5 Myths About Becoming An Entrepreneur

Steve Tobak over at The CBS Business Network says not to quit your day job yet.

1. Being your own boss and not having to kowtow to anyone. There’s no shortage of bosses and people you have to kowtow to when you’re an entrepreneur. Depending on your situation, there are investors, customers, partners, and here’s one that nobody ever anticipates, your spouse. That’s right, once the steady paychecks stop, the spouse becomes all-too-engaged.

2. Doing what you want, when you want. Sure, you may get to keep your own hours, more or less, but even that changes soon enough. If you’re successful, you’ve got to keep up with business, and if you’re not, you’ve got to work that much harder to change that. And since it’s your gig, there’s no fallback position. If you don’t do it, who will?

3. Escape from the stress of corporate life. Here’s a little secret: we make our own workplace stress. In other words, we take it with us wherever we go. That’s what surprised me the most about going it alone. Sure, there are always workplace specific stresses and headaches, but you’re just trading the corporate ones for those of an entrepreneur. They’re different, but not necessarily better or worse.

4. A shorter and more personal feedback loop. Actually, it’s just the opposite. At work you’re presumably getting feedback on a pretty regular basis. There are projects, tasks, and all that good stuff. But the gestation time for a startup business is relatively long. You very quickly come to realize that nothing much matters until the dough starts rolling in, and that could be a very long time. Okay, it is personal, but that’s both good and bad. How well do you handle rejection?

5. The unique fulfillment that comes from building something from the ground up. Yes, it’s different, but honestly, the sense of accomplishment is really no better or worse than what you get from doing the same thing at someone else’s company, whether it’s building a team, developing a product, or servicing customers.

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