Quit Your Job?
Once you get bit by the entrepreneurial bug the idea of quitting your job to pursue your dreams can easily dominate your daily thoughts. No more pointless meetings, micro management, or reports to be generated just blissful self employment, being your own boss, and setting your own schedule. Sounds nice don’t it? Well before you march into your boss’s office to tell them they can take their corporate strategy mumbo jumbo and shove it you may want to ask yourself this: Could you really quit your job? “Hell yeah!”, the crowd roars from their cubes scattered in offices far and wide. Let’s think about what that really means, and why it keeps so many people (9 out of 10 according to the statistics) from starting their own business.
There are very practical reasons people don’t pursue their dreams of starting a business, financial being a main one, lack of a good idea or a developed business plan being others. For most people the financial uncertainty alone is enough to keep them slogging through TPS Reports and preparing the minutes from the latest team meeting.
But let’s forget the practical reasons for a second, and look at the internal drivers of why people have such a hard time cutting the umbilical cord of the “real job”. Why is it so hard to quit your job and pursue your dreams?
1. For many the jobs people perform define them. They are an Accountant, a Nurse, or a Cab Driver. When someone asks what they do for a living, they have a concrete response. There is self identity there, and some comfort, comfort they wouldn’t get from saying “oh, I’m starting a business”. It is hard to accept that yesterday you were a successful Construction Manager, and today you are a struggling business owner.
2. Jobs are a big part of our social lives. After college you don’t have as many opportunities to meet new people…this is where the job comes in. Most people have a close network of colleagues, and some genuine friends in the workplace, and giving up that social outlet can be daunting. Also, whether it be good or bad you are getting human contact day in and out, which strengthens our social associations and makes us feel “connected”.
3. A job provides a comfortable, structured lifestyle. You have structure at work, usually clear expectations, time off each year, and benefits. When working for yourself a lot of that structure and stability go out the window. No such thing as coming in at eight and leaving at five with the mentality of “oh well, what I didn’t get done today will get done tomorrow”. Two weeks off a year, guaranteed? Forget it! You could have more time off than that, or you could work years without ever taking a day for yourself.
4. Believe it or not, like it or not, there are social stigmas that exists for people starting their own business. When I started my first business I was amazed at the reaction I got from some of my friends and family. Genuine concern about my well being, and utter amazement that I was “throwing my successful career out the window to be a dreamer!”Some people thought that I was literally throwing it all away, and giving up! For people who don’t understand the entrepreneurial spirit I’m sure it seemed that way, while from my perspective staying in my job was giving up.
As would be entrepreneurs you’ll need to make the decision for yourself if giving up the above is worth it to pursue your dreams of working for yourself. I can tell you there is no better or frightening feeling than being self sufficient from your business, but expect the growing pains that come along with it. I was surprised the first few months after I left my job how unconnected I felt even though I had a business partner and we had customers we were dealing with. I was sure I would leave the office on my last day feeling liberated, and thinking that the sky was the limit and my life was just beginning. Reality was it was hard walking out that door for the last time, and it wasn’t until months later I felt that liberation. I missed some of my co-workers, and my office friends I didn’t connect with as much as usual, which led to an awkward lonely feeling. Over time that feeling goes away and now I am much better off physically, emotionally, and financially than I was during my office years.
I would encourage anyone considering quitting their job to start a business to go for it, but do it with your eyes open to those things you give up when you leave the comforts of the nine to five. I would even encourage you to go part time at your “real job” while you start up your small business if that is an option. If not for the financial stability that brings, but to orientate yourself to being your own boss slowly, and ease some of those social strains. Oh yeah, and also have a rock solid, well thought out business plan!
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Top 50 Entrepreneurs Ever!
And the Top 50 Entrepreneurs of all time are…
(In no particular order)
Hugh Hefner – Obvious.
Oprah – Born to a single mother in rural Mississippi, did what she loved and never let up. Popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre.
Simon Cowell – Guy made millions off Karaoke.
Jenna Jameson – Worth $70 million using only what god gave her.
Henry Ford – Standardized efficiency.
Thomas Edison – Numerous failures on the road to success. Perseverance!
Adrian Block - 1612 establish the first known brewery in the New World on the southern tip of New Amsterdam (Manhattan). I live in a city with more than 30 breweries operating in the city limits…think these guys were onto something.
Hans Christiansen – Partners with Adrian Block.
Adam Osborne – Creator of the 1st personal computer.
Howard Hughes – Say what you want about him the man had a vision and stuck to it.
Madame C.J. Walker – 1st Female African American Millionaire…and she did it in early 1900’s. Safe to say she had a lot of obstacles, but persevered and prospered. If you think you have more working against you than Madame C.J. Walker did, think again.
Mary Kay Ash – The woman behind Mary Kay cosmetics. Redefined affiliate marketing.
Howard Schultz – Who’s gonna’ pay $4.00 for a cup of coffee? With $2.5 billion plus in total revenue the answer at Starbuck’s is a lot!
Alexander Graham Bell – Inventing the telephone in 1876 was about as wacky an idea as teleportation is today…did that stop him?
King Croesus – Minted the world’s first coin in 6th century.
Benjamin Franklin – Author, printer, inventor, businessman.
Ray Croc – Where do you go for dinner when you spent all your money on $4.00 Starbuck’s coffee? McDonald’s! Franchising and national expansion (both stores and waistlines) would never be the same.
