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Are you still struggling with the decision to become an entrepreneur? Making the leap to entrepreneurship is one of the best things that can ever happen to you. Entrepreneurs have the privilege of trying out different things and choosing to do what they are most interested in. They fully understand that entrepreneurship can change one’s life.
Just imagine being your own boss and doing your work the way you see fit. There are many highly valued and unusual or unexpected benefits to running your own business. They rarely get mentioned, but they are always there. A few include having flexible hours as well as discovering what you are extremely good at.
Many entrepreneurs will tell you that sometimes these hidden benefits are worth more than the business itself.
When you are an entrepreneur, you easily give your brilliant ideas a try. You don’t worry about the effect that spending time on something else might have on your work, if you have a 9-5 job, for instance.
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The Correct Definition of Entrepreneur
Consider the following two definitions of “entrepreneur”: one found in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the other from Dictionary.com.
- Merriam-Webster: “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.
- Dictionary.com: “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.”
The difference is subtle but fundamental: It’s the word “any.”
Dictionary.com has it right: Entrepreneurs, in the purest sense, are those who identify a need—any need—and fill it. It’s a primordial urge, independent of product, service, industry, or market.
An entrepreneur is someone who develops an enterprise around an innovation. Yet, becoming an entrepreneur requires smart decision-making, organizing, planning, setting goals, and so on. You just have to DO IT! If you do it often, you will learn to do it well.
In due course, you will master every aspect of owning and running a business, and at that point, business strategy will cease to become something you do. It will become an integral part of who you are, and any sense of ‘work’ will then leave you permanently.
You will instinctively know what to do, what to say, and how to get things done. Eventually, YOU will become your businesses’ most powerful asset. You will then be able to show up anywhere in the world and get things going simply from what you have learned and who you are.
It has been said many times that we become the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with. So, if you are planning on becoming an entrepreneur or thinking of starting a business, this might be a good time to ponder what that means to you in your life. Stop debating if it’s the smartest thing to do because it is. Just go ahead and give it a try. You won’t regret it.
Here are some of the top reasons why it rocks to become an entrepreneur:
Financial Independence & Autonomy
Every entrepreneur wants to reach a point in their lives where they’re financially independent. Accordingly, entrepreneurship may be one of the most efficient ways to reach financial independence.
Let’s be honest, this is probably the biggest reason people get into business for themselves. And there’s nothing wrong with that! It’s actually quite smart. You should want future financial freedom.
Workplace autonomy is a powerful motivator for business owners. According to a survey, having the independence to make your own decisions is considered the key benefit of being an entrepreneur. The number one reason most people want to become their own boss is the freedom, satisfaction, and flexibility it offers them
“For all entrepreneurs, starting a business is the route to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ no matter how risky,” Martin Zwilling says in a story for Business Insider.
However you define financial independence – retirement stockpile, unlimited cash reserves, or having the resources to buy what you want — entrepreneurship can allow you to achieve it. Hey, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does make finding happiness much easier.
Creating Lifelong Friendships
One of the most valuable, but also most unexpected benefits are the deep, lifelong friendships that can be forged and experienced with people of a like mind that you get to meet through your business, sometimes in the most unexpected circumstances.
If you use the internet, you’re likely to initiate several deep, meaningful relationships with some incredible people, many of which might well be half a world away. In fact, many of these kinds of relationships will be created, nurtured, and sustained without ever meeting that person face-to-face.
Strange as it may seem to the uninitiated, deep purposeful relationships can be forged with just email, text, telephone, and video conferencing technology. These are not just relationships held together with common business interests. It goes much deeper than that.
Ask anyone who has been in any kind of business for any length of time if they’ve ever met anyone of substance, of character, who has subsequently become a lifelong friend, and then listen. You’ll be surprised how common it is, and how valuable those friendships are to the people concerned.
Leverage A Mastermind Group
One of the coolest things you can create together with these kinds of people is a Mastermind Group.
This is where a small group of like-minded individuals meet on a regular basis and discuss their own issues of the day. They use the collective wisdom of the group to resolve issues, create philosophies, and discuss strategies.
