Dear Students,
When you are completing your education, it’s natural to be confused about the next steps.
Entrepreneurship is a buzzword these days and none of us can avoid the temptation of being an entrepreneur. Today it’s celebrated as Government Jobs was once celebrated in our society. I know there is no comparison but back then anyone not doing Government Job was wasting their life, the same sounds now for entrepreneurship.
I am sure as you are getting closer to completing your degree, you are also confused about whether to choose entrepreneurship or not. Even if you have a great offer at hand, that charm doesn’t go away. Maybe you are thinking, ‘not now, let me have some capital but one day I would do that‘.
I have done both and can tell you my views. Without a doubt, you should always choose Entrepreneurship and from day one. The joy of ownership and creating something new that comes with Entrepreneurship has no match.
But wait, I am not saying that you should not pick-up a corporate job and start your own business. Entrepreneurship has nothing to do with the start-up. It is a mental attitude, you can be an entrepreneur in a corporate job and behave like an employee in your own business.
Entrepreneurship is not about not being answerable to anyone. If you are in business whether own your own or someone else’s, it’s not possible. In fact, in your start-up, you are even more answerable.
One of the joys of entrepreneurship is the feeling of being the owner. When you are an owner, everything is your responsibility. There is no job profile, you take full ownership. You make sure nothing goes wrong in your business. Whatever you can to make it succeed. That’s a mindset, that’s an attitude. Those who enjoy Entrepreneurship, enjoy that mindset.
Of course, you should start your business if you want to but not just to enjoy that mindset. Within a corporate job also, you can play the role of an entrepreneur. That’s one of the characteristics of people who do well in the longer-term in the corporate world. There are challenges around it and we will talk that in one of the next letters.
Another reason an entrepreneur likes what he/she does is the creativity side of it. Yes, creativity is not reserved for the field of arts. Entrepreneurs are one of the most creative people out there. They solve real-life problems with their innovations. When I say that you should be an entrepreneur in a corporate job, that’s the most important part. You can always be innovative and creative in your profile. For entrepreneurial people, defined job profiles are no barrier.
As Naval says, “the hardest thing for any founder is finding employees with a founder mentality. This is a fancy way of saying they care enough.“
I am sure some of you may be thinking about what if my company doesn’t provide me ownership and creativity opportunities. But wait, that’s the whole difference about entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs don’t wait for anyone to provide them opportunities, they create them. If they are in a job, they take that charge there. If you are waiting for someone to add these to your job profile, that won’t happen.
How do you do that? That’s the subject of one more letter. For today, I will focus on mindset. Start thinking on those lines. If you have questions, feel free to reply to this and I will surely come back to you. But please make sure you describe your exact situation so that I can help you.
I will again emphasize I am not saying you whether you should do a job or start-up. The only thing I am emphasizing is whatever you do, have an entrepreneurial mindset.
My only wish for you – ‘be brave in whatever you do‘
Gaurav
Gaurav Sangtani 