Founding your own company is one one of the most interesting and satisfying things you can do in your life. It’s a way to change your environment and maybe change the whole world.
But there are a number of downsides to being an entrepreneur. We rarely see the high number of failures of companies, although more that 80 percent of startups go out of business within the first three years. Most important, we do not see the personal fate of founders, the struggle, the loss of money and efforts, all the sunken costs. We rarely see the impact on their personal and emotional well-being. A company you found is like your baby, seeing it grow and flourish is maybe one of the most satisfying things in life. To see it die on the other hand deeply hurts the soul. It is a huge effort by itself to put yourself together, after failing in the world of entrepreneurs. Not many can do this and find the energy to found another company or even be a serial entrepreneur.
So let’s have a look at the downside of being an entrepreneur:
- investing your own effort and/or effort with and insecure return on investment ROI
- probably work harder than anyone around you, neglecting other parts of your life
- risking your personal and emotional well-being (loss of sleep, work to much, emotional imbalance, etc.)
- have to do everything necessary to make the company thrive in all different fields, no matter your knowledge, your education or your preferences
- it can be very lonely to be an entrepreneur, especially if you found alone (how to treat loneliness when founding alone)
- if you do not found your company alone you risk loosing friends and people important to you (article: The social side of being an entrepreneur
There may be many more points to consider, but the question is: What to do about all these negative sides being an entrepreneur in order to mitigate the risks involved?