10 Benefits of being an Entrepreneur

1. Being in control:
The best thing about an entrepreneur is that he is in absolute control of his life. He does
not have to report to anybody. He can take a vacation any time he feels he needs one. He
gets to decide what can happen in his venture. Best of all, nobody can fire him. It totally rocks to be your own boss and to create your own destiny.
2. Work becomes Fun:
Now, most people who work in 9 to 5 jobs always get exhausted at the end of the day and they dread the morning of the next day. Especially, after the weekends. Some call them “Monday Morning Blues”. Now, an entrepreneur works 24/7 and thus puts all of his energy into his work. By working this hard, he enjoys whatever he does and because of this, whatever venture he puts his effort into, will eventually turn out to be a great success. Work is what one is obliged to do while fun consists of what one is not obliged to do. (From Tom Sawyer-MarkTwain.) So now the equation is WORK=FUN.
3. Free from Boredom:
Arthur Schopenhauer, the great German thinker and philosopher says that there are two kinds of misery. One is the misery of the working class another is the ennui of the born-rich, the fashionable society.
Misery of the working class:
Because these people are busy generating wealth for others, the
only thing they crave for everyday is REST. They wish to enjoy life to its limits but they
can’t. They are constrained by their work.
Misery of the fashionable society:
Now, these are the few individuals most people desire to become. It really is a wonderful thing to be rich and do all the things that a typical “working class” person dreams of doing. Now let us look from a celebrities’ perspective. Because these “filthy rich” people get to do any thing they desire, they actually come to a state where, nothing much else gives them a “high”. Parties sound like fun and having physical pleasures very tempting. Now imagine doing the same things over and over again in a dull monotony. Then you come to a state of “ennui”, a state of absolute boredom. The other end where the “pendulum” of life swings to, according to Schopenhauer. So, to stimulate their senses further than that which is natural, the typical celebrity resorts to drugs, which is just the beginning of a complete destruction for them.
Now, an entrepreneur, though gets to be really rich, is not in this primarily for enjoying
the pleasures of the rich. Getting to execute his ideas is what satisfies him. For a true
entrepreneur, work is not a means to an end. It is an end in itself. The process is as
rewarding to him as is the end product. Because an entrepreneur is consumed by his desire to work hard, he gets really no time to engage in trivialities of everyday life. Now, how can he get bored?
4. Better relations with other people:
Because an entrepreneur is very busy, he will have very little time for others. Because of
this, he will not become “Over Familiar” with others, which is the root cause for finding
faults in others resulting in mischievous gossips. He will have only contact with people of
his own caliber and usually this kind of friendship lasts for life.
For example, take George Washington Carver, the great American scientist. He was self
educated and was the man behind peanut butter. It was he who discovered natures secrets by the hundreds. He singlehandedly changed the course of many agriculture based industries through his hard work and dedication. And the more familiar Henry Ford. These two great men who worked hard all their life, forged a great relationship and were there for each other till the end. Or take the case of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Bill Gates thought he had nothing in common with Warren Buffet who was an Investor.Bill Gates had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for Ten Hours! Such is the power of those who work hard on their own free sweet will!
5. Self Confidence:
Because an entrepreneur trusts in himself more than anything else, it unlocks the Giant that is present within himself. Coupled with the tremendous effort that goes with the task of getting an enterprise up and running, an entrepreneur is sure of success. This success
breeds more success which in return instills greater faith in himself. After all, who does
not wish to be self confident.
6. Giving back to the Society:
It is truly a great privilege to be given an opportunity to give back to the society.
Entrepreneurs create wealth and job opportunities for others. This way, many lives are
touched and changed for the better. By giving back to the society an entrepreneur
experiences a sense of meaning and purpose in his life, which others, merely by accumulating wealth will never get to feel. Money to a real entrepreneur is merely a tool and never an end in itself.
7. Free from wants:
A passionate entrepreneur will not have the desire for any thing material because he has so little time for frivolities. Because he is completely immersed in his work, he is satisfied
with whatever physical comforts he already has.
8. Being original and true to oneself:
Most people do things to please others. They do not have any thoughts of their own. Instead, they live the lives that others dream up for them. They want to please their children or friends or their parents and sincerely do what is expected of them to do. They live double lives all the time. Doing things they don’t want to do, talking stuff they don’t believe in just so as to fall in line with others. As the saying goes, “No man is an island unto
himself”.
