Is the Grass Really Greener
When a person is employed by a company then might often think that starting a business and being in charge of their own destiny is the answer to the boredom, disenchantment and general feeling that there must be something else.
They then embark on the journey towards working for themselves, putting in time after work, finding suppliers, deciding on products to sell with the big launch date approaching.
A months later, after a slower than expected rate of sales, the twelve hour days, the administration and friends and family constantly asking about progress, they feel that they have not bettered the lives, in fact it is generally now worst than before.
What Went Wrong
So what went wrong? There was an overwhelming belief that things would be better but the reality of starting and running a new business seems so far from the way it was imagined to be. The grass definitely does not appear to be greener.
The Reality of Starting a Business
The reality of starting a business, when coming from employment is that a dull and lifeless existence will not be replaced with days of fruitful, energising and fulfilling experiences.
What generally happens when comparing the two lifestyles is that stark similarities can be identified between the two, and whilst there are differences in the factors which cause the feeling, the feelings are nevertheless the same.
Stress for example is one such factor. Stress in employment could be caused by a demanding boss or clients or the busy journey to work. Comparing this environment to working from home and for yourself will remove some, if not most of these elements.
The feeling of stress however will not have disappeared and in most cases, it actually increases. There is stress caused again from impatient customers but also, with the watchful eye of friends, family and peers looking on there may be intense pressures to make a success of the new business.
Thus, in the example above the components which cause stress may have changed dramatically, however the levels of stress endured by the owner might actually be greater than when they were in employment.
What to Expect When Starting Up
The secret to not allowing a new start-up to become a large anti-climax is to have realistic expectations of what will be better when owing a business and what will be worse.
In all cases, there will be some of both and if the attributes of each can be determined beforehand or at least if there is an awareness of them, then should they surface at sometime in the future, the owner is more able to cope with their affects.
When carrying out an assessment of starting a business have two columns, one which highlights what the benefits are likely to be and one that looks at the lifestyle factors which are currently enjoyed but which may be sacrificed.
Elements which might be placed in to the latter column could include loss of security and social interactions at work, pressures to succeed may be increased and the affect on personal moral should the venture fail.
The real trick to starting a business and keeping it going is to know that the grass is not greener on the other side, it is a different colour altogether.