Successful entrepreneurs who risked all their money (and sometimes their family's money) to pursue dreams that others considered foolish get lots of press. Their stories are exciting and inspirational but they are also misleading. These risk-taking entrepreneurs are actually the exception. Most business builders succeed by taking a far more conservative approach.
Some examples are: Ben and Jerry. The two budding moguls started by selling their ice cream in a converted Vermont gas station. Only after two years in business did they expand into wholesaling their products to local stores. Google was a side project of two Stanford grad students. Dell Computer was started in a University of Texas dorm room for just $1,000.
Apple's first computers were hand-built in a garage and sold to local computer geeks. Wayne Huizenga started Waste Management with just one garbage truck. And he drove it himself. Read the biographies of successful people and you will discover the truth. Most of them started small and took modest, calculated risks. They were not reckless and brave, as the business magazines would have you believe. I myself have started a business while keeping my day job. I do not want to risk my hard-earned money on an endeavor that I am new at.I am keeping my day job while I get my ideal career going in the evenings and on weekends. I am an entrepreneur because I am taking the initiative to start my own business. I am not willing to quit my job and lose the income. I am very hopeful in this endeavor because anybody with modest intelligence and drive can be an entrepreneur. Isn't that a wonderful and empowering aspect? You don't have to be a wild and crazy risk taker.
The conservative approach let's you learn about your new business while keeping the safe and steady income of your main job. You start small and build gradually. This limits your risk in case your new business fails. In exchange for taking less risk, you must work harder. You must be dedicated -- willing to come home after a full workday and keep going on your side business.
It takes discipline, tenacity, faith, and a very understanding family. It's not easy to work all day at the office and then go home at night to work on your own project. The competition for your time can become intense. But if you create a plan and follow it in an orderly fashion, you have a very good chance of eventually succeeding.. Master the necessary skills, avoid the pitfalls, and your business will grow.
At some point in the future, you may realize that you are making more money from your second income than you are from your first. That is the day you have been working toward, a big decision awaits you but one that you want to have the chance to make. You will have put yourself in a great position and you will be glad that you did it.
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