Why Do Entrepreneurs Start Businesses

My parents always told me that the only way to live comfortably is to do what all the smart kids do, meaning, to get a university degree and then find a well-paying job. S-T-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y, they said. I listened, and, as you can imagine, I followed their advice.

In a way, I was conditioned to believe that business is only for the “chosen” or “special” ones. This meant that either you would need to be born into an already wealthy family or be extremely lucky, which in my opinion, are pretty much the same thing. The idea of taking risks and working hard towards personal success in the context of business, in my mind, did not exist… until I got my university degree.

Maybe you are here because you are thinking of starting your own business and you are curious, or maybe you are here because you have already started one and you are looking for that extra bit of motivation. Either way, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take a look at what motivates an entrepreneur to start a business over living a “comfortable and stable life”.

What motivates an entrepreneur to start a business?

The 9-5 rat race

Leaving the tiring 9-5 job is arguably the most common motivation behind why someone would want to become an entrepreneur. In other words, not wanting to work for someone else and the freedom of time. 

As a teenager, I had plenty of jobs that were physically demanding. I would go after school helping to deliver crates of booze to bars and pubs. We would load tens of kegs into a truck, each weighing over 30 kg or 66 lbs, and then ride around the city, getting them to their final destinations.

The problem with this job was that, even though we had a trolley for the kegs to drag them around, most of the bar alcohol storage rooms were located in the basements. This meant that I needed to carry those kegs by hand down the steep stairs. I quickly got the taste of why education is so important for a bright future.

Later on, I began delivering furniture. That was the next accessible job for me at the time. Sometimes this meant delivering a single chair to a private house yard, but mostly, it meant delivering 3 tons of Ikea kitchens on pallets, piece by piece, to the 6th floor using the stairs. It was.. fun.

Then I worked on construction sites, mostly carrying bricks to the roofs with no shade on a hot sunny summer day (30°C or 86°F).

And finally, for my last physical job, I became an apartment mover, taking furniture from one house to the next.

Honestly, I really don’t like moving even my own furniture, but as a professional and proud mover, I got to do a new house every single day, for a minimum wage, by the way. I was basically doing something I hated for almost no money. Saying that I hated this job with all my heart is to say nothing. But I did it anyway because I needed the money.

Nevertheless, one thing that kept warming my heart was the fact that I am about to start my university degree, after which I will get a well-paying job, and all of my problems will be gone forever.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Education

First of all, after completing my Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in IT and software development, the only job that I was able to get was one that paid me.. here comes the drum roll… the bare minimum! I could hardly afford the cheapest possible apartment that I was at the time living in. I won’t even mention the study loan that I was supposed to soon start paying back.

Secondly, on my very first day, I came to work, sat at my desk, looked at my computer, and smiled, since I realized, that for the very first time in my life I was not doing anything physical at work. I could just sit and relax. I was happy. Unfortunately, though, I was happy only for an hour.

Having worked for a while, I realized that even though there was nothing fundamentally wrong with my new job, I just couldn’t accept the fact that I needed to do something that I didn’t want to do at the moment. I hated getting told what I needed to do. That was the day when I understood that regardless of how much someone pays me or how many benefits I get from the company, as long as I work for someone else, taking orders from them, living from paycheck to paycheck, mindlessly trying to climb the corporate ladder, I will not be happy.

After the second day of work, I came home, opened up Google, and began to look for business opportunities online. I found plenty. I had no idea why I didn’t think of doing this earlier. It felt like I wasted so much time taking the wrong turns.

In retrospect, though, I realize that all my experiences were necessary and a good thing, even the difficult experiences. They taught me. They showed me what I want from life, but also equally much, what I don’t want. As the saying goes, better late than never. Needless to say, I finally also understood what motivates an entrepreneur to start a business.

Helping others

It’s not a surprise that so many successful entrepreneurs are also philanthropists.

In my opinion, helping others is one other big cause that motivates entrepreneurs to start a business. In my case, this particular cause has always pushed me to keep going no matter what. Regardless of what obstacle comes along the way or what mistake I make, I keep reminding myself that if I can be successful, then I am able to do more for the world. When I focus on wanting to help others, challenges are easier to overcome.

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If you work the typical 9-5 day job, in whatever you do, you can become successful, an expert, and make a good amount of money. But the reality is that with most jobs, you cannot become wealthy. This means that there is only so much you can earn and therefore give.

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The more I help others to succeed, the more I succeed. – Ray Kroc #Success #Motivation #Quote

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Working at a typical day job limits you to how many people you can afford to help. Normally it is your family and friends. If you start a business, however, you can use that business to choose to whom, how, where and when to help. Your circle of influence can be as big as you want it to be. You set your boundaries with respect to your capabilities.

A great example is wealthy people, like Richard Branson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Thomas Edison, Elon Musk and thousands of others. Through their businesses and wealth, they have been able to aid millions of people. There is no way in the world they would have had such a reach if they would have stayed in the typical 9-5 job.

But all of this is for those that want to be of service to the world. But are there are reasons why do entrepreneurs start businesses? We of course! Personal wealth.

Wealth and financial freedom

Earlier I mentioned that if you become an employee, chances are that you will never become wealthy, at least not in the way entrepreneurs can.

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The reason why so many people take the standard day job over becoming an entrepreneur is because “nothing” is guaranteed for people that start a business. There is no guarantee that you will become a success or even make enough money to live to the next month.

As much as any entrepreneur wants success to be the first word of their vocabulary, mistakes and failure will always be the ones coming right after. It’s just part of the game. And that’s the reason why so many people do work for someone else. It’s that nice “stability” once again that comes with a monthly paycheck that keeps them there. As Robert Kiyosaki famously said:

The moment you need a paycheck, you are no longer free. – Robert Kiyosaki

On the other hand…

Those who don’t take risks, don’t drink champagne.

On the other hand, with the current economy, even normal 9-5 jobs don’t always guarantee that stability.

Yes, it’s not easy to be in business. You will make mistakes and you can fail, but if you are able to overcome them and be above it all, then you have the option to become financially free.

Being financially free means instead of you working for money, money works for you. It means you can retire and never have to worry about money again. It also means being able to afford a luxurious life for yourself and your family, and have plenty of money left to give away to those that need your help. Financial freedom is what very often motivates an entrepreneur to start a business.

When you have money in abundance, you are able to be as generous as you want to be. Warren Buffett, one of the richest people on the planet, has pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes. That is what business can do for you and others.

Purpose in life

Last but not least in the list of what motivates an entrepreneur to start a business is, of course, the purpose itself.

People that get into business are those that want to change the world in one way or another. They look at the challenges that others are have, and then create solutions for them.

Essentially, the competition that occurs amongst entrepreneurs and their businesses is what makes life on this planet better. For example, a new medicine/vaccine created by a private company can save millions of lives in poor parts of the planet.

Sure, there are things like toxic wastes and pollution, testing on animals, and exploitation of children that may be the consequence of private companies working unethically, but it is also other entrepreneurs that look for ways to solve these problems. It’s a neverending loop of progress.

To conclude on a good note, every successful entrepreneur on this planet had a vision, and then used their motivation, ambitions and skills to make that vision a reality. In other words, they had a purpose and they were able to fulfill it.

Any business has its challenges and will usually be more difficult than working for someone else. However, the benefits and the results that you can accomplish with it are also on a whole different level. So if you do decide to start your own business, make sure that you very well understand your vision and what the purpose of it all is for YOU. Then, failure will not be an option.

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. – Friedrich Nietzsche.

Thank you for stopping by and good luck!

Photos courtesy of Oliver Sjöström.

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