Startups are hardwork…
January 3, 2009
It may seem obvious, but I think it is worth noting: Building a company from the ground-up is really hard and it takes time - more time than you may have been lead to believe. How long do you think it took Dell, Jobs or Gates to build their companies? To start, they aren’t done building (well maybe Gates is).
- It took Jobs 4 years to get Apple off the ground
- It took Dell 4 years to get Dell off the ground
- It took Gates 6 years to get Microsoft off the ground
Of course in all three cases the hardwork was just starting. To turn these upstarts into the multinational powerhouses they are today, it took even longer. These companies were not overnight successes. There are VERY few examples of companies that last that were built in a year. Of course most of us aren’t Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Michael Dell and as a result we shouldn’t be surprised if it takes us even longer.
Entrepreneurship isn’t something you pick up because you want flexible work hours. Starting a company takes more time than you have. Work life balance? Forget about it. Ironically, most entrepreneurs get paid MUCH less than their peers working for IBM and Microsoft. This ‘income-gap’ will last for years in most cases. If you think about how many hours an entrepreneur must invest in his startup and how much income he left behind you will soon realize that starting and running your own company isn’t as much about the money as it is about the company. Entrepreneurs have ideas, dreams, passions - ideas, dreams and passions that aren’t being met in the traditional job market.
As an entrepreneur if you work longer, harder and smarter than the next guy - throw in some luck - you might become rich. More entrepreneurs end up simply making ends meet, but make up for their income shortfall by loving what they do. So don’t quit you job and start a business if you aren’t ready to give up time and money.