Sam Walton – Speaking of saving money and expanding like crazy. Sam Walton found a niche and filled it, regardless of what you think of the extra traffic Wal-Mart brings to your neighborhood.
Ernest Gallo – Took what was once an exclusive product and repackaged it for the masses. I was 20 years old before I knew wine came in anything but a “jug”.
William Middlebrook – Giving William the nod for inventing the paper clip, although some debate remains. However, you have to include the inventor of the paper clip in this list since we’ve all said, at one time or another, “and whoever invented the paperclip is rich, and I’m still working in this crappy office!”
Bill Gates – Took a risk and was a first mover in a market that exploded.
Steve Jobs – Make your products easy and people will love to use them…making a dead sexy laptop doesn’t hurt either.
Mayer Amschel Rothschild – Started the world’s first international bank in the mid 1700’s. What did you do today?
Scrooge McDuck – Scrooge has emerged from being a mere supporting character to a major figure of the Duck universe. Parlayed early success into his own comic book series, television appearances, films, and video games. As big as David Hasselhoff in Europe, he seized opportunity when it arose.
Russell Simmons – Worth $325 million, and started as a teen street hustler. A hip hop pioneer and visionary who has shaped the hip-hop scene of the early 80’s, has branched off into fashion, television and film. And I don’t care if you grew up in Brooklyn or Beverly Hills you remember “Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam”.
Ron Popeil – Net worth in excess of $100 million dollars. A consummate salesman, he had us believing we NEEDED a food dehydrator and spray paint to cover our bald spot!
The Phoenicians – Inventors of the sail boat, and could be credited then with giving our early explorers the means to take over the western hemisphere.
H. Ross Perot – Used a $1,000 loan from his wife in 1962 to start Electronic Data Systems. Became a billionaire as computer systems drove the need for electronic data storage.
JP Morgan – How many people get credited with having saved or rescued the U.S. national economy in general—and the federal government in particular—on two separate occasions? Not many, and JP was a merger monger legend in his time.
Charles Schwab – Founder and CEO of the Schwab Corporation, made having a broker cool and accessible. Worth $5.5 billion for his efforts.
Larry Page – Google, need we say more?
Sergey Brin - Google, need we say more?
Philip Knight – In partnership with Bill Bowerman created Nike. What’s the reward for taking a product everyone uses and making it functional and fashionable? Try a net worth in excess of $9 billion dollars.
George Lucas – Start with a vision, add some talent, and never waiver. Stars Wars is as well known on this planet as Coca-Cola, and Lucas is worth a cool $3.6 billion.
Doctor John Pemberton – Pharmacist who in 1886 invented Coca Cola. Forced to change his formula from including wine due to prohibition his elixir with “tonic and nerve stimulant properties of the coca plant and cola nuts sweetened with sugar” became a sensation.
Eberhand Anheuser- Founder of Anheuser Busch Brewing and Budweiser beer…thank you sir for the many mornings where I regretted the night before.
Adolphus Busch – Founder of Anheuser Busch Brewing and Budweiser beer…bless you for allowing me to think I am funny, great looking, and a fabulous dancer for a few hours every Saturday night.
Jeff Bezos – Founded Amazon.com in 1994, and wrote up the business plan for his company on a cross country drive from New York to Seattle. Was a .com entrepreneur before there was even a term for it.
Thomas Kinkade – Americas most collected living artist. Marketing works people.
Erno Rubik – Invented a puzzle only .000001% of the world population could solve without cheating, and sold millions! Marketing works people.
Alex Tew – 21 year old entrepreneur made $1,000,000 off the “Million Dollar Homepage”. Adding him to the list to illustrate that great ideas are sometimes in plain sight. Didn’t we all think, “I wish I had thought of that”?
Henry Hassenfeld - Owner of a textile plant in 1923 his company struck gold when they developed a way for kids to play doctor. The first toy the plant ever produced led the way for the likes of Mr Potato Head, GI Joe, Life, Yatzee, Candyland, and just about any other game we played as kids. Partners with his brother Helal Hassenfeld.
Helal Hassenfeld - Thanks for the memories man, I still get misty eyed thinking about Cobra Comander and the words “YO Joe” will live with me forever.
Rollin King – In 1965 started a regional airline serving 3 Texas cities. 40 years later Southwest Airlines has 3500 flights a day and is the number one airline in the United States and the World by number of passengers carried.
Herb Kelleher – Partnered with Rollin King to start Southwest Airlines. The guy started an AIRLINE COMPANY for crying out loud, that’s ballsy.
Guy Laliberte – Made the circus cool again. Founder and CEO of Canda’s Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte founded Cirque in 1984, and revolutionized the idea of what a circus could be. Cirque du Soleil has toured more than 100 cities around the world.
Admiral Zheng He – Built the vaunted Treasure Fleets, comprising dozens of ships and tens of thousands of sailors, and led them in trade missions across south Asia and as far west as Africa and the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In seven voyages from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He spread China’s goods across the world and returned with treasures for the Ming Dynasty.
Andrew Carnegie – The Scottish immigrant and weaver’s son built a steel empire whose mills churned out the railroads, ships, and structures of post-Civil War America.
Milton Hershey – In 1905 built the worlds largest chocolate factory. His name has become synonymous with chocolate, which Americans consume more than 11 pounds of each year.
Gary Dahl – A millionaire for selling rocks, pet rocks, enough said.