Entrepreneurs however are a rare breed. They do exactly what they want and say
precisely what they believe in. You may criticize them, show them their defects or mock at
them, but the one thing you cannot do is influence them. Entrepreneurs are whole souled
beings who think their own thoughts and live their own lives. Thus they are not split in
their minds between their inner and outer lives.
9. Enjoying time-out:
An entrepreneur will in all likelihood enjoy every second of the time they spend outside of
their work. Events like movies, trekking or simply chatting with friends become very special because of the little time they get. They understand that they might not get an opportunity for indulging in these activities frequently and so enjoy every moment of it.
10. The Exhilaration of Success:
Very few get to experience the sweet taste of success. An entrepreneur accepts the
challenges, works hard to overcome them and when victory results, he savors the moment. Even when he fails in the beginning, he does not lower his head nor does he give up because he believes in the essence of what Theodore Roosevelt once quoted
“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
An Entrepreneur is, by his very innate constitution poised only for success.
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March 20th, 2008 at 9:02 am
My friends who are entrepreneurs seem to have a more fulfilling life. They do work harder, but as you say, they appreciate the time they spend with friends and family that much more.
Working happy doesn’t have to mean being your own boss, but in a lot of cases it helps.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Great Post!
man thats awesome and true….particularly those Theodre Roosevelt words
with these kinda posts let the zeal build up to achieve one’s goal
well done buddy!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Yes Ravi..Theodore Roosevelt hit the nail on the head when he uttered those words…
and Karl Staib, you do have a point, some people work for others and yet live a satisfied
life!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:05 am
I was right when I resigned from my job last 2003 and be an entrepreneur. There is a big difference between an employee and an entrepreneur, the difference is the stress of being an employee and the pleasure of being an entrepreneur.
What a nice post!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Oh!!!
I am kicking myself for missing such a post. Seems like I read it too late.
This is a great source of inspiration!
March 20th, 2008 at 9:08 am
Well written article, though I think that it romanticizes entrepreneurship and is not grounded in reality. I will try to balance that bias with the following comments:Gotta deal with Heart break: One thing to keep in mind is that not all Entrepreneurs are successful all the time. Even the best entrepreneur has to suffer failure. If you invest yourself emotionally in your venture, you better be prepared to deal with heartbreak on a regular basis.
Money troubles: Unless you are investing your own money in your venture, there will always be investors breathing down their neck. And as the venture expands, there is a constant battle to keep the funds flowing in as the burn rate increases. Many product based startups take years to let the revenue streams flowing not to talk of actually making a profit.
Investor interference: As the founder, you may have a vision as to where the company should go. But this may be at odds with the VCs who will really control the board. The tech startup landscape is rife with instances of founders kicked out of their own startups :(.
Insecurity in your own position: Your baby may outgrow you … and may have no more need for what ever it is that you contributed to its creation in the first place. The founder may first be a CEO … then made a CTO… then made an “evangelist” and then finally booted out.
Gotta be stingy: An entrepreneur, though generous in his every day life, has to be very stingy as far as the day to day operations are concerned. He/She has to be very clever in utilizing the least/unrealistic amount of resources (headcount, tools, software) in achieving the similar/better results as bigger and better equipped companies.
One thing an entrepreneur has to be is REALISTIC and be able to make hard choices/decisions and realize that this is no romantic adventure.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am
I think I will have to write an article about 10 things everybody should consider before jumping into entrepreneurship,
I agree on “getting booted out”, apple founder steve jobs was once kicked out of the company he helped started.
March 20th, 2008 at 9:30 am
I deleted and republished the whole thing to optimize for Digg.com
I goofed up while digging this submission. So, please excuse!
March 20th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
the article is truly excellent and inspirational and the comments given by ‘apalli’ should also be kept in mind by every inspiring entrepreneur.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
A truly inspirational post which should be read by all budding entrepreneurs like me. You have done a good job kartik by posting this article. It has elated my levels of confidence in the project which I’ll be launching soon:)
August 1st, 2008 at 4:19 am
Started working for myself a few years back and don’t think I could ever return to the old 9-5.
August 23rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
interesting and motivational
September 18th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Hello Mr. Venkateshwara…I read this post on your blog…This shouldbe a guiding force and an inspiration to people who want to become entrepreneurs…I am one of them…Thanks…