When Is the Right Time to Start Your Entrepreneurial Journey

Today, we’ll be talking about one of the most common dilemmas that a young entrepreneur goes through as he comes to the end of his college life. And that is – “whether I should start working on a business right after college or should I first have an industry experience of few years?”

Note: If you are someone who is sure what he wants to do after college, but at some point of your life you’ll be entering the entrepreneurial field, then this article is surely for you.

First of all, let’s talk about a few alternatives people confuse themselves with:

1. Working a job for a few years in the beginning and then starting the entrepreneurial journey: this option may seem good due to some reasons like…
   • If I’ll work for a few years, I’ll have some industry experience and I’ll know how things work in a company and so on.
   • I can save some money and gather enough funds to invest in my startup.
   • I can make some contacts in the industry which will prove helpful in my entrepreneurial journey.
2. I know the field in which I am interested in and feel that I should do some higher course in that field to hone my skills and then start my entrepreneurial journey.
3. I can start my journey as soon as the college ends. However, there may be few doubts about this option, such as: how will I raise the required funds? Do I have the expertise? There are many other well-established companies in this sector, I probably can never compete with them and thus I’ll always stay playing the small game even if I entered that market.

Now, I’ll say, all this is BS. There is no perfect time for doing a certain thing. Instead, there is only one thing for certain – a perfect attitude.

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Let me explain why.

1. As of now, the market is very good to enter and begin your business. Will it be the same a few years later? No, not all. The thing is, you can’t guess up to what extent it would have changed, but the sure thing is, it would’ve changed. Maybe then you’d think that the best time to start was when your college ended.
2. I’d assume that currently, your age would be something in the early twenties. You start something, work on it for one-two years and you fail, what will be the outcome? Obviously, it’ll be heartbreaking, but the lesson learned and experience gained will be priceless. Do you think job or college will give you that experience? No.
   So, do you think you lost/wasted those two years, or you benefited from them? And not to mention, but you have a lot of time in your hand to try again (with better experience and knowledge about how to do it the right way).
3. Now suppose, you worked a job for a few years, now you are in your late twenties (or early thirties). You have the funds required to start the business and everything in place. Do you think that you can work with the same risk-free attitude that you would’ve worked in your earlier twenties? No, because now you’d be having a hell lot of responsibilities on your shoulders, and thus you can’t dare to fail (at least not fail big). If you failed, you may not have the appetite of starting over again.
4. “No matter if you start something after a few years of job experience or you start as a fresher, the difficulties faced are almost the same and of the same extent. It will take the same amount of time in both the cases.” – These lines were said by a very successful person who has mentored a number of successful startups and is a famous name in Indian entrepreneurial society.But if you start something after taking up a job, you’ll obviously be more fearsome as in the back of your mind you’ll always have an option of going back to the job and living a secure life. But, as a fresher, the only option that you’ll have will be to try your best and make it work.
5. Funds – you may be worried about the funds as a beginner, but let me tell you something – You’ll always be worried about funds. Even if you’d have saved something, you’ll worry about not wanting to lose it, plus you may have some different commitments or you may have some responsibilities that require you to always have some money in your hand. (Personal expenses, family, etc.)
   But as a fresher, your needs are minimum because you have not experienced the luxuries (though short-lived) of a constant paycheck.Solution: Funds can be raised – angel investors, family members, close friends, VCs. These are just some of the options. A vast variety of options exists.
6. Expertise in a certain field – you won’t be ready to start a business even if you’d have attained a higher degree in that field. You don’t need the expertise to start something. All you need is a plan. Expertise is gained along the way. You learn things as you execute them. You can’t guess what kind of difficulties may arise before you even start it. You learn things along the way as you work to solve a certain problem.There is nothing you can’t learn by yourself while working on the startup simultaneously. (On top of that – there are many distance courses which will surely help you manage both of the things together).
7. How can I compete with the current competition? The answer is simple – you don’t. You don’t want to compete with them. All you want is to think about your USP (Unique Selling Point) and work on the value that you provide. Focus on building a USP and improving yourself, your teammates, your system and everything associated with your company. And keep the aim high, believe in it with all your heart and have patience. That’s it. You’ll soon achieve everything. As you’ll be completely focused on working hard and improving your company, you won’t even realize how fast you’d reach that level.

So, summing it all up, if your dream is to be an entrepreneur, then quit wasting time doubting your abilities, or worrying about the job experience or the money you need. Start right away, go all in, work hard, quit daydreaming and start acting.

Recommended: 10 Most Common False Beliefs About Starting an Online Business

To be successful, all you need is a positive attitude, big goals, the belief that you can make it and the courage to stick to it till the end. Boom! In no time, you’ll be living your dream and you won’t even realize how fast it happened. By the time you complete your education or gain experience, you could have made your mark in the business industry and you could be living the dream.

Your DESIRE to be successful should be far greater than your FEAR of failure.” – Bill Cosby

Archit Sahu

Archit is currently operating a business, working on setting up passive income sources and running a blog to share his experiences and help out other hustlers. He is also working on a book which will help entrepreneurs to start businesses which much lesser groundwork. He cannot help out everyone obviously and thus he started a forum on his website where everyone can find help from other hustlers around the world.

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