If you’ve ever dreamt of freedom from an annoying boss or a dead end job, chances are the idea of entrepreneurship has crossed your mind. There are hardly any good reasons for not starting your own business. There are many good reasons to convince you to take the leap toward entrepreneurship. The following is a list of 25 reasons you should start your business today.
1. Sweet, sweet liberty
This is number one on our list because it’s certainly the most obvious. There’s nothing greater than the freedom of being your own boss. You can make your own schedule, you can set your own goals, you call the shots from start to finish on all your projects and you can do it all from the comfort of your home or an office space of your own. Ask yourself, do I want to be the boss?
2. Connections Today, Legacy Tomorrow
When you start a business the ideas and the hard work starts with you. Freedom comes with its responsibilities. You have to shoulder a lot of the responsibility in the very beginning but if done right, before long you’ll find yourself employing others. Employing people is invigorating. You no longer ask for employment, you give employment.
3. Tax Advantages
Entrepreneurs enjoy certain tax advantages employees don’t have. As an entrepreneur you can write many of your business related expenses from computers to travel expenses. You want that swanky new Airbook Pro? Done. The latest iPhone? Done.
4. Fired? Forget it
Maybe you’ve never been fired before, maybe you have. But when you become an entrepreneur, there is no one but you who calls the shots. Never live with the stress of your livelihood being held in someone else’s hands. Not only is this a big relief, it is also a massive dose of motivation to get it right and work hard toward your goals.
5. Skills to pay the bills
Many wannabe entrepreneurs share a common trait: they’re hungry to know more. It helps if you’re an expert on something (And we’ll get to that) but no matter what your specialty is, as you enter the world of startups, you’ll have to learn a series of new skills to compete. A lot of these skills can be learned for free and online and if you do your homework, you can send yourself to business school for free. Not too shabby!
6. Achiever
The drive it takes to become an entrepreneur bleeds over into all other aspects of your life. Once you have that first taste of success with your startup, no matter how large or small, it whets your appetite for greatness. It is basically a science experiment that tests your tenacity and when the results come to bear, it motivates you to take control over other challenging areas of your life.
7. The Fame and the Glory
If you’re going into business for yourself and you have a product, a service or a brand then with a healthy amount of effort and market comprehension/analysis , there’s no reason why you can’t be the “Next Big Thing.” Tweaking and developing your dream until it reaches a state of perfection is deeply rewarding but being well known on a grand scale? Double that!
8. Creative License
If you have great ideas and have had the browbeating experience of having your ideas shot down at the start or suspended in their prime, it can be disheartening and stressful. But as a start up, the sky is literally the limit. Doing whatever you want and seeing it through is a great way to earn a living, hands down.
9. The Pajama Game
The ads for entrepreneurs usually make this cliche claim “Work from home in your PJs” and it sounds too good to be true, but in reality, this is one of those rare moments when it is true. No commute (if you don’t want or need to) and you can lounge about your home while you put in the time online or over the phone. Making profits in your skivvies has never been so socially acceptable.
10. Financial Freedom
Obviously you can set the limit on how much you earn, but another upside of entrepreneurship is having a total stranglehold on where your money goes. Profit is great, but sharing is caring so if changing the world or improving on it is important, you can make healthy donations to organizations you care about. You determine your retirement plan and your health care insurance.
11. Be a leader
When you’ve established yourself and have honed your craft long enough, you can extend your knowledge and be a mentor to others who are starting out. This is a great way to give back and better still, your selfless endeavor may actually lead to solid connections in the future.
12. Connections are Key
When you start up, mingling, connecting, building a market base or a contact list is pretty much par for the course. You can throw yourself headlong into making connections and not only will you gain knowledge but you may find inroads to greater prospects that lay just ahead of the curve.
13. Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Studies have shown that women tend to stick around longer in jobs that they have long surpassed either mentally or by the merit of their own skills. As a woman breaking into your own business may be the chance for you to strengthen your sense of self worth and gain control over how high you really can soar.
14. Free money
Some things in life may not be free, but there are a slew of grants available for inventors and entrepreneurs, not to mention the rewards and recognition that come with your success. Do your homework on state and federal funding and you might just be pleasantly surprised.
15. The Rollercoaster You’d Ride Again
If you’ve ever tested your comfort zone and thrown yourself into the unknown in some other arena of life and if you’ve come out the other side smiling, that feeling can be achieved daily, if not hourly, as an entrepreneur. It’s a natural high. If you hate the drudgery of cubicle life or predictability involved with most 9 to 5s, piecing together the path to profit can be an exhilarating experience.
16. Anything you can do, I can do better
It’s simple: if you’ve seen something out there in the world and you’re confident that you can do it better, then you should follow those instincts. Ask yourself, how can I do it better? What will it take to outpace my competitor? If you’ve got answers to those questions, then by all means, take the leap.
17. The Closing Door
If you’re in an industry that sits on shaky ground, it might actually be a safer approach to explore entrepreneurial ventures. Journalists, musicians, artists, folks with liberal arts degrees face serious struggles finding gainful full time employment in today’s tumultuous markets; if the door is closing, look for a window.
18. Your Self Confidence is Sky High
If you’re a Type A personality, first, good for you. But if you’ve coupled that confidence with the experience or research put in to back it up and you know what you’re capable of, ask yourself, what’s actually holding you back? Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
19. The Stench of Desperation
It might not sound pretty, but if you’re in a situation where your back is against the wall and traditional methods aren’t cutting it, or haven’t been for quite some time, you may not be able to quit your day job but you can burn the midnight oil. Remember, diamonds are found in the rough.
20. Dirty Work Rewards
If you’re the type who likes not just a challenge, but the process of testing your limits while getting your hands into the meat of any project, entrepreneurship may just be in your blood.
21. Natural Problem Solver
Perhaps puzzle pieces are your passion. If you like to find innovative ways to fit a square peg into a round hole and you’ve had a track record of success before, follow that desire to fix everything and start your own business. It’ll keep you on your toes and let you play out your favorite activities.
22. No more patience for procrastination
Consider this an omen if you will: if you’ve got the ideas and maybe you’ve even created a cushion as it stands, don’t procrastinate anymore. Stop making excuses and start that business already! You know you want to!
23. People person, People pleaser
You should become an entrepreneur if you love people. Love of money is a great motivator, but it is not enough to succeed. If you love to interact with people and subsequently, you love to provide them a stellar service, other than prospects of personal greatness, there is no better reason!
24. Talent, talent everywhere
You’ve got friends or a spouse or a family member who you know is being undervalued at their job. If they share your passion or they are feeling stymied at work, tap into their talents. See what they can do to help you get started so you can pull them in when the train begins to leave the station.
25. Live the life you love
All of these items are solid reasons to become an entrepreneur, but what encapsulates them all is this: when you do what you love, you love your life. There is no greater goal. Loving your life is what gives everyday meaning.
