111 reasons to Finally Become an

Entrepreneur in 2014
by Kyle Eschenroeder 23 comments
an entrepreneurial lion (remember this for Reason 3)
I dont even know what an entrepreneur is anymore. For us, right now, its making
money without having a job. And as jobs become less gettable entrepreneurship
is becoming mandatory.
If you havent already been forced into entrepreneurship, you will be soon.
There are several forces that are making it extremely difcult for a company to
justify paying you. There is the increased cost because of health care, increasing
minimum wages, and machines replacing humans at an alarming pace. This has
nothing to do with politics. Its just whats happening. (If you want more scary
details then check outthis post.)
So why am I taking the time to convince you to take the leap to
entrepreneurship if its inevitable?
I want you to be ahead of the game. Were already deep into this transition, but
some are still holding on. You dont survive by holding onto the Titanic while it
sinks, you survive by getting out early and swimming as far from the suction as
possible.
The ship is sinking. We all feel it even if we cant admit it yet.
There are steps to take to make yourself more ready. This chaos has even
creatednear-turnkey solutions to beginning a new entrepreneurial life.
Before we get on with the list, lets get clear on one thing: becoming an
entrepreneur doesnt mean you wake up as Richard Branson tomorrow.
It doesnt even mean you quit your job.
Im proposing you start slow. You begin to create your own thing. You take a small
action today. Tomorrow you take another. You learn whats required.
Im suggesting you begin to shift your mindset to something more self-reliant. Im
suggesting you treat your choices as if they matter. You begin going to work with
the mindset of an owner. You start your side hustle - and you hustle.
The frst step to entrepreneurship is to decide to build something your boss
didnt tell you to build.
The rest of this post is dedicated to convincing you to make that choice.
[If you've already decided you want to make the leap but aren't sure WHAT to
do... a lot of people have been having a ton of success (a guy pulled in $30,000+
last month) with out Importing Empire coaching program. It's the perfect place to
start for a beginning entrepreneur.]
Without further ado
111 Reasons to Become an Entrepreneur
in 2014
1. Youre unemployed.
Or, if you havent been fred yet, you will be when the robots get good enough to
take your job. If your job has any possibility of being systematized then a
computer will learn it or it will be passed of to someone overseas who will be
grateful to do it for $5 an hour.
2. It makes you more of a man.
Or woman but in the traditionally masculine role of providing. Im not sure about
the science here, but Id be willing to bet that entrepreneurship boosts
testosterone levels.
3. The lion in the wild vs. the lion at the zoo.
apathy
Compare the two (the above with the one up top). The lion in the zoo has a great
healthcare package and total job security. The lion in the wild doesnt know if hell
be able to eat (or feed his family) when he wakes up. Yet somehow the lion in the
zoo is bored, dirty, and depressed. The lion in the wild is ft, beautiful, and fully
alive.
4. Its safer than a job.
It feels less certain than a job because you face uncertainty every day you are
forced to deal with it. A job feels safe until the day youre served a pink slip. In a
job youre blindsided by the unknown because youve never had to worry about it.
Like a wild lion, the entrepreneur knows the danger hes in so hes more ready
to deal with it.
5. Companies only want to hire entrepreneurs (or use temps, or machines).
Even if you want to get a job, you probably wont get hired unless you learn some
entrepreneurial skills. Selling yourself, connecting with others, thinking like an
owner, discerning good ideas from bad ideas, self-motivating all these
entrepreneurial requirements are also becoming requirements to get hired.
6. You gain the owner mindset.
You begin to think about things in a more empowering way. Instead of trying to
screw The Man out of a dollar you try to make more yourself. Instead of waiting to
be told what to do you do what needs to be done. This is true of your professional
life but also your personal life.
7. You produce more and consume less.
We get sucked into consuming because we think we need one more thing.
Focusing on becoming an entrepreneur will shift your attention
towards creation instead of consumption. You forget about all the things you were
supposed to have and get lost in ecstasy of creating something of your own.
8. You are free to be more creative.
You can try anything you want to do. Nothing is wrong until its proved wrong.
9. The entrepreneurial mind bleeds into all your other activities, choices.
Its that owners mindset, and it goes everywhere with you.
10. Your schedule becomes much more fexible (even though youre working ten
times harder).
You can sleep in until noon because you were up until 2AM creating your
business. You can take a week of because you worked 20 hour days for a month.
This fexibility lets you leverage your natural creative cycles.
11. You arent able to blame others anymore.
We weaken ourselves by blaming others. As soon as we give up responsibility we
give up the ability to overcome a challenge. Entrepreneurs dont get to blame
others. Its your fault. Even if its out of your hands, its still your responsibility. This
increases your power as a human being in ways you cant imagine.
12. You become surrounded by higher quality people.
You begin meeting others who havent settled, who want to build something
awesome. You meet others who are going through similar challenges.
13. You have the ultimate sense of autonomy.
Autonomy is one of the most important pieces of job satisfaction theres nobody
more autonomous than an entrepreneur.
14. Youll be able to build a legacy.
Sure, everyone leaves behind a legacy. Entrepreneurs seem to leave more
interesting ones than others.
15. You become antifragile
and thats one of the most important things to do in a world this chaotic and
uncertain.
16. You see the world through the lens of opportunity.
Entrepreneurs thrive because of their ability to see possibilities where others
dont. This is a beautiful perspective to have
17. You become stronger because you arent able to avoid struggle.
Entrepreneurship is the hard path. (Its also the better path.) You dont get to
avoid difcult decisions and you dont get to sit back because somebody else will
pick up your slack.
18. You learn to take risks.
Risk is what makes life exciting. There is an intensity in the entrepreneurial life
that isnt available in a job-job.
19. You dont have to risk it all, though.
The entrepreneur who goes all-or-nothing is mostly a myth. Most
entrepreneurs managetheir risk. They know the risk theyre taking, accept it, and
dive in. You dont have to quit your job or risk having your family starve.
20. You become a person of action (or you will remain a wantrepreneur).
Vacillation means your business is done. You act quickly with the best information
you get and the information is rarely good.
21. You will fnally have scratched that itch you know what its like, now.
Worst case scenario: you have some crazy war stories. If you give it a real go,
youll never be the bitter old man who never did what he knew he wanted to.
22. You join the ranks of humans who have the balls to live life on their own
terms.
That alone makes it worthwhile.
23. You are forced to become a bigger person than you ever thought you would
be.
Comfort zones? They dont matter in business. Warren Bufett would be a timid
man in social situations in business negotiations? A killer. He overcame himself
because of his entrepreneurial need to make his business succeed.
24. You become less interested in Justin Bieber there are more important things
to do.
Worried about information overload? Dedicating yourself to entrepreneurship is
an instant fx. You dont have time to give a shit about Biebers.
25. It forces you to focus on the essentials.
Your attention is your universe: and you are now totally dedicated to your own
creation.
26. It is the most powerful productivity hack available.
You do what needs to get done. You dont get the luxury of working against
yourself or anything like that. Productivity becomes necessity.
27. Your infuence on the world becomes bigger/leveraged.
28. You are forced to make wealth and you know for certain that you are
valuable to the world.
29. You can measure your progress (instead of being a part of same giant
unwieldy corporation).
Its hard to tell if youre even making a diference in big companies. In a startup
(just you or you and a few others) you become keenly aware when you fall
behind. Theres no escaping it. Youve got to perform.
30. Its the best way to get rich.
Jobs have ceilings to how much you can earn (except some sales jobs). When
you build a business its like a snowball it keeps building on itself. And you
capture any above-and-beyond profts.
31. Your work builds on itself its not a one and done deal.
When you do an hourly job you rarely have the satisfaction of working towards
something greater. An entrepreneur does work every day that will grow his
company. Every day he does work he can look back on the next year and
appreciate.
