Lack of a boss.
Period.
The lack of a higher authority to give you your next todo item is the single most-important factor that makes entrepreneurship so hard. In school, you have a clearly defined schedule and you have teachers who give you homework which provides something concrete to do everyday. Then they have exams, a definite end point of the whole yearly effort. In college, you have required classes, projects and exams that keep you sane and provide a safety net from being direction less.
Boss is always right, even if he is wrong
In corporate world, your boss sets your todo list. Most likely, every day when arrive at your desk and check your email you have something definite to do, failure of which is likely to annoy your boss. Day after day, the todo list keeps you busy, happy and gives a clear indication of progress.
But entrepreneurship is different. You have NO boss. Nobody would care if you are slacking a bit, nobody would care if you failed to meet your targets, no body would care if your performance is falling month after month. Being self-motivated over a period of years non-stop is hard. Unlike corporate world, you have to set your own agenda for every single day and you have to meet self-defined targets. What makes it even more dangerous that there is no-one (expect you) to notice that you failed to meet targets. There is no-one to do a review meeting or feedback session. It is just you!
That is what makes entrepreneurship so hard.
What’s your opinion?
[Guest article by Paras Chopra, founder of Visual Website Optimizer]
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To add to this, if you havent raised fund (i.e. nobody external to report to), it needs a lot of self-discipline to perform the act.
This is spot on. Entrepreneurship does require a great deal of self-motivation and discipline. Without the necessary discipline to execute on your idea, day in day out, it’s a losing battle from the start.
Perseverance is another key ingredient. To keep pushing on, often when the road ahead seems unclear and hazy.
Good post.
Hi Ashish,
Thanks for giving me an opportunity to guest blog on Pluggd.in!
-Paras
Yups, true to some extent.
The question is always, What Next ?
Bang on target
Same reason why being a “good” employee in a startup is also hard. Even if you have a boss, it doesn’t take long to realize that even he doesn’t have an idea or a clear roadmap for a lot of things.
agree!
I completely disagree with the “Period.” I think it’s a very small part of why it’s hard. Actually, if I were to ask the question differently and say: What exactly makes Entrepreneurship so attractive? Many would say it’s the lack of a boss.
Entrepreneurship is very personal and if you don’t have the discipline muscle already trained and ready, the first year or two will be very hard. But after that, you simply pick up a sheet of paper in the morning, look over at your yearly plan, and write down the couple of things that you must do that day to get a little closer.
At the end of the day, cross all the items off the list. If you’re lucky, that is.
Of course, it’s much harder than that. Specially when your plan is evolving as you go.
From my experience, I believe what makes entrepreneurship so hard is having to fly multiple plans in the sky simultaneously.
It’s telling which planes are carrying the cargo and which are carrying the people. The ones that can absolutely not crash no matter what from the ones that can not crash.
>I completely disagree with the “Period.” I think it’s a very small part of why it’s hard. Actually, if I were to ask the question differently and say: What exactly makes Entrepreneurship so attractive? Many would say it’s the lack of a boss.
Can’t agree more. Actually after reading this article I thought the subject of the post is totally wrong. Not having a boss is not something that is difficult for a/wanna-be entrepreneur. Its the interesting part!
I agree Aayush. I talk more about my experience here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159556
I agree with Nash.I also liked your planes funda.. spot on ! May be you should re-write the post ..:-)
Hi Lalit,
I actually guest posted on Grasshoppers blog today
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159556
Let me know what you think.
-Nash
I echo with you Nash. 100%. It is the number of threads going on in one’s mind while executing daily chores & long term chores of creating a business from scratch. No boss is just a narrow opening of one’s of freedom of thinking. It largely helps an entrepreneur, coz the responsibility gets vested into the individual to an extent of “do or die”.
Thanks Arvind. I talk more about this on Grasshopper’s blog. I guest posted there today: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159556
“From my experience, I believe what makes entrepreneurship so hard is having to fly multiple plans in the sky simultaneously.
It’s telling which planes are carrying the cargo and which are carrying the people. The ones that can absolutely not crash no matter what from the ones that can not crash.”
- Killer Statement!
At the same time, a lot of it depends on how fast can one learn/unlearn, esp. if one has spent a considerable time in corporate life.
Thanks Ashish!
