Different people have different motivations for starting a business. For me, there are at least five different kinds of entrepreneurs. Find out which one are you.
The Escape Entrepreneur
You decide you want to become your own boss because you hate your 9-to-5 job and you want to quit the rat race. Or you’re fresh out of college and you don’t want to get a real job, so you decide to become an entrepreneur. Either way, you want to escape corporate life. You’re tired of being an employee or you don’t want to work for someone else in the first place.
This is one of the most common reasons people want to become entrepreneurs. If this is your only motivation – running away from something – you may have a hard time succeeding. You need a positive motive, not just a negative reason, to make it as an entrepreneur.
The Passion Entrepreneur
This is the other popular reason why people want to become entrepreneurs. They want to pursue their passion, which they can’t fulfill in the corporate world. Many successful entrepreneurs started off doing something they just love. Richard Branson was passionate about music, Bill Gates about programming, Warren Buffet about stocks, Martha Stewart about cooking, Michael Kors about fashion, and Oprah Winfrey about giving advice.
You can succeed as a Passion Entrepreneur if you’re good at what you love, there’s demand for what you can offer, and you have the business skills (or partner with someone who does) to pull it off. Otherwise, you may not be able make a living off your passion and end up doing it as a hobby. There are many musicians, programmers, investors, cooks, fashionistas, and counselors who are not successful entrepreneurs.
The Lifestyle Entrepreneur
You want to run your own business to support, not just finance, your lifestyle. Sure, you want to earn a good living as an entrepreneur. But it’s just as important to you that your business allows you freedom in terms of time and location. That means you want to be able whenever and wherever you want to.
Many entrepreneurs leave their jobs because they don’t want to be stuck to their desk for eight to nine hours, only to start a business where they end up stuck to their store or office for 12 to 15 hours! That’s not what you as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur want. You may not want to aggressively grow your business just as long as you get to enjoy your time and freedom. Or you learn to develop systems and train people so you don’t have to do everything yourself.
The Empire Entrepreneur
There are people who want to build their own business empire. They decide to go into business because they want to be rich and dominate an industry. If you are one of these people, you are definitely a very ambitious person.
Most people who want to become entrepreneurs naturally want to earn a good living and live comfortably. You, on the other hand, want to be a multimillionaire, even a billionaire. If you’re tough, aggressive, persistent, and focused, and you’re willing to do almost everything to succeed, then you will likely will.
The Social Entrepreneur
Then there are those who want to use business to do social good. Instead of starting or working in a non-profit, you decide that a social enterprise is a better vehicle for supporting a cause you believe in, whether it’s the environment, poverty, education, etc.
Profit is important, and you, of course, want to be able to support yourself, but purpose and meaning are just as, if not more, important. But just like people who pursue their passion, Social Entrepreneurs will succeed if they are able to sustain and grow their business while making an impact in the sector they want to serve.
Whatever motivation you have to start a business, just remember that your “why” is a crucial ingredient to your success but is not enough unless you also know the “how.” I hope this issue gives you some good pointers on the how-to’s of starting your own business.
Photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash
