It can be an emotional roller coaster, it can be stressful, it can be one of the toughest things you’ve ever done in your life, but it can also be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made. How would you know though?
If you’re thinking about starting a business, you may be wrestling with whether it’s a good idea for you. To help you out, I made a list of reasons you shouldn’t start a business.
You’ll have to make tough decisions.
You’re the business owner which makes you the boss. It’s pretty likely that you’re going to be the only person working for your company in the beginning. No one but you will be able to make the hard decisions that need to be made for your business.
Do you get overwhelmed with decision making? Are you indecisive? If you answered yes to either or both of those questions, it’s not the end of your entrepreneurial dreams. You’ll just have to work on becoming better at making tough decisions.
You must be 110% dedicated to your dream.
Surely you’ll run into all sorts of roadblocks, unexpected challenges, and pitfalls that make you want to quit. You’ll have to be so dedicated that you’re able to push through those moments and keep going.
Your level of commitment to your dream will be tested time and time again. Your customers and your team will feed off of your energy, and if you aren’t all in, they won’t be either.
You may have to spend a lot of time alone.
Starting and running a business can be very lonely. There’s a good likelihood that, in the beginning, you’ll be working long hours and you’ll have to do things like turn your friends down when they want to hang out or postpone a date with your significant other.
When you’re the owner, everything falls in your lap — everything. You’ll have to wear all hats and be all things for your company, so there won’t be as much time left to spend with other people as there was prior to the existence your business.
You have to be focused.
If you have a lot of distractions in your life that can keep you from being productive for your business, you’ll either have to get rid of them or wait until they are no longer distractions. You must be so laser focused that you’re able to carry a workload equivalent to what 5–10 people could do all by yourself.
Relationships that distract you may have to take a backseat to your dream. Hobbies that distract you may have to wait. Problems, drama, situations, and people that keep you from progressing must be eliminated.
If you can’t focus, maybe now isn’t a good time for you to start your business.
You have to be a self-starter and a go-getter.
When you start your business, you’ll have to go out and make shit happen. You won’t be able to wait for the word to get out about your business — you’ll have to get out and tell as many people as possible that you exist. You won’t be able to wait on sales to come your way — you’ll have to go out and pitch your product or service to people who need it and convince them to buy. You won’t be able to wait on networking opportunities to show up at your front door — you’ll have to go out and talk to people so that your contact list is full of the right people in the right places.
Your business won’t build itself — you have to be enough of a self starter to do whatever needs to be done to build your business.
So now that you’ve read all the reasons you shouldn’t start a business, are you still up for the challenge? I hope you are, but if you’ve realized that you’re not don’t feel bad. You can always revisit starting a business at a time when it makes more sense in your life. Being honest with yourself about whether you’re ready or whether you even want to start a business at all is a commendable thing that will save you a ton of heartache and disappointment in the long run.