So you ended up here because, like so many of us, you believe there is more to life than just the job you do. Congratulations on seeking to rise above everyday mundane activities!
You realize the greatness in you, and you are willing to put away your comfort temporarily to pursue it. You are an entrepreneur at heart!
Sometimes what we get out of life seems to be disproportionate to the hard work we put in. We have all been told to work hard at school, get good grades, go to college, work even harder to go for a master’s degree or some other higher learning certification, and then get a good job and be set for life.
But the reality of the situation is that jobs have become unreliable and notoriously underpaying. No security in jobs anymore! As a result, it is not surprising that a lot of hard-working citizens are living from paycheck to paycheck.
An estimated 38 million households in the U.S. live hand-to-mouth, meaning they spend every penny of their paychecks. Fortunately, that need not be the reality for everyone. There are amazing opportunities for those who refuse to be trapped in dead-end jobs and instead set themselves on a path to take charge of their lives.
So just for you, I’ve compiled 10 compelling reasons why you should seriously consider pursuing being an entrepreneur. Without further ado…
1 THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO FAVOR BUSINESSES
That is probably the most important advantage of being a business owner. Businesses solve two of the biggest problems for any government, and those are unemployment and revenue generation. The more employees a business has, the more revenue it produces in taxes.
So when you start a business, you become an asset to the government and you stand to benefit from various tax exemptions. Believe me, that factor alone contributes immensely to the so-called widening gap between the rich and the poor. Let’s create a scenario. Mr. X starts a business and employs Mr. Y. Every week, Mr. X will deduct tax from the paycheck due to Mr. Y, who then heads over to the bank to receive his net income for the week.
As Mr. Y pays his house bills, he encounters more taxes. He even pays taxes for putting gas in his car and buying groceries for his family. He is taxed all around.
Mr. X, on the other hand, has the privilege of writing off most of his expenses as business expenses. His house, car, dinners, and even vacations! He also has the privilege of keeping the taxes he deducted from Mr. Y until the end of the year before declaring them to the government.
Needless to say, these two men will be in very different financial situations within a few years. It seems unfair at first glance, but when you consider the risk and discipline it takes to start a business, it is fair that those who create businesses should enjoy many more benefits.
2 BUSINESSES ARE TRANSFERABLE
Ever wanted your children to have more in life than what you had? Then give them the inheritance of a business. You may have the most wonderful job in the world with a good salary and benefits, but you can never pass on that job to your children. That position can only be transferred to another person with the same qualifications as you.
Right now, there is the biggest generational wealth transfer happening and most of it has to do with business owners passing ownership to the next generation. You can change the future for your children so they will not have to settle for minimum-wage jobs.
If you are religious, you probably know that even the Good Book states that “a good father leaves an inheritance for generations.” In other words, we owe it to the next generation to give them a good start in life.
3 DO GOOD DEEDS TO SOCIETY
Another reason why you want to be an entrepreneur and create wealth is that money allows you to pursue good endeavors for society.
Most people probably have a good heart and the potential to do good deeds, but they simply don’t have the means to do so. It is hard to think about giving to charity when one cannot pay his or her bills.
Getting into business can give you the chance to be a useful and contributing member of society instead of whining that the government isn’t doing enough.
There is a saying that money doesn’t change people; it only enhances who they are. It makes the good better and the bad worse. The common misconception about rich people is that they are greedy and selfish.
But the reality is that the rich have contributed immensely to society. Obvious famous examples are Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who both revolutionized the way the world communicates through information technology.
These are just two of so many people who changed the world in many different ways. On top of their contribution to technology for the advancement of humanity, they have also given huge sums of money to charities.
So we should get rid of the anti-rich mentality. It is a mediocre mentality. You will be surprised at how many charity organizations run through the generous gifts of rich individuals and families. Most of them remain anonymous. Some have left behind staggering amounts of wealth to be used for the good of society. That is the side of the rich that is rarely exposed.
4 IT BUILDS CHARACTER
Pursuing our dreams fosters personal growth and helps develop strong character. It presents us with challenges that many people might shy away from and encourages us to embrace discipline and perseverance. As we face these obstacles, we have the opportunity to grow and become better versions of ourselves.
