Ever make an investment or start a venture because someone else told you it was a smart idea? Have you been proposed the can’t miss idea? Received an e-mail from the inauthentic marketer who promises that you can make money with little of no effort? How did it turn out? My guess is that it either failed from the start, you were able to make a little money on a short period of time or a very small percentage were very fortunate and actually made something happen with the tip. The question for today ultimately is how often do we start a business for the wrong reasons? Or if you don’t own a business but have a W2 or 1099 job, why are you there?
Incorrect reason #1 is the most common of our reasons or excuses for everything that we do with regards to work. Money. We stay at our current jobs that we hate and get stuck running a business that we don’t enjoy oftentimes because of the money that it brings in. In the case of the job, security is key. We like our guaranteed (maybe not so much in this economy, yet we still hang on) money, benefits, 401ks etc. With a business, we started it to make more money and now work more than ever on it and have built it to the point that other people count on our businesses for their livelihood, shutting down or getting out is not as easy. It’s like a marriage where you have kids, you will be more likely to try and work it out when it’s not just about you. Regardless of how miserable you are.
Another incorrect reason I hear often is to have more free time. Spending more time with kids, time for your hobbies etc. In this case the opposite holds true for business owners. They end up spending less time then they anticipated because of the intensive nature of starting a business. This reason doesn’t resonate with the W2 earner as much because they are bound by the almighty time clock and need to put in their hours. They know that if they want time off, they need to justify it, schedule ahead of time and sometimes cross your fingers that you get your request.
Last incorrect reason is that it’s a hot market currently. If you start a business or a new job in a hot field, in short term it will most likely work out fine. A couple of examples I can think of are in nursing currently and in mortgages a few years ago. Many people jumped at the chance to get into the mortgage business because there was a huge demand for originating mortgages. People made good money. Fast forward to today, most of those people are broke with nothing to show for it and have closed their doors. Only the truly engaged remain. What has happened to the housing market as a result of individuals just trying to make a buck? The results can be as we have already seen disastrous.
In the case of nursing their is a huge shortage. This has created a buyers market for nurses. They get sign on bonuses, competitive pay, travel nursing is more popular because of the need. What happens if you don’t love it? Well, there is a shortage which means that the people who are working are working their ass off. Extra hours, dealing with doctors who treat nurses poorly, increasing demand from patients, because of the increased workload there is fear of litigation if a mistake is made. If you don’t love nursing, are you really going to stick it out?
So what’s the right answer? Read my post from a couple of months ago http://buildyoursoulpurpose.com/save-yourself-from-mediocrity. What to do if you have started your business/job for the wrong reason? Discover and live your Soul Purpose, use your Soul Purpose to create value for other people and solve big problems. It’s the cure for what ails our economy.