Don’t be an Entrepreneur! Part 1

Yeah, someone advised me that negative headlines create more splash and I need to lower my positivism. So, here am. ??

Just to give a little credibility to myself and why I can actually write all this; Am someone who has done ‘corporate slavery’ for few years in my life, followed up with being an educator, a skill trainer and then jumped in to trying my life (not luck!) with start-ups. After 3 and a half attempts in start-ups, 5+ years in the ecosystem, more than 2 decades of professional life (if one can call it, life) and 40 years on this planet, I think I have gained some wisdom and credence when I talk on what I talk about.

I usually do not talk bullshit, is what I believe but then every bull thinks the same! ??

So guys, in what I think will be series on my learning & experience from entrepreneurship, presenting the first one on ‘Don’t be an entrepreneur’ if you have any of the following as your reasons for being one:

If money is the only motivator- Believe me, ask any (successful or failed) entrepreneur, making money is the last thing on their mind which is why they make a lot, when they do. Before making, one should be willing to lose a lot too, and not just money. So, if you are among the ones who think that you should be making a 10X over your monthly salary in the first year of your venture, do not be an entrepreneur.

If your bills are more important than your employees- When you bring in an employee, you also bring in their dependent families, their problems, and a part of their lives. All lives have bills to pay. Yours cannot be bigger than the ones that you have brought in to. So, if you are the one who wants to settle first in the organisation before you can take care of others, don’t be an entrepreneur.

If social status, acceptance matters to you more than the ‘dream’ that you started to chase- If all the unicorns, glamour and Forbes list is the reason you want to start up, don’t. No entrepreneur has gone without a period of complete isolation, depression and ridiculousness offered by the society for trying to become a different breed. It’s a lonely story, even at the peak of the best times. So, if the attention seeker in you is the motivator behind starting up, kill that thought and please don’t be an entrepreneur.

If you aren’t the open, transparent and talking kind- Exams, studies, exam failure, job, job losses are common. You’d get people and counsellors to talk to. That’s not what happens to entrepreneurs who fail. Everyone criticizes when you fail. Few may support if you are open with them, more in troubled times. An offer to support itself is a big boost than the real support. If you are the secretive type, a total introvert who finds it difficult to talk and who loses self-esteem talking about problems, issues, and failures, please, don’t be an entrepreneur.

If you call yourself a Visionary and a Perfectionist but are just a wishful thinker in disguise- Anyone can turn a visionary overnight with a earth shattering disruptive idea, a Steve jobs poster in his room and sharing random motivational messages on Whatsapp university. To really shatter the earth, to really turn a visionary, one needs to get to the ground and execute stuffs, millions of them. Perfectionists have never really become that overnight. Execution makes that fine line of difference between the dreamer and the doer. So, if dreams keep you awake and doing tires you down faster, don’t be an entrepreneur.

If you can’t multi-task- Nah, am not talking about holding a Zoom meeting on laptop, checking mails and Whatsapp on mobile while playing a game of PubG with 5 other friends as multi-tasking! From sweeper to CEO, even if you don’t know the grind, you should be willing to do it. A first-time sweeper, a first-time toddler in school and a first time CEO are all the same. They are all first timers! So, if being a first timer gives you nightmares, don’t be an entrepreneur.

If you fear failure- Fear of failure is bigger than the failure itself. If you are that good boy or girl who always scored centum in school, aced sports and mastered singing, dancing or did martial arts with few belts without losing a single time, dude, why even take the risk of thinking. Just don’t be an entrepreneur?

If you don’t like problems- As a culture, we don’t like problems and each day, we get the same in hundreds. What you dislike, loves you the most, you see. Don’t fall in love with problems. Fall in love with the solutions. But you need to create them first. If you get overwhelmed with problems and everyday issues, don’t be an entrepreneur.

More Don'ts will follow. Your thoughts, views, brickbats are welcome!