Are you a victim of ‘Entrepreneurship Porn’ too?

Here’s why Entrepreneurship is not what it looks like.

Sure. There are people who played against the odds and made it big. Elon Musk was only a couple of days away from bankruptcy when his projects failed repeatedly and he got funds from his investors. Steve Jobs made a comback after he got fired from his own company. Likewise, there are inspiring, intriguing, stories of average people making it big. But does that mean it’s for everyone and anyone?

Entrepreneurship is NOT for everyone. It’s not for every high school dropout or college dropout. It’s not a go-to path for failures to make it big. You can’t possibly be like ‘Oh, I failed my classes, but it’s okay. I’m gonna start a businness. I’m an entrepreneur after all’. It doesn’t work that way. Any idiot can call himself an entrepreneur. But it takes a hell of a lot more to be one and be successful at that. Forget being on the Forbes.

Let me ask you a question.

Who is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off of a cliff and builds an aircraft on the way down.

Yep. There’s no other way to simplify an entrepreneur.

Being an entrepreneur is the new cult. It’s like being a digital nomad. Decorated by Instagram posts, cute motivational quotes with sponsorship names and logos, inspiring speeches by billionaires, economic reports saying ‘we need more entrepreneurs to boost the economy’, and stuff like that. Well, easy for them to do all that. They’re getting paid for that after all. But it’s our job to decide what to do and what not to do and stick to that, no matter how many cheesy ‘motivational’ quotes you see on social media. Being an entrepreneur is not a cure for failures. If you can’t succeed at anything in your life, then YOU have a serious problem. Being an entrepreneur won’t help you. It’ll just worsen it.

If you consider entrepreneurship as a safety net while you’re neglecting your studies and bullshitting around all the time, well, guess what? You’re not going to be the first and certainly won’t be the last to screw up. Don’t believe me? Well, there are stories of thousands of people who have failed as ‘entrepreneurs’. Some, even invested millions of their and investors’ money and AGAINST ALL ODDS, THEY FAILED. That’s how this world works. If you’re thinking about quitting your job and ‘starting a business’ to pay off your student loans and your mortgage or whatever bills and debts you have, I hate to break it up to you mate, but, that’s not going to work. Elon Musk didn’t invent Tesla to pay off his student loans. He didn’t start SpaceX to make it public and retire to a tropical island and spend his life drinking piña coladas with a Latina. He had a vision. He had a purpose. He knew what he’s doing. Steve Jobs was a marketing genius. When the iPhone 3G (or something like that) was being presented, the phone wasn’t ready to be used. It couldn’t even play a complete song. So Steve switched phones during the presentation. That’s how he achieved his targets. He was so sure that it was going to work, he bluffed, and he didn’t screw up.

It takes more than an idea to become an entrepreneur.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur. It just means that don’t put your whole life at stake. Don’t go all in. I know that most billionaires say that you gotta go all in and focus 100% on what you do. But for every billionaire who says that, there are about a hundred of failed people who did exactly that, and still screwed up.

So how do you become an entrepreneur without screwing up it all?

First off, if you’re doing it for money, then forget being an entrepreneur, and make money instead. Just because successful entrepreneurs make money doesn’t mean the only way to make money is to become an entrepreneur. If you have (a) skill(s), then focus on it/them. Improve it or develop new skills. Use them to make money. Be good at sales. If you don’t know how to sell, then you won’t be successful. Period.

After you’ve secured a way to pay your bills and stuff, focus more on increasing those earnings. It’s okay to trade time for money. But it’s not okay to engulf your whole life in it. Even Warren Buffet sold newspapers when he was trying to get by. Don’t quit your job yet. Trust me. It’s really hard being a business owner. Especially if you have a family to feed, bills to pay, or debts to settle.

Remember. Startups and companies with fast growth don’t pay dividends because they’re focusing on the growth. They’re reinvesting their profits so the company can grow more. Only stable and big companies pay dividends because they’re stable and they bring enough profits in, they can afford to pay dividends. Starting a business to pay your bills is like a startup paying dividends. The business will be stuck and won’t grow. So that’s why you need a way to make sure your bills are paid and your meals are covered and stuff like that.

Still not convinced. How about this?

If you’re not sure about your startup that you’re having second thoughts and doubts about it from time to time, you need ‘motivation’ to keep going, and you kept reading this article, buddy, you’re not going to be much different from those thousands who screwed up. They didn’t do the wrong thing. They just did the right thing the wrong way.

Here’s an article about more in-depth on this subject.

'Entrepreneurship porn' lures young people with a pretty picture of startup life, but it glosses over the most dangerous parts.

Stay Hungry, Stay Safe!

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