Risk It While You’re Young: Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur
When you think about the many things that you want to accomplish in your life, one of your primary goals may be to start a business, be successful entrepreneur and to be your own boss. For many people, this is a long-term goal that may not seem attainable right now. After all, you may have many concerns related to finances, experience, industry connections and more.
The reality is that you could wait forever to start your own business when you are focused on reasons why you should not get started. However, now may actually be the best time to move forward with a startup. With a closer look at what it takes to get started and why it may be best to start a new business in your younger years, you may be ready to get the ball rolling for your new business.
Common Hang-Ups
There are many reasons why individuals may procrastinate on starting a new business. Some of these reasons relate to general intimidation or a lack of confidence, and others may be specific to the entrepreneur’s age. Starting a new business will always be a risky endeavor, but you cannot get ahead if you do not take risks. You must find the confidence in yourself to move forward with your plan.
You may think that you do not have enough capital to launch a business and that you may have more money later in life. Perhaps you think that working for a few years in your field as a salaried worker will give you the experience that you need and will help you to build a solid network of connections. You may even think that you have too much on your plate right now to even think about taking on the stress and time commitment of a new startup.
Regardless of whether you can relate to these hang-ups or you have other seemingly serious reasons to delay getting started with your new startup, you may want to think again. For many entrepreneurs, it makes considerable sense to launch a new business earlier in life rather than later.
Why Now Is the Time to Get Started
From a financial perspective, it is reasonable to assume that you may have more cash available to launch a startup later. However, many middle-aged professionals also have a family, a mortgage and other obligations. In fact, you may find that your personal expenses are higher in your 30s and 40s than at other times in life. As a younger adult, you may not have these expensive financial obligations hanging over your head. You may even be getting some financial support from student loans, and you may be living with roommates to offset living expenses.
If you are still in college, you may be able to use some of your school’s resources advantageously. For example, you can keep costs low by taking advantage of student healthcare services, campus Internet access, free mentoring from professors and more. After you graduate, these resources may not be available to you.
Another important reason to get started is that many entrepreneurs will unfortunately fail with a first attempt at a startup. When you fail later in life, you may not be willing or financially capable of making a second or third attempt at a startup. You simply have too much to lose. Failing at a first startup is a learning experience, and the knowledge that you gain on the first attempt may help you to be more successful with a future attempt. By taking advantage of learning experiences while you are young, you may be able to more easily and confidently take advantage of your learning experiences.
The First Steps
While it makes sense to launch a startup earlier in life, you need to proceed cautiously and strategically regardless of your age. The first step to take to launch a startup is to create a business plan. Preparing a detailed business plan requires you to review finances, determine how much money you may need to borrow, research the competition, develop a marketing plan and more. Essentially, you must think through and research every aspect of operations, and you must also plan ahead for contingencies.
You may have several great service or product offerings in mind, but remember to focus on one specific thing initially. By staying focused, you can learn along the way on a scaled-down basis. When you have more experience and available funds, you can think about making a prototype for your product or a detailed overview of your services in order to successfully introduce them to the marketplace.
Some entrepreneurs will also launch a business on a part-time basis, such as while still going to school and even working at another part-time or full-time job. By doing so, you may be able to stretch your capital and reduce financial stress until your new venture begins generating a stable profit. While this can be stressful and exhausting, it may be essential to promote a greater chance of success.
Final Word
Starting a new business can be risky and intimidating at any age. There may always be a reason why you should wait until later to start the business, but when you accept these excuses, you may never actually launch a business at all. You can see that it makes sense to start a business in your younger adult years. With this in mind, you may be ready to begin preparing a business plan so that you can strategically move forward with a launch in the near future.
Jeff E. Brown is a freelance writer, self-taught lifehacking teacher, DIY home improvement specialist, owner of two happy dogs and a barbeque master. He loves learning through experience and writing about all the cool things he has learned since he moved out of a compact apartment into a comfortable house. You can reach him @jeff8rown
