To be or not to be an entrepreneur

Pinch me, I’m a female tech entrepreneur. I still find it hard to believe. I always thought I was born to be a corporate bee. Maybe even a queen bee in some corporate hive with glass walls. I certainly did not see myself as an entrepreneur.

It all started with my sort-of-mid-life crisis. I decided to quit my lucrative job and moved continents and countries to study my second Master degree. The plan was to come back renewed and rejuvenated after a year or so, and get another corporate job. That was the plan. Then I started working on my startup idea while studying in Barcelona, and at some point I realised that I really believed in the idea. I had to see it through to fruition. As a person who always follows her heart, I had to follow mine down the unknown entrepreneurial road. I gave my project a working name – Find A Buddy, FAB in short. Many rounds of name options later the name stuck. I rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

Many months later

“Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?”

I was not expecting this question. I was on a call with a family friend, a successful founder in Silicon Valley. I had mailed him a concept presentation on a startup idea that I had started working on. I was prepared to pitch the idea to him and discuss the business model, but now it felt like I was interviewing for a job.

I stammered. Erm. Because I am the right candidate for it didn’t quite seem like the correct response. So, I said what I believed, even though it sounded a little lofty. “I want to be an entrepreneur because I believe in the idea and its business potential. And I want to make people’s lives better even if it is in the smallest of ways.”

Ding ding ding. Lofty wins. It turns out that people often choose to be entrepreneurs for not the right reasons. Not wrong perhaps, but not right.

If you are at a should-I-take-the-plunge point of your life, let’s do a quick quiz to see where you stand. Listed are some of the reasons why people decide to become an entrepreneur. Give yourself 1 if your response is you agree and 0 if you disagree.

1. You hate or dislike your boss.
2. You hate or dislike your job.
3. You want to work on your own schedule.
4. You want to make good money fast.
5. It is easier to work for yourself than someone else.
6. You want to be famous.
7. You want to be answerable only to yourself.
8. You think that startup life is cool or glamourous.
9. Startup work will be easier than a corporate job.
10. You love taking risks.
11. You are good in your field/ industry.
12. Your friend or relative wants to startup with you.

If you scored 1 or more, you may want to evaluate your reasons. Entrepreneurship is not a quick fix for any of these. If any of these 12 reasons are motivating you to try your hand at entrepreneurship, do yourself a favour. Go on a holiday. Pick up a new hobby. Move to a new city.

Being an entrepreneur is HARD. No matter how many articles you read and how many people tell you this, you have no idea how hard it is till you start working on it. Unless you have funds from the start (and very few people do), you are signing up for months and years of hardship. It will take a toll on your family life, social life, finances and everything money can buy – leisure holidays, buying new clothes or even eating out. And after all that effort, the probability of success is minuscule. Do you really want to be an entrepreneur?

Yes? Then, ask yourself these two questions. What is the one purpose that is driving you, that will keep you going when the going gets tough? That will light up your darkest times, when you question your decision to become an entrepreneur. Second, will someone be willing to pay for your product, enough for you to be profitable? Could be customers or investors. Now that you have your answers, do you still want to be an entrepreneur?

Yes, you still do? Good. You, my friend, have taken the red pill and have embarked on a wild, wild ride. There will be ups and downs, challenges and battles to be fought. But I can tell you this, it is an experience worth having.

I haven’t been very regular on this blog but I plan to try and write more often. I want to share the good, the bad and the crazy of being a tech entrepreneur here. Not as an expert, because I’m not one. But as a new entrepreneur, hoping that something I say will help someone out there. Also, be warned, these are my views. You may agree or you may have a different view. Look forward to an exchange of ideas.

And if you’re a little curious: Find A Buddy is an online platform where you can find activity partners of your choice whenever, wherever. We have put the launch on hold (given the Coronavirus pandemic fear) – a topic for a whole new post. Our waiting list is open for those who want to sign up for an invite code.