it’s to train you to be an employee. In fact, this emphasis on being a great employee may be one of the prime limiting factors in encouraging people to be entrepreneurs.
You see, when you get to the end of your school career you think that you’ve made it. This is a mistake, building a business needs to be viewed as a long-term process.
But the baby needs diapers!
What’s the first thing you do after getting a job? New car, new house, get married, get kids, etc., you get financial obligations. Along with that it becomes more and more difficult to abandon income for a year or more while you work to build up your business. I have seen this way too much; when green entrepreneurs get disheartened at the lack of income and go back to the day job before they really have the chance to succeed. This may be why the average age for an entrepreneur to start a business is 39; they’ve had the time to put some capital away.
I remember one conversation I had with an entrepreneur in the restaurant business, he and his partner planned and saved for 10 years before opening their first restaurant. But don’t you delay, get started now with a business that requires less capital and earn you chops before moving on to bigger and better things.
Cut to the chase
“So what’s your point in a nutshell, Ty,” you ask. It’s that becoming an entrepreneur is like becoming a Green Beret. You will sweat, you will be physically and mentally uncomfortable, you will suffer from lack of sleep and anxiety but, if you’re tough enough to rough it out, you will earn the right to consider yourself a success and be a member of an elite club. Plus you might make beaucoup bucks!
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Tyler,
Hello and welcome aboard!
Your first article on Noobpreneur.com is very inspiring. I remember when I was starting out some years back. I just want to profit from my business and just drain the life out of it. This limits fund needed to grow the business, and to cut long story short, I almost fall into a deep personal bankruptcy and the recession strikes.
I learn an invaluable lesson that in order to have a successful business, we need to consider retaining most of our biz’ profit, so that when the time comes for us to profit from it, the biz is already strong, even self-sustaining.
Again, thanks for the great post!
Yes! planning on being in it for the haul is essential. Just as I’ve seen people with tons of potential stop just short of figuring the whole thing out, I’ve also seen people go down in flames after initial success because they were not experienced enough to understand the cyclical nature of business.
@Tyler – On “I’ve also seen people go down in flames after initial success because they were not experienced enough to understand the cyclical nature of business” – the real case was me :)
@Mitch – I agree. We never know what could happen to a business. I remember when I was owning a business service center, a force majeur lost me about 40% of sales. Having some cash ready for such situation is a real blessing.
I especially like the part about the rigid–and probably uncomfortable–requirements to be disciplined going into one’s own business. I’d add to Tyler’s Green Beret metaphor Winston Churchill’s sobering call for “blood, sweat, and tears” at the time when Great Britain was standing alone against Hitler. So, to those going into their own business, my best wishes to you that it will be in an endeavor you will love, as a creator should love his/her creation.
Furthermore, thanks to the small businessmen as well as the hugely successful entrepreneurs of America. You are the unsung heroes upon whose efforts much of modern Western Civilization was built.
Tyler – You’ve a good head on your shoulders. While being your own boss takes MUCH work and preparation, I’ve found that if you love your business, it doesn’t really seem like work (usually). Good luck on you entrepreneurial endeavors! Also- Loved your web site. Jane