I talk with a lot of people who want to start a business “someday.” And as a result, I often think about the factors that determine which “someday” entrepreneurs will actually become business owners, and which will continue to say “I wish” for years to come.
Surprisingly, the ability to take the plunge has a lot less to do with people’s personalities, and a lot more to do with how accessible and familiar the experience of entrepreneurship is to them. Those who can picture themselves running a business often do. And those who continue to think of entrepreneurship as a big, scary thing that other people (perhaps more gregarious, sales-oriented, or risk-tolerant people) do tend to never move forward.
So, if you, too, dream of someday being your own boss, an important first step is just getting acquainted with the nature of the beast. Here are four things that will help you do just that.
One of the best ways to learn what entrepreneurship is really like is by getting to know some entrepreneurs. Not necessarily the fancy, media darling types, but just normal, low-key people who work for themselves. To start, connect with entrepreneurs who match your own demographic—it helps you to start thinking “hey, if they can do it, so can I!” But be sure to branch out from there, and also to meet people in a wide variety of industries. There are lots of styles of entrepreneurship, so the more diversity you can experience, the better!
If you don’t know any entrepreneurs, just start asking people to make some introductions. Or, join groups on LinkedIn or Facebook, and start paying attention to the discussions that are happening. Ask someone you find interesting to have coffee and take it from there. Pick their brain about useful resources, groups, or meetings, and see if they can introduce you to even more entrepreneurs.
In addition to making some new pals, it’s important to identify role models who are a little more established in the business world. You might not be able to take them to coffee, but you can learn a lot by observing them and their companies from afar.
Select three brands or companies that you like and admire. Find as many ways to follow their leaders as possible—be it their blogs, articles, or Facebook profiles. Read their books if they have them. Read their press and interviews that they’ve done. Think about how their personalities and leadership styles have shaped the brands and the companies they run. Stay abreast of their company news, and take note of what they share about their own experience.
There’s a certain romance to small business. As a customer, there’s always something more special about the experience. Sometimes it’s witnessing changes over the years, other times it’s the connection to the owner, others it’s the attention to detail that’s given to the product or service.
And there’s a lot to learn from that! So, in addition to making friends with entrepreneurs themselves, it’s important to also make relationships with some actual businesses. Think about the small businesses that you currently patronize, or the new start-ups whose products you love. What do you know about their owners or story? What are their goals and where are they going? What do they do that’s memorable, distinct, or unique? What do they do particularly well? Thinking about your own experiences as a customer will give you tons of insight into running your own show.
Most would-be entrepreneurs get scared off by the “business” side of things. They overestimate the skills and knowledge that are needed to run a business and assume that there are huge mountains to be climbed and learning curves to overcome before even getting started.
But it’s important to confront the monster under the bed—it’s not as hard as you might think, and you certainly don’t have to have an MBA to do it. Pick a small business magazine like Inc. or Fast Company and invest $15 to get a subscription. Peruse it each month, but feel free to read only what’s interesting to you. You’ll soon see how un-mysterious business can be. From behind-the-scenes business profiles to questions about how to handle particular challenges, you’ll begin to learn a lot about the experience of entrepreneurship.
As you start talking to people, expanding your reading list, and thinking more and more about the what it’s like to be an entrepreneur, you’ll soon see that it’s not as big and scary as you might think. And that “someday” will inch a little bit closer to today.
This article was originally published on The Daily Muse. For more advice for the newbie entrepreneur, check out:
Adelaide Lancaster is an entrepreneur, consultant, speaker and co-author of The Big Enough Company: Creating a business that works for you (Portfolio/Penguin). She is also the co-founder of In Good Company Workplaces, a first-of-its-kind community, learning center and co-working space for women entrepreneurs in New York City. She is also a contributor to The Huffington Post and writes The Big Enough Company blog for Forbes.com. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband and daughter. You can follow her on twitter here and here and on Facebook too.
Comments
Very good observations, and I would concur. One thing to remember that being an entrepreneur and being a small business owner is not the same thing. While an entrepreneur is a small business owner, all small business owners are not entrepreneurs. The big distinction is that entrepreneurs have mastered the skills of growing a small business to a point that it can successfully survive on its own. Here is a good explanation of the differences http://yoursmallbusinessgrowth.com/2011/11/entrepreneurs-build-an-asset-not-just-a-job/ .
