All the reasons why you should start your own business

There are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs being created. Many companies have retrenched staff in the recent past. Maureen was retrenched at age 43 and decided that she was not going to go through that again. And so she went into business. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • There is never a perfect time.
  • Your responsibilities will not end, and you will probably never feel like you have money to do this.
  • All of that said, if you feel any of these things below, then you should start with what you have.

Last week we discussed all the reasons why you should not go into business. This week we look at the other side – why you should go into business. These are real reasons that have come out of entrepreneurs’ experiences.

So, have you been thinking about it but found it difficult to actually do it? Is capital to start elusive? Are you having trouble finding time to think about it and make a business plan? There is always something in your life that is happening that keeps you postponing this move. Most people who have started a business had the same challenges. There is never a perfect time. Your responsibilities will not end, and you will probably never feel like you have money to do this. All of that said, if you feel any of these things below, then you should start with what you have.

NO LOGICAL REASON

You feel uncomfortable in your soul. If you were waiting for a logical reason, I’m sorry to disappoint you. This is when you feel that there is something you must achieve – and you cannot do it in your current environment. Many people say this unease is the reason they started a business. For some people, this feeling signals a career shift, but entrepreneurs know that a career shift will not change their feeling. Lisa* had been feeling like she wants to go into business for the past three years, and finally did last year. She describes the feeling she had as a drive to figure out what her strength and passion for marketing could turn out to be if she had the freedom to fully discover it on her own terms. The drive to do that was stronger than the fear of all the challenges ahead. Sam* says he went into business because he no longer felt motivated working in a big organisation. When he started to get irritable at work, he realized it was not his colleagues who were the problem: he no longer felt like he fit in with them anymore, and neither did he want to.

TIME FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Time to do something different. Karimi has been in the NGO world for most of her working life, which spans about 20 years. She has been raising funds, sending proposals, looking for projects to fund and so forth. She has now started a business doing storytelling. This is very different from what she was doing before. When Karimi started to feel discomfort in her job, she also noticed that she had a passion for writing and telling stories. Perhaps it is also time for you to do something different and starting a business may be the avenue for this. You don’t have to start a business in your area of expertise, though I believe that your experience in some way will always help you. Your experience always matters.

WEALTH-CREATION

Long-term wealth creation. At 51, Nderitu had made his financial mistakes, with a great career but not much in savings. He was aware that money in business is not made overnight. However, if he did not make this move, he would not be able to have any lifestyle to talk about. He mortgaged his house and got his property business off the ground. Though he has not yet reached his goals yet, he believes he is on the way to getting there and is happy just to be in a place where he is proactively doing something about them rather than waiting for a salary to be increased or a financial windfall.

ONLY ONE WAY TO START A BUSINESS

The need for people to start businesses. There are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs being created. Many companies have retrenched staff in the recent past. Maureen was retrenched at age 43 and decided that she was not going to go through that again. And so she went into business. You will never know if you don’t try. The bigger regret will always be not trying. Remember, there’s only one way to start a business: By starting.

 

Waceke runs a coaching programme on entrepreneurship at Centonomy. To sign up, email her at [email protected]| Facebook/centonomy or go to