The Wantrepreneur Itch

How I plan to go from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.

I keep a journal in which I keep every business idea I’ve ever had. Every day I see it and it reminds me that one day I’m going to pick up and put a check in one of those boxes. I keep other stuff in there too, but its primary purpose is to just be there, waiting for me.

I tend to be more on the cautious side. No decision goes unprocessed. No thought goes unchecked.

As an introvert, I’m constantly processing things through my head. Envisioning. Sorting. Processing. Imagining. Testing.

I want to be an entrepreneur. That word is so broad but what I really want to be is someone who paves the way for something new.

Something inside of me feels like its fighting to get out. Like I have a breath of air that I can’t let out. I call it the wantrepreneur itch.

The entrepreneur itch is when someone can’t help but create things that solve other people’s problems so I coined the phrase the wantrepreneurs itch to describe when someone (me) can’t help but want to create things that solve other people’s problems. It sounds silly but there’s no other way to describe it!

There is, however, a huge chasm between wanting and doing! The hardest step is always the first one. The hardest part about getting into a pool of cold water is getting in. The hardest part about cliff diving is jumping off. The pattern continues.

Starting can be a looooong drawn out process.

What I wanted to lay out here is how I plan to scratch my “itch.”

1. A Little About Me

At the ripe age of 17 I took a combination of personality, strength finder, and career match tests which prompted me to look into majoring in business in college. After looking into it, I decided that majoring in accounting would be best for me considering all that I found out in the test results.

And that was it, it was decided. Accounting it was. When I started telling people what I wanted to do I didn’t exactly get the response I was looking for.

“Really? Accounting? I’ve never heard of a high schooler dreaming of being an accountant. Are you sure? I mean I guess whatever floats your boat…”

No one was ecstatic for me.

But four years later, near graduating college, here I am still. Accounting it was, and accounting it will be.

As the language of business, I plan on gaining experience to use as an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a business, get an exclusive perspective on a business’ model, and learn a hard skill which can be translated later into any business I start as well as always fall back on.

2. A Little About My Business Ideas

Below are some of my most beloved business ideas in no particular order. I believe in transparency. I believe in collaboration. These ideas are no secret. And they are what I strive to achieve. Whether they are “good” or “bad,” successful or a failure, is besides the point. The plan is, one by one, as the opportunities arise, to pursue each and every one of my ventures.

And one more note: I research EVERYTHING. Google is my best friend. I can’t help but be curious. A lot of my ideas are born out of trying to find a solution to my own problem and spending hours scouring the internet for such a thing that I envision.

Web design service: Squarespace & Shopify Implementation. Although these platforms are very user-friendly, like everything, there’s a pretty lengthy learning curve. Can most people create websites on these platforms alone? Yes. Will it take a very long time and cause a lot of frustration and late night trouble-shooting? Yes. Getting a site up, while it seems simple, is never as easy as it looks. Paired with some social media, blogging, and branding packages, this has always been one of my passions.

Guitar accessory that illuminates chord patterns onto the fret-board: I once thought about doing guitar lessons for some supplemental income but decided against it after trying to put together a handbook of chord patterns, techniques, and guides for students to follow between lessons. As a self-taught guitarist, I learned that the hardest part about learning to play was simply putting in the time to practice. Practice practice practice. The problem is that there are so many moving parts. You have to remember where your fingers go on the fret-board at the same time as trying to strum at the same time as trying to visualize your next chord pattern and then trying to make a smooth transition into that next chord. And the only tools you have to help you practice are YouTube and 2-dimensional chord charts. It’s incredibly hard to try to imitate what another person is doing and even harder to try to translate what a chord chart looks like on your guitar. I’ve looked into prototyping a fiber optic sheet that fits between the strings and fret-board on a guitar but the process involves a lot of engineering that’s above my head for now. Maybe I’ll Kickstarter it when I’m ready to tackle it.

Online financial education material: Approaching my graduation from high school I started looking into educating myself on personal finance like what to do with my paycheck, making budgets, when to start investing, tips and tricks for saving money, etc. What I found were a lot of giant books and vague, scattered articles. I could either devote myself to reading a huge, boring book to try to get a clear understanding that covered all the bases or I could resort to reading short, impractical articles and piecing them all together like a puzzle. What I did was both, and realized that there has to be a better way to do this. My goal would be to 1) create a 30–50 page ebook that gives a very basic understanding of every personal finance topic a college student needs to understand, 2) digital printables such as a budget, money planner, etc., 3) blog practical insights 4) create video instructionals.

Beard grooming supplies, possibly subscription: When I got serious about my beard care and started looking for some beard oils and balms I had no idea what to get because I couldn’t sample anything. Also, the companies I did buy from didn’t have a brand that I liked. No one had a brand that I felt represented me. Most of them appeal to the stereotype jock, player, condescending macho man. Clean branding and possibly catering to Christian men to supply beard oils, balms, waxes, combs, brushes, razors, and content centered around Biblical manhood.

Men’s accessories such as socks, ties, watches, hats, etc.: Designs focused on dogs, cats, common animals, and endangered animals. Every purchase gives back to a non-profit or social organization that benefits animals, whether it be adoption services or conservation efforts. I’ve never been impressed with the designs offered to men and I want to create the kind of designs I’d be proud to wear myself that are modern, quirky, and simple.

Online devotional blog: A blog of transcribed messages pastors preach tweaked into a blog style.

3. A Little About My Goals

Who do I want to become? What is my destiny? What do I want to accomplish?

First and foremost, I strive to be a servant of Christ.

Secondly, I strive to be a husband and father.

Thirdly, I strive to be financially independent, with multiple streams of income to sustain a modest lifestyle and give (charitably and through tithing) the majority of my income.

Fourthly, I strive to be an entrepreneur. To create things, businesses, content, processes, services. To solve other people’s problems. To see my ideas come to fruition. To feel the accomplishment of a successful venture.

Fifthly, I strive to be an expert. One day I want to spend my time freely supporting other people’s ideas. With the experience and wisdom I’ve gained, I want to council others to be successful.

There is no guide to wantrepreneur to entrepreneur. When the opportunity arises, you simply decide, and start.