The ‘Why’ of becoming an entrepreneur is more important than you think
Being an entrepreneur is not easy (as if you need to be reminded again). Yet the word ‘not easy’ doesn’t seem to convey accurately the challenges that one must encounter. Many people still charge ahead with the just-do-it mindset. I’m here to invite you to think deeply before you go down this path.

‘Uber for pets’ just raised its first round of funding.
This startup raised $20 million to solve our everyday problem.
The story of early-stage startup hitting big rounds of funding doesn’t seem to end. Every month thousands of startups announced their massive round of funding. Most of us can’t even imagine holding that much amount of cash in the bank. If there are so many startups being funded every month, why shouldn’t I try?
This question may seem innocent at first. But let me tell you, surviving the startup landscape is difficult. And having the wrong reason to be in it may make it impossible to live by.
Media doesn’t cover it all
If you read articles and news about startups, you’ve probably read their stories. I was also very interested in how these young people came to become so successful and raise a lot of money for their business. It’s either they raise funding, scale to millions of users, or just launched in a nice office space with a puppy as a mascot. It was a fun read. But there’s something it doesn’t tell you.
It doesn’t tell you that you’ll be spending your next 10 years trying to build something that might not become anything.
It doesn’t tell you that you’ll spend more than 40 hours a week working on the same thing.
It doesn’t tell you that the pressure is tremendous.
It doesn’t tell you that it can eat you from the inside out.
These are not the stories people want to read. They don’t want to know if you get up at 6 am in the morning and only come home after midnight. This early process is boring to the mainstream reader. Yet it is the most critical part of building a startup. The only thing that can help you go through the struggle of entrepreneurship is your own motivation.
The only thing that can help you go through the struggle of entrepreneruship is your own motivation — Tweet this!
Why
To be motivated to be an entrepreneur you need to have a reason and still be stubborn. For every reason you can think of, there’s an alternative way that may be better equipped to achieve it than being an entrepreneur. Here are the top reasons curated from more than 80 founders I interviewed:
- I want to solve a problem in the society
A startup is always about solving an unsolved problem. Still, it’s not the only way you can help the society. Let’s say you want cars to be more eco-friendly in your country. You can build an electric car company. Or you can also join big companies like Tesla and help make their cars available in your country. It will probably be much quicker and more influential to the society.
- I want to have a lot of money
As I said, if you really have a great idea, you will probably work on it for 5 — 10 years before you see any financial benefit. Although, you must keep in mind the most famous phrase that “90% of startups fail”. Working in an established company is also an option if you simply want to have money. Many companies give their employee a pretty good salary and lots of benefits.
- I want to become my own boss
Here’s the truth, becoming your own boss is not as fun as it sounds. Yes, when you have a boss, he/she can be quite annoying. But that’s as worse as it gets. At the end of the day, you still get paid. What happens when you are your own boss and something goes wrong? That’s a lot of pressure to bear every single day.
There you go, the top reasons why people think they want to become an entrepreneur and the alternative path that you can take. Building a startup is a long path to take. It’s not quick, and it’s most definitely not easy. I encourage everyone to get into entrepreneurship. I believe that it is challenging and it can be fun if you choose to enjoy it. But without a good reason, you are just wasting your time. So if you believe that entrepreneur is the path and you are ready for the struggle, I wish you best of luck!
Ask yourself why, and ask “should I be going the entrepreneur path to achieve my goal?”
