Entrepreneur for the Wrong Reasons

We've all heard the startup failure statistics. I hear a different % for this every week, but the most common number I hear is that 90% of entrepreneurial ventures fail. I'm sure there are many reasons for this, but I'm starting to wonder if a big reason might be because many entrepreneurs are doing it for the wrong reasons.

My Entrepreneurial Story
Before I get into that, let me share a little of my history. My dad is an entrepreneur. He worked a corporate job for a few years out of college, but for about the last 25-30 years he's done his own thing. My grandpa could probably be called an entrepreneur. He is a CPA and started his own practice after just a few years of working for other people. Though, the argument could be made that a CPA starting his own firm isn't really an entrepreneurial venture.

From the time I was young, I always wanted to start my own company. During my time at BYU I had a lot of entrepreneurial, commission-based jobs and I really enjoyed them. But a few years ago I got a chance to do my first really entrepreneurial venture. My wife and I both quit our jobs at a mobile software company and started our own company selling mobile phones online. With some close friends joining us to round out the team we started a company called GBT Mobile (Horrible name, but it stands for God Blessed Texas, which I thought was a cool idea at the time).

Our 2nd year in business we ended up doing about $700,000 in sales with just the 4 of us, though we weren't actually making a profit. At the end of that year we were selected as the Fort Worth Chamber's Small Business of the Year, which was a great accomplishment for 4 people who had no idea what we were doing, but before we even received the award our startup was done. My wife and I ended up going for 12 full months without a paycheck and spent all of our savings and more.

We probably could of kept going and tried harder to make our struggling business survive, but the truth is I'd realized after being an entrepreneur for 2 short years that it wasn't really for me after all. I learned a lot of new skills in this venture but most importantly learned a lot about myself. Namely, I'm not cut out to be an entrepreneur or a CEO. I am great at implementing ideas, keeping costs low and growing a business, but prefer to work for someone else, and want someone else to make the final financial decisions and deal with the investors and the bank.

The 2 Types of Entrepreneurs

Since that adventure, I've moved back to Utah, been with a couple more startups, my latest one for the last 3.5 years. I am Employee #2 and it is a perfect fit for me. I've also had the chance to get involved in some entrepreneur and startup groups and meet a lot of people who call themselves entrepreneurs. I've met some incredible people who have proven that they can take an idea from concept to $100 million company over and over again. I've also met a lot of entrepreneurs who are struggling to get their startup off the ground. Some of these people have been struggling for years with this startup and others are on their 10th startup and hoping this is the one that will finally work for them.

It takes a lot of guts, special skills and determination to be an entrepreneur, but I'm starting to wonder if many people become entrepreneurs for the wrong reasons, namely:

1. They don't want to work for and answer to anyone else.
2. They don't like being forced to work and get along with other people.
3. They don't want to work full-time.
4. They don't want to stick with anything for too long.

I believe I've met people who have become an entrepreneur for all of these reasons over the past few months. Some of these people are strong-willed enough that they will still be successful while avoiding these things, but for most people with these biases, is it any wonder why they won't be successful as an entrepreneur?

Now I need to stress again: I think many entrepreneurs are amazing, hard-working people with more determination and resolve than I'll ever have, and I truly hope these people will be successful in their ventures. However, if someone is only an entrepreneur because they hate working for and with other people and want to work their own schedule (or barely work at all), I think they are going to find it really hard to be successful.

One more thing: There's no shame in not being entrepreneurial. I've tried both sides and can admit that starting my own company is not for me. I am not an entrepreneur. I am a startupreneur. I love having someone else worry about how we're going to get paid this month. I love working with other people. I love going to the office every day and working a set schedule. I also enjoy being involved with many of the crucial decisions, being involved in lots of different areas of the business, having more work than I can get done, and working like mad to keep costs low while increasing profits. I am a startupreneur.

If you're currently an entrepreneur or thinking of becoming one, I'd invite you to think about your reasons. Would you still be an entrepreneur if it meant you had to answer to someone else, work with people you may not like, and work a set schedule? Is it a way to avoid the things you don't want to do or is it a burning desire to build something out of nothing? Are the trade-offs worth it? What would your spouse say? If you can honestly say you are an entrepreneur for the right reasons I wish you much success and am confident that your chance of success is much better than the standard 10%.