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What is entrepreneurship and should you quit job to pursue it?

Entrepreneurship is "to take a risk". Risk from what? What kind of risks? Let me explain.


Normally people get paid monthly on a job. It is not much and you may never be satisfied. You may not like your boss or coworkers. But a job is a monthly recurring income that is almost guaranteed.


Your company has work for you because your company has business. Your company has been in business for a while and is well connected. For example, a university has annual competition for students to get in. A company such as a grocery story is strategically located so there is always a stream of people coming in to take things from your shelf.


What is the risk if you do it on your own?

The biggest risk is no business. If you don't have business then no one pays you.


Wait, you may think "I am pretty smart" and "I do what I do in a company anyways". Why cann't I just get the job for myself?


There are three major risks if you want to "offer something":


The risks can be summarized in three questions, or guesses:

"Would someone be able to hear me?"
"Would some one be able to value what I give?"
"Would some one value it so much that they want to pay me?"

Risk 1: No one knows you are offering it.

Risk 2: No one would buy from you, even if yours is "better".

Risk 3: Your sales will be non-continuous and non-recurring, "a tight business".


A lot of gurus want you to quit and pursue "startup entrepreneurship". However, these gurus typically get paid by selling you classes on how to do this, even if themselves have no experience. They are pushing you to take risks by quitting your job.


Why is that if you do something, no one would know? because there is too much noise and too much competition. Social networking makes it easy for you to broadcast news about you, but it also makes it easy for billions of others.



If you provide something and expect that some people "should consider buying", you are missing the point that

  1. People only buy from friends;

  2. People want to buy at huge discounts, called values.

Overall, if you don't know any of these nuances, you should stay on your job and use side time to prepare. Entrepreneurship is uncomfortable, is learning on the fly by making mistakes, and is hustle all the way. Most people who did not have the experience may even end up having a business that they can not get out of but does not make money at all. Then you become a hitched worker of the tax man, the bank and the employees.



 

How do you know if you are prepared? how do you know if your startup has a chance to be funded? Watch Kevin Hale's "How to evaluate startup ideas".



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