A topic that many people always discuss or think about is starting their own business. There are so many ways to go about it that I could write for hours, so instead, I am going to talk about where the green grass is.
First of all, many people who are working often feel that working for yourself is a glorious idea that has no flaws and only countless upsides. I can assure you that this is not the case.
There are trials and tribulations that you can’t even begin to imagine, and in many cases, especially in the early stages, there are a lot more hours and a lot less flexibility than working a conventional job.
Often, people look to start their own thing due to a tough environment or in a bid to be happier day-to-day, and this led me to ask myself, who is happier, people who work for themselves or people who work for others?
Before we get started, I am throwing in a disclaimer here: this is based on my perspectives and will of course vary based on circumstances, stages of businesses or companies, and many more variables.
Keep in mind this is not necessarily what I propose as a forever strategy or the way to win big from day one. This is something that I think will lead to a happier and more fulfilling working life and one that over time will guide you along your best path.
My perspective is that a mix of both intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship is the optimal circumstance for a happy working life, and although it may not be possible for the long term, it’s a great place to be and one that will help you grow. If you are thinking of starting your own business, you have entrepreneurial traits, hence considering you either an intrapreneur or an entrepreneur.
While working in a salaried job (either full-time or part-time), you are blessed with some of the greatest and most important inputs that lead to happiness. Those are security, fixed income, social interactions, structure, and routine.
Now, these are blessings for sure, but for real and well-rounded satisfaction, it fails to deliver a few key factors. These are factors that most of us really need to feel fulfilled, and many of us often try to search for them in our place of work. I hate to break it to you, but the reality check here is that in many cases they don’t exist or are very hard to find, meaning that you become increasingly frustrated over time looking for a needle in a haystack that may not even be there.
It is at this point where many of us find ourselves thinking we should take the plunge and go all-in for ourselves. We have a need for autonomy, decision-making power, creative freedom, purpose, and growth which we just can’t find in our jobs.
Insert solution….do both.
Starting your own business, no matter how big or small, will give you all these elements while, in parallel, the benefits from being employed will lessen the big challenges of doing so (risk, capital, lack of interaction, structure), and that is, in my opinion, what creates the secret sauce to the most satisfying and fulfilling working life.
As I mentioned before, this scenario is not necessarily the most sustainable, as time is finite and as your business grows or your job, finding the balance may be tough. However, what it will do is give you the option to understand the path you really want to take without significant risk.
You may realize you want to go full-time in your business by which point you will have traction and proved the concept; you may realize you prefer the intrapreneurial environment within a company, but no matter which route you take, it will be an informed decision, and that confidence in decision will allow you to double down and do the best on the route you take.
We typically have this mindset that our decisions are final, and despite knowing things will change, we almost believe things are indefinite when we take decisions. The reality is there is nothing wrong with saying I am going to try a small business for a year or two; you can stop because it fails or stop because you don’t want to do it anymore. That’s okay.
Let us normalise the knowingness that growth is a constant, and there is no end goal which leads to greatness. Constantly be willing to iterate, change, and grow. This is something we will talk more about in future posts, so stay tuned. Embrace the consistency of growth as if you look hard enough you will always find it. It won’t let you down.
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