Entrepreneurs live and think differently from the rest. They are known for focus, purposefulness, and good habits, perpetually feeding their mind and bodies with healthy material. For example, they watch less TV than the average person. They read more books instead—at least one book every week. Entrepreneurship is a journey of constant learning.
As an entrepreneur, you are consistent in everything you do and that is how you end up with results that the average person cannot attain. Once you create a schedule, you follow it to a “T” in the same manner that employees follow schedules created for them by their employers.
You may have probably observed for yourself how difficult it is to keep your own word. For example, you made a promise to yourself that you would do A, B, and C tomorrow, and by the time tomorrow came, you had forgotten or come up with an excuse why you couldn’t do the intended task. That is human nature and we have to overcome it if we are to achieve great things.
Entrepreneurs learn to overcome that condition. The truth is that we don’t always feel like getting out of bed early in the morning to do exercises, pray, or whatever our ritual for the start of the day is. Learn to overcome procrastination and in time, that will create a new character in you and teach you to respect your own word. Soon, you will start to gain the respect of others because you keep your word.
5 THE FREEDOM TO BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE
If you want to make a difference in the world without compromising who you are and what you believe in, then you have to take the initiative and create your own working space.
As I mentioned before, entrepreneurs make their own rules and follow them. They are a special breed who can influence others around them without changing themselves. That is what makes them unique. It is not so possible if you have a specific job that you are paid to do.
It’s not surprising that many successful entrepreneurs often struggled as employees. For them, the lack of freedom became a significant hindrance. Many employees experience similar frustration. Some decide to take action, while others endure their situation day after day without any hope for a change.
Being an employee means that you have to make peace with the fact that you may have to do the same boring task every day for the whole damn year. I say this at the risk of generalizing, of course. I know there are some amazing jobs out there that give employees the freedom to exercise their creativity. And they pay well too.
So if you happen to be a creative person or just one who believes they have more to contribute to society than 9 to 5, then there are infinite opportunities in the world of business. You just need to be decisive and take the plunge once and for all. Become an entrepreneur. The freedom to become what you want to be is truly priceless. It can result in you discovering yourself and contributing something new to the world.
6 THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME THAN THIS
Technology has afforded us opportunities like never before. The climate is so suitable for personal business right now.
Consider how easy it is to start a company today. Forget the huge financial investment that used to be a prerequisite just for one to put their foot at the door. Technological tools now make it super cheap to start and run a business. They allow you to start small and then scale up as the project grows. Furthermore, in the traditional brick-and-mortar setting, you would not expect to see profits for at least a couple of years!
Today it is possible to set up an e-commerce store for a couple of bucks and see profits by the end of the week. Business tools that cost a few dollars today can do the same job that would have cost hundreds of thousands a few years ago.
The process of getting a project started and finished can now cost you less than your monthly coffee budget. For example, you may be an expert in a particular field and want to share your knowledge with the world. Getting a book or course written and published today is more possible than ever before.
There are so many people out there eagerly waiting to employ their skills to make your project a success. Just get an outline done and let others help you with the technical side of things. All for a few bucks, by the way. On platforms like Fiverr, you can get tasks done for as little as $5!
Furthermore, there are numerous platforms that you can use to promote your project. Facebook, Google, and Amazon KDP offer cheap and unbelievably effective promotional tools. Technology has enabled us to drastically reduce time and cost in business, and that makes for a strong reason to go the entrepreneur route.
7 IT ENABLES YOU TO DO WHAT YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT
Not all people who open businesses are looking to undertake gigantic projects that will yield huge profits. You can start a business by following your passion. In fact, many successful businesses begin as passions, and profits are a result of the extra hard work put in. When you are passionate about something, you tend to put in more work than the average person, even without realizing it.
One of the most important factors in doing business is the “why?” factor. You may have heard this before: if your “why?” is not big enough, you may not survive long enough in business to see success. Luckily, we all have passions.
Your passion can even be outside of your business. It could be about family or the community in which you live. It could be anything.
