Being an Entrepreneur is Not a Choice

Sure you can choose your career path and what you want to do in life, but I don’t think entrepreneurship is a choice. I think entrepreneurship is a part of an entrepreneur’s DNA. It’s a feeling deep within that requires that you listen to a voice. A voice that calls you be your own boss. A voice that constantly reminds you, you are the captain and need to be in control your own destiny. That you’ll never be successful or truly happy working in someone else’s shadow. However, sometimes the path is not clear. Sometimes the road to successful entrepreneurship is windy. Your career leads you in different directions, and it brings you down an unexpected path. Divergence in the path isn’t necessarily a bad thing, so much as it’s a different thing. Sometimes entrepreneurs just need a break in order to gain clarity and perspective— to learn more. There are a million reasons why 90% of new businesses fail as I’ve experienced many of them, and now I have the opportunity, motivation, and perspective to be able to write about my misadventures in entrepreneurship.  

Going Corporate

I never thought I would go corporate. To me going corporate felt like going to the dark side, felt a lot like failing. A corporate job equated to oppression and working for the man, whoever that man may be. Additionally, many of the people I’ve come across in my professional endeavors told me that a corporate job wasn’t something I’d be suited for. Well due to serendipitous circumstances and my own stellar interviewing skills, I’ve recently landed a good corporate job that I’m genuinely excited about. I see it as one of the biggest learning opportunities of my career path. I’ve conceded to the idea that I like it. I’ve conceded to the fact that this position will be a good thing for me. I’ve conceded to the idea that if I truly want to achieve my goals I need to be able clearly define them and to see problems stopping me from all angles. Just like back in my studio classes when I was studying architecture. This is the part where you take the problem, flip it over and reverse it. Look at it from another angle. Stand on your head if you have to. That’s what I’m doing. I’m standing on my head. Doing a full 180, diving into the upside down into unfamiliar territory.

Leading up to this conversion, I found myself craving all of the things that I haven’t gotten by being in the world of entrepreneurship. A team for daily interaction and to bounce ideas off of (this concept will resurface later), management with clear ideas goals and metrics of success. The funny thing is, these are all things you need to be successful in entrepreneurship and as I write them I realize I probably should have exited my situation sooner, but I also believe everything happens for a reason, hindsight is 20/20, and mistakes are simply lessons learned to be turned into something better in the future.

Time to Refocus and Reflect

This project has been a labor of love for about eight years in my misadventures in entrepreneurship. I’ve been keeping notes, writing, digesting, learning. Full disclosure: I’m no millionaire… I called this blog “Starving Entrepreneur” for good reason. I can’t teach you to be rich, and I don’t purport to know anything more than you, in fact, the more I learn, the more I learn the less I know. All I want to do is share my experiences in the hopes that if you are building a business of your own, you can avoid the mistakes and missteps I’ve encountered, to minimize the bad habits and to maximize the success. The goal is that this blog will last for one year with new posts appearing at the beginning of each week. A lot of content is stuff that’s already been written that I now need to edit and make into cohesive, thoughtful pieces.

I’m using this time in my new position to refocus and reflect. What do I really want to get out of my life? What is the career path that I’m really supposed to be going down? How do my experience, education, and passion all fit together with my love of entrepreneurship? What about my ability to make money and support myself? Is entrepreneurship really the right thing for me? How could I possibly know if it’s the only thing I’ve ever really known?

At the very least I want to stay hungry for success, and I shouldn’t let failure of any kind get me down. Failure is essential for growth and success.