I Guest posted on Grasshopper’s blog today.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1159556
Let me know what you think.
Thanks.
-Nash
Typo:
there is no-one (expect you) -> there is no-one (except you)
Paras you are bang on…I think this is one of the most important aspects of an entrepreneur. You will know this exactly, if you have worked for a few years and then got into entrepreneurship !
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Thinking like a child is good for entrepreurnsdhip!
This article really struck a chord with me — it’s very difficult to manage your own time. It’s something I see so many people struggle with on a day to day basis.
I myself have considered getting a corporate job and working my way up the ladder — the feeling of security is nice. However, I don’t think it outweighs the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with successfully running your own business.
I agree with Aayush. Not having a boss is what makes an entrepreneur.
Haven’t you heard “I want to work for myself” or “I want to be my own boss” of all entrepreneurs.
More importantly, the trait that differentiates the entrepreneurs is that they have some strong ideas and they really feel they can implement these ideas “their” way. Of course they will face challenges along the way, but that’s what they signed up for.. right?
Nice article. short and sweet.
I’d like to add that there is a further difference between
(a) being on your own
(b) being an entrepreneur
You can be on your own as a consultant or as a service business. You will still have a boss – its just that you do not realize it because he works for another company. The contract lays out the rules – you finish work item X and you get Y in return minus Z for penalty. Usually there is a person on the other side who you report to.
Things get progressively tougher as you move to the products space. My guideline to assess the product space is “the meet in person rule”.
If you product or website serves so many that its is unreasonable to have a face to face meeting with all of them then you are truly in the standalone product space. The full impact of this post (that you truly dont have a boss) comes into play.You have a large amorphous thing called the market and you interact with it via your delivery.
If your product is used by a handful of clients – but is of very high value (example a mobile banking product), then you still have a boss although much more diluted than the services business.
Good thought provoking post.
“You have a large amorphous thing called the market and you interact with it via your delivery.”
Great comment! I like the way you put it. Yes, in a way market is your boss and you have to serve it but as you say it is amorphous, intangible and totally selfish.
This is exactly right.
I’m a serial entrepreneur. Even after starting a dozen companies, maintaining the internal motivation to set/prioritize/keep/refactor the required action items remains the single toughest task. This is hard enough when things are going well, but having to change the action plan to address an unforeseen issue or setback kills most startups.
So True…
For a product making company. You have an incubation period of 12-24 months (or may be more) and the boss (YOU) and employees don’t have much of clue during this period…. after that
YOUR BALANCE SHEET is your BOSS.
But for a service oriented company… the BOSS comes in within one-two quarters.
So there is always a BOSS … in form of a Sheet OR s**t…
Kasi
A great post…
Absolutely Right Mr.Paras Chopra.
The start ups have a wonderful Insight into technology but are amateurs in admin.if proper guidance is given then they can be transformed into successful enterprises.
We at WAY2WORLD have recognized this hence we are offering free guidance to innovative professional students who possess brilliant ideas.
our Free Modus operandi includes:
1. We explore talented students & encourage them to be Innovative. We visit every professional colleges & try sincerely in this direction.
2. We Empower them with process for procedures. We help them with Patent ability Opinion, Consumer feedback, Online projections, … & more.
3. We help them convert their dreams into Successful Enterprises, By email marketing, Designing Ads & Jinglers, helping them to network & …More.
We would be happy to guide any student in this regards. Because we believe that the Technology army of the Nation will shield us from recession & Poverty.
And our organization is worth its existence only if we are able to churn out a few start ups in the process.
Rajkishan
A well debated topic. certainly lack of boss cannot be the only thing also by the logic of – A problem identified is a problem solved – lack of boss can be disciplined by a funder, VC etc. lot of good points in the further discussion. the article served its purpose that we are all thinking there maynot be a single answer to it. Well done Paras.
So which is better?
a human boss who may rubbish bad ideas ..yours, of course.. and move on to give you your next to-do task as well as monthly salary
or
the ‘market’ alias ‘amorphous boss’ that makes paupers out of enterpreneurs with bad ideas ?
agree. but if u wanna suceed you wont sit on ur ass.
I have worked in the corporate world for over 15 years. However, I’m currently starting my own business and already I can see what a challenge it is to manage my time properly!
Great article! Thanks.