Day 586 - Entrepreneurship: From risky venture to safety net - https://golifelog.com/posts/entrepreneurship-from-risky-venture-to-safety-net-1660016878698
It’s amazing how we went from “entrepreneurship is a risky venture” to “entrepreneurship is a safety net” in the past 10 years.
In the past, starting a business meant:
• Huge capital outlay
• Needing VC funding
• Reserved for the already-rich
• Hiring lots of people
• Quitting your 9-to-5
These days, starting a business:
• Requires minimal capital
• Can be bootstrapped, no funding needed
• Anyone can do it, even if not rich
• You can do it solo, or outsource
• No need to quit day job
And if you consider the how the recession is laying off people in droves, it’s difficult to justify anyone not having any side hustle.
A job—no matter how rosy the outlook of the company—is still a single point of failure. And the nature of black swan events is that they are unknown unknowns. No way for you to be certain of a salary the next month. A job is ultimately, 1 away from 0.
It’s like investing. If it’s not common practice to put all your capital into one stock or fund, why should we put all our time capital into one job? If diversifying helps to de-risk your portfolio, why aren’t we diversifying our work to de-risk too?
Even if you’re too busy, too tired, too stretched doing just one day job, it’s good to have a side hustle in waiting.
Something that you can build at your leisure during good times with a job.
Something that you can lean on and scale up during bad times without a job.
So build an business.
It’s no longer risking it all, but saving it all.
In the past, starting a business meant:
• Huge capital outlay
• Needing VC funding
• Reserved for the already-rich
• Hiring lots of people
• Quitting your 9-to-5
These days, starting a business:
• Requires minimal capital
• Can be bootstrapped, no funding needed
• Anyone can do it, even if not rich
• You can do it solo, or outsource
• No need to quit day job
And if you consider the how the recession is laying off people in droves, it’s difficult to justify anyone not having any side hustle.
A job—no matter how rosy the outlook of the company—is still a single point of failure. And the nature of black swan events is that they are unknown unknowns. No way for you to be certain of a salary the next month. A job is ultimately, 1 away from 0.
It’s like investing. If it’s not common practice to put all your capital into one stock or fund, why should we put all our time capital into one job? If diversifying helps to de-risk your portfolio, why aren’t we diversifying our work to de-risk too?
Even if you’re too busy, too tired, too stretched doing just one day job, it’s good to have a side hustle in waiting.
Something that you can build at your leisure during good times with a job.
Something that you can lean on and scale up during bad times without a job.
So build an business.
It’s no longer risking it all, but saving it all.