I did enjoy this post and look forward to the next one.
How to meet an entrepreneur? One way is to join us for a Small Business Chamber of Commerce Startup Workshop. See http://www.SmallBizChamber.org
Its a must read for all budding entrepreneurs!!!
it is very true.Thank you Adelaide,more grease to your elbow.
It is very easy to comment but it so difficult to do in really practical on your suggestion. However, on your 4 suggestions I absalutely agree on.
One way to meet other entrepreneurs is to check out social group facilitators like Meetup. You can find all manner of greoups meeting regularly to discuss topics and share ideas.
I can personally agree with #4. Every time I meet with a successful entrepreneur or new mentor, I’m afraid I won’t know enough “business speak” since I’m an engineer. But I’ve found the more you hand around them, the more you pick up on it and eventually your friends will think your an expert on business just because you can throw out business jargon. It’s a funny cycle, but I’ve learned not to be afraid of small business owners or entrepreneurs. Their generally some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met!
The recommended #1 DO may prove to be most valuable to any would-be entrepreneurs… and it’s all the more valuable for the same industry and whose success record is fairly recent…
Thanks for sharing this Adelaide. One group of “someday” entrepreneurs are graduating college students (myself included). Since the unemployment rate of 16-24 year olds is 18.1%, (according to Forbes writer Jenna Goudreau,) many of us don’t have a choice but to create our own job.
Jenna’s article- http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/03/16/the-best-jobs-for-young-people/
My blog post on creating a job at graduation instead of finding one- http://entrepreneurialenterprises.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-land-job-at-graduation.html
Adelaide, I have no idea who you are or what qualifications you may have for writing such an article, but just for the sake of interest here, let me offer a little different perspective. I went through five years of building a business from scratch and I found the experience to be a bit more complicated and intense than what you describe. Reading business magazines and books and networking with other business people may help, but, in the end, they amount to little more than moral support. So let me suggest 4 concepts that I think may be a little more useful to this discussion: (1) Contrary to what you said, the personality of anyone wishing to commit to such an effort has EVERYTHING to do with their suitability to do so. Are you really willing to focus most of your energy, spend much of your money and to sacrifice endless hours away from your family in the hope that this will work? Are you able to devout your mind 24/7 to thinking about all the things you need to do next to keep things moving? This isn’t a corporate job- you can’t leave business issues “at the office” when you go home at night. Can you stand the heartbreak you (and probably your family) will endure if you fail? I can guarantee you it will be more painful then anything you imagine when you start. (2) The cash that you beg, steal or borrow to start your “venture” is your precious lifeline. Get a simple accounting package (Quickbooks is the standard), learn it fast and use it to manage your cashflow like a hawk. Review it at least once a week. (3) Realize that you will be endlessly frustrated by mundane tasks that rob you of precious time that you will wish to God you could spend on your service or product or with your customers. Doing paperwork, managing bills, dealing with accountants and lawyers, etc. are simply unavoidable and will never go away- at least not until you can hire an office manager- and don’t hold your breath waiting for that. (4) MOST important- keep a prioritized to do list of everything you need to do exceed your customers’ expectations! Review and revise it EVERYDAY! It is the THE most important thing you can do to maintain a direction focused toward your customers’ interests. Good luck. It is harder than I can put into words but it can be incredibly rewarding and one thing is for sure- you will find out who you are in more ways than you ever knew.
truly Exceptional!
I am a retired 22 year Veteran, and I really desire to have my own business. I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have been blessed with, but business ownership is the ultimate dream. I am certainly not a stanger to hard work and discipline. I just really need a major break somewhere to even get started. I am so tire of this paycheck to paycheck mindset. The most difficult part is getting the financing to start, even a basic franchise without perfect credit. This article is very informative. It is always nice to get tips from other sources. I must make this happen!
To all you budding entrepreneurs… be careful of foolish advice from self-serving consultants telling you it’s easy to start a business, and that you shouldn’t be intimidated. There’s a whole industry of such blowhards. The reality is that we are not as good as we think we are, and starting a business is generally a failing proposition because of all the bad news we can’t anticipate. So you’ve got to be better than yourself, and that’s hard work, as Ben so wisely notes below. All the advice offered in this post are distractions to the real challenges and opportunities you will face, which can be found in your P&L, your only required reading.