The important point is that whatever passion you have could be used to give you the drive to do business. If not for the money, then do it for the things and people you are passionate about. You can then make money in the process. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone! If you can add even a couple of hundred dollars to your bank account every month by following your passion, I consider it a substantial win.
Incidentally, studies have shown that for a lot of struggling workers, an increase of less than a thousand dollars a month could change their lives significantly. They could live in a better neighborhood, drive a better car, maybe send their kids to a better school, eat healthy, etc.
So when you imagine what an extra few hundred dollars could do for you, it makes sense to use your passion to get those dollars rolling in.
8 DO IT FOR SELF FULFILLMENT
There is a certain pride that comes with successfully creating one’s own destiny. Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to waiting on the government for everything.
We want them to create our jobs. We want them to create affordable housing for everyone. We want them to educate our children for free. This is, by no means, a criticism of any political system. A responsible government must take care of the basic needs of its citizens. But in the same breath, it is a more plausible prospect for citizens to seek to shape their own destiny. Entrepreneurship has more to do with self-fulfillment than material things.
It is about the daily activities that increase your self-worth and the lessons you learn in the process. A journey full of challenges and self-discovery. It is said that humans are probably the only species that lives below its potential. Our freedom to choose most often works against us. That is why a lot of us live unfulfilled lives. The choices we make every day.
When you are old and reflecting on your life, will you say you lived well, or will you wish to go back and change your legacy? Truthfully, all of us possess that nagging feeling, that hunger to do more and be somebody. Don’t wait until you are old and feeble. Take action now!
Whining about government and corporate greed is, for the most part, just an excuse to stay mediocre and do the exact same things every day. You will discover who you really are when you start doing the things you love.
9 YOUR INCOME IS MATCHED TO YOUR VALUE
I believe that there are very few jobs out there that will pay you what you deserve. More often than not, the pay does not match the value of your skills.
I get it. Businesses have to stay profitable and therefore they will pay the least possible, legally. It is the legacy of the capitalist system. Instead of being a victim of the system, why not benefit from it? Open your own business and get paid proportionally to what you contribute.
Take charge of determining what you are worth and give yourself a pay increase when your value increases in the marketplace. You rarely get that opportunity when you are an employee.
But when you are your own boss, the value of doing business increases every time you hit a landmark achievement. When you get mentioned in a publication, for example, you get more clients coming your way and you become a precious asset in the marketplace.
How many people have you seen in the media being given the spotlight for something they achieved, only to fade away in a short while? One reason is that they were not an independent brand, likely working for someone else, and they therefore could not capitalize on that moment of fame. That is the sad reality of being an employee. Your achievements will be attributed to the brand you work for.
So many people have brilliant ideas but it takes the wise and the cunning to bring them to the marketplace and turn them into profits. Don’t be exploited this way. In the world of business, you determine what you are worth. It is up to you to give value to yourself. You may be worth more than you ever thought.
10 MAKES YOU FEEL ALIVE AGAIN
Business is challenging, I must point out. And that is a good thing. It is the challenges we face in life that make us feel alive.
What leads to drug addiction is that drugs give the user highs, however short-lived and with damaging results. It is that longing to feel alive again. Life “happens” and robs us of that excitement and wide-eyed wonder we had when we were young. When we wanted to constantly discover and learn new things. We were all once unstoppable.
I bet you that if we were suddenly required to learn how to walk again, it would be the worst torture we ever experienced. But consider how babies do it. It is not easy, but they take every success and fall alike, and they press on until they get that independence to run about as toddlers.
As adults, we have become the tired versions of those kids. No longer as excitable, and almost always choosing the path of least resistance. Life has taught us to be cautious lest we suffer disappointments. We no longer want to do things that involve too much risk, choosing instead to be comfortable. The reality is that there is no growth and no sense of the moment in comfortable and familiar situations.
CONCLUSION
If you want to feel alive again, like you did when you were young, you need to get out of your comfort zone and do things that make you feel nervous. The more we stay in a comfortable and unproductive place, the more life beats us down.
So start a project. Maybe something that will challenge those fears you have. You will see how much your life will start to gain meaning as you overcome those fears.
A little blood, sweat, and tears can take you places you never dreamed of. What you think is unattainable may actually be a few steps away!
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