Risk Is Better Than Regret

Tomorrow kicks off Global Entrepreneurship Week, which is a good time to reflect on an important question regarding our work: Am I am employee or an entrepreneur?

Do you have that spark of entrepreneurship? It’s a feeling inside of you that is hard to define and very difficult to ignore. If you have it, you know what I’m talking about.

There are many possible reasons and catalysts that can push someone to start their own business. In many cases, it is necessity.

We’ve all heard that necessity is the mother of invention. Many people who started their business out of necessity later say that is the best thing that ever happened to them.

Other times, a possible entrepreneur faces options, in particular the choice of working for another person or company with a fixed salary, or taking the risk to launch a business.

It is hard to walk away from the sense of comfort and the sense of security that we get from employment to voluntarily choose the path of uncertainty.
This, even though these days we know that the sense of security offered by being an employee is too often a false sense of security.

Entrepreneurship comes with uncertainty but it also offers the freedom to create something new and the potential for financial independence, both of which can be fantastic.

Certainly, the option of choosing entrepreneurship can cause a lot of fear. Fear can be a good brake when it is necessary to slow down and think through the best way to move forward and have a solid plan. On the other hand, fear can detain success.

I am scared of regret. My biggest fear is the, “what if I had….”

Of course I have committed mistakes. I can now laugh at some of my mistakes; other, not so much. Still, the decisions that I regret are the ones that make me ask, “what if I had….”

Maybe you’ve seen one of the articles that circulate about the regrets people suffer as their lives are ending. Unconfessed loves, jobs, careers, education. There is so much interest in the topic that universities have done studies interviewing hundreds of people and analyzing their responses. One of these studies, by Kellogg University, tells us about “action regrets” and “inaction regrets”.

Studies done by Victoria Medvec of Kellogg University established that there is a relation between time and regret. As more time passes, we focus more on what we did not do and what we could have done.

In other words, with time, regret fills the space that was once filled with dreams. I don’t want that! What about you? What does this have to do with entrepreneurship? A lot. We know there is an urgent need to transform the economy of Puerto Rico. Our society needs people that want to participate with ideas that contribute and transform. Citizens that are willing to leave the “secure” to focus on the possible. People who, at the end of their lives, will not suffer from the regret of what they could have done had they taken the risk.

Over the last few years, I have enjoyed participating in the growing entrepreneurship ecosystem in Puerto Rico. It is a vibrant community. People who make the jump into entrepreneurship now have available a great network of support that is quickly becoming world-class. Entrepreneurs are supporting each other, collaborating and creating new paths.

Multiple Options There are workshops, mentoring, incubators and accelerators available to those who opt for entrepreurship. Some examples of programs are Grupo Guayacán, Founders Institute, H3 Conference, Access Latina, Animus, SBA, CCSI of the Fundación Popular, Codetrotters, Start Up Weekend, Centro para Emprendedores, and San Juan Tech Meetup, amongst others. In addition, the government of Puerto Rico offers excellent incentives and programs to support emerging businesses.

What if you take the risk and fail? Of course it can happen. In the process of launching a business, you will have demonstrated that you have the capacity to work hard, are willing to take ownership and be responsible for your own success. These are very valuable characteristics.

You will be alright. How can I be so sure? Because if you are an entrepreneur, you are optimistic and you know that no failure is the end. It is another beginning.

We are all going to confront obstacles on our life path. To achieve great things, it is inevitable that there will be challenges and difficulties. Many of the most successful people in all fields say so.

The basketball Hall of Famer, Michael Jordan, said it very well: “I have failed over and over in my life. That is why I have achieved success.”

In that same line, the Harvard Business Review published a study in which the authors concluded that committing errors is “a powerful way to accelerate learning and increase competitiveness.”

We know that neither success nor failure last forever. Neither does the status quo. Our future is formed by the people who take risks and participate.
What are you waiting for? Don’t get stuck in the trap of “what if I had….”

I invite you to participate in the various activities this week for GEW to get to know the community that is waiting to support you to convert your dreams in to actions.

You won’t regret it!

This editorial was originally published in the Negocios section of El Nuevo Dia on Sunday, November 15, 2015.