The biggest problem we see with aspiring entrepreneurs who believe they want to be successful businesspeople is that they want to be successful business people but they don’t care much about their potential field of endeavour. Perhaps they are tired of working a day job, or they think they can earn a better living working for themselves — whatever the case, it seems that people who go into business for themselves because of some sort of rational calculation are at greater risk of failure than those who strike out on their own because the love the work they want to do.
Consider the disgruntled soon-to-be-ex employee who, in a fit of disgust, decides he is just as capable of being a freelance programmer as being a programmer for a large corporation. So he prints some business cards, runs a few ads, and begins work doing the same thing he was doing before, except with less income and crappier hours.
Contrast this with the cancer survivor who, having found comfort from a knit blanket she received at the hosptial, starts a business knitting blankets with special materials that won’t irritate the sensitive skin of a chemo patient. Will she make as much money as she did in her prior work as an accountant? Maybe, maybe not. Is she happier and more fulfulled? Absolutely!
That’s what it comes down to: Do you have fire in the belly for what you do? Are you eager and enthusiastic about your chosen line of work?
If you do what you love, the money will follow. Motivation is a funny thing; when we enjoy our tasks, we are more likely to do them. If we are noncommital about our work but do it for the cash, we are likely to make just enough to get by and lament how hard it is to be self-employed.
When we interview prospective new entrepreneurs, the first question we ask isn’t whether they have drafted a business plan or selected a logo or filed articles of organization. The first question we ask is, why? Why go into business? Why now, why this line of work? The answer to the why question is the single most reliable predictor of whether the entrepreneur will be a successful business owner three years hence.
Our advice: If your belly lacks that essential fire, think twice about whether self-employment is really for you.
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