This article about “Ten great reasons for starting a business” is interesting and shows that with the right planning, effort and a little bit of luck you can go it alone! However, for me, there are five key reasons why it will never happen...
- I’m too soft
My impression of a successful entrepreneur is not dissimilar to the arrogant, argumentative and back stabbing contestants you see on The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den. I know I’m stereotyping and I have met some really lovely entrepreneurs, but I still think to succeed in your own business you need to have some degree of ruthlessness. - I don’t have a great business idea (I think)
Personalised merchandising, cookies to go, social networking for Generation X are just a few of the ideas I’ve had. So you see, none of them are ground breaking or innovative. - I have no spare money
Although investors might be queuing up for that great business idea, if they’re not how do I get any ideas off the ground? See point 2: Without that great idea, I don’t stand a chance anyway of getting sponsorship or funding. - I like knowing my income levels each month
So if I had the great idea and got funding, who’s to say the business would take off? To make the business work, I’m assuming I would give up my day job. How long would it take before I could start paying myself a salary? How do I plan and budget when I need to take into account sales fluctuations? I have to say, I like to know exactly what I have to play with each month. Managing my own finances is already something I don’t do well, so add business finance into the pot and I would never sleep at night! - I don’t do nightmares
With a great idea, funding and the starts of my dream business coming true, I would be forever waiting for my bubble to burst. Now this is nothing to do with the business venture, this is just my personality: as the eternal pessimist, I’m always expecting the worst to happen. Sleep deprivation being the worst form of torture I could not put myself through this.
Now if you do happen to be thinking about setting up your own business, don’t let my strange rationale put you off - I’m sure each of my counter arguments can easily be further countered! There is a lot to think about, and there is a vast number of resources available for getting advice and funding. Our ebook, Start-Ups: A toolkit for entrepreneurs is one such resource - this link takes you to a page where you can preview Chapter One and watch a video of top tips.
How do you feel about setting up your own business? Perhaps you have already and you think my fears are a-nonsense!