Everyone in the group benefits in one way or another and the camaraderie created has a phenomenal power to it. You can learn so much, so quickly, with your own Mastermind Group. Everyone in any kind of business can benefit by being in one.
Studies have shown that frequent engagement, discussions, and participation with fellow entrepreneurs can accelerate your progress dramatically. That’s why Mastermind Groups are so popular. You can tap directly into the collective wisdom of the group to resolve any issue or create new ideas.
A Mastermind Group will also bring you all kinds of new perspectives and philosophies, some of which you may choose to adopt as your own. These alone can change every aspect of your life completely.
A mastermind group brings you new ideas for clear and effective decision making, idea exploration and development, marketing initiatives, and business strategies. These kinds of exercises and activities will cause you to think differently, work differently, and BE different.
You Make Your Own Schedule
You prefer a lifestyle that isn’t nine-to-five. One of the most enjoyable things about being an entrepreneur is the flexibility that comes with it.
Now before we go further, let’s get one point perfectly clear.
There’s quite a bit of hysteria about having a flexible lifestyle but the truth in entrepreneurship is that you’re going to work really hard and long. Therefore, don’t choose this way of life if you’re thinking it’s a shortcut.
Nonetheless, you have the privilege of working on your own terms and choosing the method of tackling work that suits you best. Completing tasks and assignments at a fixed time as your manager advises is eliminated. Rather, you get to pick what you want to work on, when you want to begin, and how you are going to get it done.
Being an entrepreneur also enables you to spend quality time with your loved ones. You approach the art of self-care the best way possible and do your work the most efficient way that you are comfortable with.
Launch A Family Business
In many parts of the world, starting a family business is the only way to maintain financial and social stability. The well-being of the family is a powerful motivator for young entrepreneurs looking for a vocation.
It’s always great to work with people you know, especially those you know as family. Being an entrepreneur yields numerous benefits to your family. Here are five advantages entrepreneurs’ kids gain (Source: Inc.com)
- Your happiness makes them happier.
- They learn about business from a young age.
- The unpredictability of startup life helps your children become more resilient and adaptable.
- Your children will have unique life experiences that shape the rest of their lives.
- Your children will see greater possibilities in their own lives.
Owning or operating a family-run business can give you more of an incentive to work harder, especially knowing that what is at stake affects the people you care about the most. Most likely, you will have some shared values, and working towards a common goal as a team can come more naturally.
Live A Purpose-Driven Lifestyle
Being Able To Stretch Your Abilities. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons people become entrepreneurs is because they find it difficult and frankly unnatural to fit the corporate mold, work for an ungrateful boss, or on someone else’s timetable.
As an entrepreneur, you can easily try out new things, explore your business interests, test how far you can go, and constantly stretch your abilities. Something that most employed people don’t do because they have no time or the right opportunity.
Being a creative, someone with great ideas, it can be challenging to convince others to invest in your plans or see the value of your career goals. The best thing about exploring your interests is that it guides you into discovering your purpose and helps you live a life that you are both satisfied and happy with.
Confidently Explore Unconventional Ideas
You’re empowered by the ability to execute your ideas. When it comes to innovation, small businesses and startups are always the frontrunners. However, one thing that prevents most people from living to the best of their abilities is that they fail to execute their ideas.
They are either content with where they are, or they believe that time doesn’t allow them to do so. Being an entrepreneur gives you more confidence in your abilities to create something out of nothing and to try out every brilliant idea you come up with.
You don’t fear getting into trouble with your bosses when you start paying equal or more attention to your new idea because you are your own boss. This doesn’t mean that you ignore your business. It means you have more free time to work on your idea apart from your main business.
Boost Your Confidence
Here is one of the more tangible types of personal growth that will undoubtedly change your life for the better. Your ability to start conversations with people you meet in absolutely any circumstance and from any walk of life grows when you become an entrepreneur.
