If youโre one of those folks who wants to become an entrepreneur, youโre not alone.
Diamond movies like The Social Network and Steve Jobs have put the passion of entrepreneurship in the limelight. Thus, itโs not any surprise to know that a lot of people out there are planning to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Sorry to say, though, these new sketches of entrepreneurship may inspire some individuals to start a business for the wrong reasons.
Reasons NOT To Become An Entrepreneur
By placing their feet in the wrong direction initially, these newbie entrepreneurs may eventually fall badly in their entrepreneurial ventures.
- But this doesnโt have to be you.
Before starting out on your entrepreneurial journey, avoid any future failures by ensuring you’re not chasing entrepreneurship for one of these wrong reasons.
1. To become a millionaire.
The expectation of massive wealth generally puts people on the track on entrepreneurship. But earning money or becoming a millionaire as your foremost entrepreneurial goal may end up drowning you.
Your customers will never be interested in making you a rich person; all they’ll be interested in is getting value from your business.
As an entrepreneur, your initial goal should be to provide your customers with something unique. (Hint: Fulfilling your clients’ needs are vital.)
So just focus on quality, and the money will eventually flow to your business.
2. To scale passive income.
Who wouldn’t want to make an unlimited amount of money without doing any work?
That’s the eventual goal, right?
To make money while you’re sleeping.
Sorry to say, it’s nothing but an unattainable expectation. Or, at least, it will be during theย initial stages of your entrepreneurial journey.
If your eventual goal is to earn passive income, then the best way you can do that is by creating a digital product (such as an e-course or e-book) that people will buy. However, you will still have to promote it. And if you create a support group for your customers, youโll have to attend to this on a regular basis.
No one earns money easily or quickly if they are a new entrepreneur. You will need to put in some hard work and a lot of sweat equity if you are going to eventually succeed as an entrepreneur.
If you canโt work for a long period of time, or you arenโt willing to work hard for your money, your business will likely fail.
3. To prove that you can.
Maybe you feel that you or your business hasn’t achieved enough yet and you want to add an extra notch on your belt (like a successful business)ย to prove your worth.
However, though, the truth is that no business out there can fulfill your feelings of insecurity. If your aim is to prove that “you can do it”, then you should start by getting some therapy, not starting a business.
4. To follow your passions.
Do you know any person who doesn’t want to leave their job and do what they want to do 100% of the time?
Probably, not.
Since it’s possible to build a business around your interests, however, there are so many entrepreneurs out there who don’t exclusively focus on such criteria.
Or at least, initially, entrepreneurs invest more time in marketing rather than actually doing the work they love and want to do. If this is something you think you will not enjoy, it’s better for you to find a job in one of those fields where your passion is present.
And it’s a better bet than starting your own business.
5.ย Not to be an employee.
As an entrepreneur, you’ll be your own boss and have more freedom regarding decision-making, but you’ll always be accountable to someone.
Whether that “someone” is your client, an investor, or someone else, your goal must always be to make others as happy as possible (in the same way an employee would try to please a boss).
6. To become aย successful CEO.
Concentrating on fame is one of the worst things you can do.
You will fail in both entrepreneurship and in being a celebrity (if your success includes garnishing media attention).
Money and fame come to those people who generate tremendous value for others, not to those who seek it.
7. To keep away from grunt work.
You, as an entrepreneur, have to do a lot of grunt work before you grow your business to the point where you can outsource tasks to others.
In the beginning, you are doing everything.
Yeah, that’s right.
- Sales
- Customer support
- Technical analysis
- Public relations
- Marketing
- Social media planning
- ….and everything else…
In the beginning, all those things you hate will have to get done. And you’ll be the one who has to do them.
8. To change the world.
Before you can even think about changing the world, you’ll have to pay your rent. Very few successful entrepreneurs start out with such sky-scraping aims as solving a huge world issue.
Fortune ventures start their journeys in one particular market niche without the immediate goal of addressing one of the biggest world problems. Thus, you should too, as long as you want to increase your chances of success.
And don’t panic, you’ll get to the world’s problems sooner or later.
Starting Entrepreneurship For The Right Reasons
It’s important for you to keep in mind that a successful business is achieved by providing tremendous value to others.
Your goal should beย to solve one of those sore points that your market is currently facing, but done in an awesome way.
If you do so, the feasibility of your success is limitless.
Now I want to hear from you. What are your reasons for wanting to become an entrepreneur? Are you doing it for the right reasons? Let me know in the comments below.
Here are a few more articles to check out about entrepreneurship:
- 5 Things All First-Time Entrepreneurs Need To Know
- Top 15 Motivational Movies Every Entrepreneur MUST Watch
- What Starbucks Can Teach Entrepreneurs About Business And Innovation
Like this post? Don’t forget to share it!
I have a dream to become Entrepreneur and finally, I am. Itโs the passion which encourages me to be an entrepreneur. I keep these reasons for failing in my mind and will fix it soon in my life.
Hi Shakir,
These above points really motivated me, I have a dream to become Entrepreneur and finally, I am. It’s the passion which encourages me to be an entrepreneur. I keep these reasons for failing in my mind and will fix it soon in my life.
I have some problem to become a good entrepreneur. Lazy and timeless destroy my career. After 2 years I can’t anything on IT sector. Now I totally frusted. Can you tell me some good advice for work IT sector?
I believe enterprenuers should be problem solvers which should be their number priority. Those reasons you gave are very genuine and would go a long way in assisting enterpreneurs.
Thanks for the genius tips shakir.
Hi Shakir,
Someone once told me “true entrepreneur is the one who takes thrills in taking risks.”
I think it is that thrill seeking heart of a true entrepreneur that forces big tech giants like apple
and Microsoft to make multiple in campus startups to make it achieve more success.
It was a really nice context though.
Actually when I became the owner of my own business everything started to improve. Thanks for the tips SHAKIR HASSAN
Great info, it will be very help to the all the new coming up persons, thank you so much sharing this article to us..
Thank you for this great article. Honestly, I had the same feeling every time I watched movies like The social network or some others in the same kind, I get lost. I think I’m not a successful entrepreneur because I’ve been focusing so much in these people success.
Hi Shakir,
All the reasons you recounted here for failing to be an entrepreneur are right and reasonable. I was one of the failures as I did not know all these things before. When I will try to be a successful entrepreneur again, I will surely avoid these reasons and follow the tips you gave at the end of every description.
Thanks for your perfect precautions.
To follow your passion will lead to failure??? Not agree with this point. If we are really passionate about any work means we are in fact not working, we are just doing more than that.
Shakir, Thanks a lot for pointing out these causes.
Thanks again for being my friend and to helping me whenever I need. <3
I'm proud of you to brother. Keep it up.
All the best and keep sharing your knowledge.
Hey Shakir, some points are right in your post but the last one about “Changing the World” is a bit ambiguous in understanding unless I read it twice or thrice.
Anyways good post…
nice post ๐
Hi Shakir,
It’s really motivating for me. I want to be my own boss, after frustrating from my present full time job and to fulfill my passion. I am very new in blogging and trying to be in a proper direction. Thanks.
Yes,the reasons mentioned always lead to unsuccessful.Because,it leads to working in wrong direction instead of passion what we interested.
Always work towards your passion,if it is useful to everyone,money follows automatically.
Thanks Shakir and Thanks Harsh for the great tips.