Breaking Free
Experiments in tech entrepreneurship
When To Take The Entrepreneurial Route (Reader Question)
In: Uncategorized By: Brian Armstrong
17 Nov 2008Hi Brian,
I really enjoyed reading your articles! Thanks! What type of advice would you give for someone who is about to graduate college…go out into the workforce first to get “established?” Or take the entrepreneurial route from the beginning? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks so much.
Katie
Hi Katie,
I struggled with that too when I graduated. Basically, I took the money and after college went to do consulting. I only lasted there 3 months before I quit to work for myself. But in a way I’m glad I did it, because at least I knew what I was missing by quitting. If I had just gone right into entrepreneurship, then when the going got tough (and it will) I probably would have questioned my decision more.
I also had an insecurity I think that people would say “he became an entrepreneur because he COULDN’T get a job”. It sounds silly, but I think this was a fear that I had and I wanted to prove them wrong.
Your friends will probably be out driving fancy new cars, using company credit cards, and traveling for their jobs, etc. This can be intimidating if you are just starting out in your own business and are feeling broke. You’ll start to second guess your decision.
The benefits of entrepreneurship might not be as obvious up front, but pay off in spades later. For example, you haven’t given up 40-80 hours of your life each week for another person’s goals, you won’t have to sacrifice health/sleep/freedom for a paycheck, and you can eventually end up much wealthier than your friends.
So I guess I’d say if you are on the fence, going to get a job for a while can be beneficial in the sense that it can reaffirm your belief about what you DON’T want to go back to. This can be the motivation that helps you really get your own business going. It can be the reason why you must.
Just don’t get STUCK in that job by going out and spending the new money you’re earning with big expenses like car payments and house payments. You can just as easily become a slave to your job by having such high expenses that you CAN’T quit. If you decide to, try setting a specific date in your mind when you will force yourself to quit. This will help you prepare for the transition and encourage you to take action.
Until next time, keep breaking free!
Brian Armstrong
- Tags: college, graduation
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Breaking Free is a collection of articles on tech entrepreneurship, business, and life written by Brian Armstrong. You can read more here »
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Matt Thomas
November 18th, 2008 at 2:16 am
I completely agree with your point about getting “stuck”. People tend to get comfortable in their job because it appears “safer”.
However my main concern regarding this question is actually the funding for a new business. Most businesses need SOME form of start-up funding and the one thing recent college grads have is DEBT, not savings. Therefore it might be difficult for new college grads to finance their business to success.
I wonder if getting a temporary job just for some seed money would be a good idea, so long as you ensure that you don’t get stuck.
Brian Armstrong
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi Matt, getting a job so you have something to live of is fine. But in terms of start-up funding…almost every business I’ve ever started cost less than $100 to get going. Something to keep in mind, I think start up capital is highly overrated.
Caroline
November 18th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Although jobs are comfortable they are nowhere near safe these days, especially with the current conditions.
Starting many business’s is possible part time.
Brian Armstrong
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pm
That’s a good point…traditional jobs aren’t necessarily safe right now. My friend who works at Citi (by some measures the largest bank in the world) is watching people get laid off all around her right now.
caleb
November 18th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Your first goal needs to be putting food on the table TODAY.
You must have CAPITAL to do this. That capital is either SAVINGS or TIME (24 hrs/day).
If you do not have enough money capital to put food on the table today, you will need to trade some TIME CAPITAL for money. Either in a job or self-employment work.
I’ve traded 5 years of my life for a bunch of money capital. I have enough savings to live for 2 years without working a day. 10 years if I live with Mom (a LAST resort).
If I can’t get passive income in 2 years, then I’ll be forced to go back to work (or live with Mom). Avoiding such pending misery is a great motivator. But you must know the misery first for it to truly motivate you.
Brian Armstrong
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Yep, that two year deadline could be the greatest thing that ever happened to you, it will help you get results! :)
Jared O'Toole
November 20th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I have taken the entrepreneurship road right out of college. I had internships during school that showed me enough of the corporate world to know I could never do it.
Right now I live at home, I’m broke, and I don’t know when I will have money but I love it. The important thing is to realize it all takes time and you will have to live a similar life for 1-3years. But I love picking up odd jobs on the weekends making some quick cash and knowing that almost every entrepreneur goes through similar situations.
The way I look at it is the sooner you dedicate yourself the sooner you will get where you want to be!
Brian Armstrong
November 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Congrats Jared, you took the hard road…and it will pay off eventually. Most people are much too scared to ever do that so you deserve a lot of credit. Keep going through the failures and you’ll finally get one that works!
Olatoke olalekan
April 8th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I really like this forum.Am a fresh graduate and all have dreamed of is to have a business of my own with a well run system that will give me enough cashflow and lots of time to do things more daring to me,but my problem is to know the right business to go into,and those that i have discovered to be feasible,i dont have the startup capital and is hard to get a loan in my country,and i dont even think getting a loan to start up a business is a good idea.Also,i,studied chemistry with no business background,i think it is necessary for me to go for programmes in accounting and finance to help me in my enterpreneural career.Please suggest which programmes i can do,or if on-the-job-training wil be better,thanks.