The motivations and risks of entrepreneurs
Numerous factors can determine an individual to start his own business in a certain domain at a certain point in his life. It may be possible he feels unhappy with his actual job, one that demands so much of him and offers so little rewards, or he just needs a radical change, one that enables him to feel in control and not have to answer to anybody. According to his habitude, his way of thinking, the type of needs or perhaps the way he understands and appreciates the values of life, an individual can be driven to initiate a business for many different reasons: professional, psychological, economic or morale. An analysis of the professional motivations of an entrepreneur reveals which are the perspectives that lure him. For instance, the perspective of doing what he enjoys most, to develop a pleasant activity he can carry out only in these conditions, the perspective of amending various entrepreneurial methods and techniques and last, but not least the chance of gaining a certain reputation in that special domain. Of course, depending on the field of activity, when it comes to professional motivations one can also include the possibility of making new, revolutionary discoveries that generate essential rewards.
Psychologically, an individual is driven to start a business by many possibilities, such as the one of obtaining a specific social status that comes with this position or the one of expending the business relations with other type of entrepreneurs. In general, it’s extremely important to know what motivates a person to take this step, because many times it can indicate the future track of the company. It’s simpler to guess why someone could be determined by financial or economic reasons to initiate a business.
The first thing that comes into mind is the possibility of earning more money than in the case of being employed, the chance of ensuring a better standard of living for that person and the whole family and of course not having to worry about the job safety. According to numerous social studies, these are the three main motivations that determine a person to let go off his workplace and start something on his own. In addition to the professional, psychological and financial reasons, a morale factor can intervene, one that offers the entrepreneur the opportunity to make something special and to contribute to the welfare of his community or society in general.
Besides the motivations of opening a business, one has to seriously ponder upon the risks involved and which he must take. The most burdensome is by far the uncertainty of the incomes, because it is extremely difficult to keep always a company at a high level without ever being in decline. Consequently, if the business starts going down, the risk of losing all the money invested, money that may have been partially borrowed, is pretty high. Many are thrilled to get away from an obnoxious boss, but soon they’ll find out that the burden of being completely responsible for the success or failure of a company may affect their state of mind. Of course, when running a small business your presence is almost always required, which means a hectic schedule that revolves around at least 10 hours of work daily. Unfortunately, this can lead to not only spending more time away from your family, but also to the appearance of health problems generated by stress and pressure. In conclusion, before becoming your own boss, it’s important to carefully study the pros and cons, the key factors that can change not only your professional, but also your personal life.