You might even, one day, surprise yourself by enjoying talking to groups of people as a Speaker. Because most people cannot imagine this being an enjoyable activity, they’re often shocked to find out how much they do enjoy it, given the right topic, the right people, and the right circumstances. And all without any formal training at all.
The common denominator in all these things is CONFIDENCE. Having an abundance of confidence is probably the greatest asset you can have if you want to live a prosperous, joyful, stress-free life.
Confidence is another one of those things that money just cannot buy. You can only acquire it from doing. So, in order to build your confidence, you simply have to practice whatever it is you would like to get good at.
For example, the only way to get good at swimming is to swim. But there is a world of difference between swimming the 22-mile English Channel and swimming in a pool. There’s also a world of difference between swimming in a modest pool in your backyard and a full-sized pool in the Olympics!
But the strategy is always the same. Start from where you are and practice. Everything is doable given the right perspective and support.
So, if you want to get really good at entrepreneurship, you first have to become an entrepreneur. No amount of video or classroom training can substitute for the real thing. Then, you must fully engage yourself in that business daily until you fully understand all the principles and elements of it. THEN your confidence will begin to grow until you are not phased, distracted, side-tracked, or knocked off course by anything that happens in that business.
Getting excited about your ideas! Have faith in them. Execute every brilliant idea you have. These are some of the keys to constantly making progress as an entrepreneur whilst also sharpening your mind.
Embrace the Opportunity to Make A Difference
Change the World. The ability to pursue a career that is in line with your values is important. Most people lose enthusiasm and passion where work is concerned because their job descriptions aren’t in line with their values. You may have chosen your career because of the money or because of the simple fact that it was the only option you had at the time.
However, becoming an entrepreneur is the best way of keeping your spirits up. You heighten the chances of retaining your enthusiasm and remaining passionate about your work because you are doing what you love. Turing your passion into cash and turning it into a career is “the magic formula” to performing at your best, advancing as well as becoming the best in your industry.
Choosing entrepreneurship empowers you to pick any career you desire and pursue one that’s in line with your values. You easily avoid career paths that will have a negative bearing on your conscience or belief system.
Owning a business gives you the opportunity to support local charity events, local schools, and nonprofit organizations. You have a greater chance of being able to make a difference in your community, which is a great feeling.
Chart Your Own Destiny
You seek freedom and control. When you believe you have the power to control your own destiny and determine your own direction, you have a strong internal focus of control.
I truly believe we are in full control of our choices and that our actions, in response to what fate offers us, matter. Hence, the best thing about entrepreneurship is that it gives you more control over your business and work.
Maybe you want to start a small business and create jobs. That’s great because you can choose that. Maybe you want to create a small chain of stores. Maybe you want to attain a net worth of $1 million. That’s OK, too. The point is that you get to choose. As an entrepreneur, you get to choose who you want to work with and easily avoid getting into the wrong partnerships.
You select your clients and get to choose your employees. In a nutshell, you call the shots and make the decisions that ultimately determine the success or failure of your business. Nobody will get in the way of your vision.
Therefore, you have a higher chance of taking your business to the next level It’s easier to succeed in life when you have more control over what you do. How you do it. And who gets involved in it.
Should You Become An Entrepreneur?
Becoming an entrepreneur is one of the best things you can ever do for yourself because it keeps you improving and advancing. You feel more joy and satisfaction because you are working on something that you believe in. Also, work doesn’t feel like work when you are doing what you love.
Now that you have a better sense of why people become entrepreneurs and take on this role, you should be able to determine if this path is right for you. Yes, there are advantages and disadvantages to becoming an entrepreneur. You may decide the risk will be worth the reward, especially if you have a great idea you’re ready to make a reality.
Mark Twain explained the lure of entrepreneurship best when he wrote, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Final Thoughts…
I’ve given you several powerful reasons to become an entrepreneur. But all that really matters is your reason to start your own business. So, what is it? What are some other reasons why you became an entrepreneur or why you are striving to become an entrepreneur in the future?
Tweet out this story and add your reason. Comment below and share with us why you did it. I am certain it will be a noble one.
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