BY Tonnie Mello: Growing up as an entrepreneur, I never thought I would say this. But it is true as I see it. If you have a good job that gives you an opportunity to work and make a difference and they pay you well and respect your contribution, keep that job. Don’t leave it to try your hand at business.
Business is not just an occupation: it’s a calling. It calls you to sacrifice what you like, personal convenience and sometimes your entire life. You must have a BIG and compelling idea that will take the brains and efforts of many people most of whom you don’t even know to accomplish.
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And there’s nothing to be ashamed about in working for someone else, we all do in some way or form. Otherwise we’d all build our own cars and roads and consume whatever it is that we create.
The enterprise space is messed up by greedy and lazy people looking for a quick fix. Some steal and pump the money in business projects that are doomed to fail from the start. Others plough life earnings and retirement funds into businesses they have no clue how they work.
Such maneuvers only serve to tilt the scales against real entrepreneurs who have laboured and toiled for years and invested loads of cash to make the concept/business work. And when the business tourists give up and move on, the entrepreneur will be there to pick up and start/continue building.
Business is about offering solutions and making a difference in people’s lives if the business you are doing is not premised on that, I can assure you two things: it won’t last and you are wasting your time and money.
I insist: don’t go into business out of convenience or to copy someone else who’s made a lot of cash. The truth is that most entrepreneurs tell only one side of the story. As we ride in Maybach and Mercedes Benz we hardly talk about the sleepless nights, crippling debt, loss of treasured relationships and the ever present risk of failure. We are merchants of faith or too proud to admit we have failed yet we fail many more times than we succeed.
If you have a good job, keep it. It’s the best thing you can do to yourself, loved ones and the society at large.
Next time you see me driving the Benz, let your heart not be troubled; it’s not on loan, it’s paid for!