32. ( Random Tip: Its much easier to make wealth by focusing on what you hate
than what you are passionate about. Its much easier to get paid to relieve a pain
than do something fun.)
33. Its cheap now.
Technology has lowered the barrier to entry to the point where its
ridiculous not to give it a go.
34. Business enables everything else.
Inventors who get remembered are the ones with big PR money behind them.
Businesses pay for more great art than anything else. Wealth can push theory
into reality.
35. It gives you a purpose in life.
Even if youre in a boring business, the necessity of taking action will obliquely
create a life more passionate and purposeful than youve ever had before.
36. It builds confdence (once you get going).
On the fipside, it can cause some of the most severe moments of doubt youve
ever faced. By facing those doubts you will gain an amazing sense of confdence.
37. It builds self-reliance.
38. It diversifes the amount of people who can make life-changing decisions for
you.
If you have one boss that can ruin your life, youre in an extremely fragile position.
39. It reconnects you with the your ancient ancestors: if you cant swim, you
sink. This makes life sharper.
What you do matters. You realize that life isnt as safe as it seems so you prepare
yourself for anything.
40. It makes you passionate.
I challenge you to fnd a bored entrepreneur. You wont.
41. It creates opportunities you could never have discovered before.
Even taking the frst step opens you up to possibilities that didnt exist
before.Opportunities emerge as you push on.
42. It kills any excuses you might make.
43. Machines cant do it so youre safe from artifcial intelligence.
Maybe you think Ive been exaggerating this whole machine economy thing. Im
not. Software is replacing journalists and, soon enough, taxi drivers and truckers
will be replaced by self-driving autos. This isnt sci-f, its real life. One of the few
things that computers will never be able to do is start a business and market
product.
44. More businesses are being started every year youre getting left behind.
There are 28 million small businesses in the US, 22 million of these are self-
employed. Youre still fairly early on the curve here but every day more are
taking the leap and making it tougher for you. The best time to start is now.
45. You will learn skills that are applicable everywhere:
46. like sales, and were always selling someone on something
47. and basic fnance, which we all know we should be better at anyway
48. and a basic sense of design
49. and communication skills
50. and basically everything else.
51. A business can often give you a good reason to do things youve been
wanting to do forever. (Like going to China.)
52. If your business is successful, you can aford to support your family while still
spending time with them.
53. You will feel more alive.
And, isnt that the point of it all?
People say that what were all seeking is a meaning for life. I dont think thats
what were really seeking. I think that what were seeking is an experience of
being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have
resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the
rapture of being alive. Joseph Campbell
54. You no longer have an incompetent boss (although escaping incompetent
customers may be impossible).
Okay, maybe you still have to deal with a shitty boss for a while. But at least
youre on a path where you can see the light!
55. Its a harder life (and thats a good thing).
We cant avoid struggle, but we can choose what kind of struggle we endure. Do
we make the easy choice and sufer from over-comfort, over-eating, over-luxury?
Or do we make the hard choice and struggle to become better?
56. It makes decisions easier: Is this good for my business?
57. It makes you less self-conscious.
The business comes before you, so you are more afraid of it failing than getting
embarrassed. This allows you to be bold in ways you never thought you could be.
58. You begin to create culture.
Entrepreneurs participate in culture even more than actors and artists.
59. Being soft stops being an option.
Weakness isnt an option. You become hardened in the face of necessity.
60. Its the closest thing you have to waging war.
Maybe its just me, but I love the rush of going into battle without actually risking
my life. Business is one of the best places to accomplish this.
61. It brings out the strongest parts of you.
You will be called on to do what you didnt think you could do. And, to your own
amazement, youll do it!
62. It makes you face failure.
You will fail. Pushing through that will be a great reward.
63. It will make your family proud.
64. It will force your relationship to get closer (or otherwise break).
It will put a special strain on your relationship. Sometimes it breaks, sometimes it
becomes stronger. Like your family, she/he will be proud of you.
65. The world is in chaos which means there are tons of opportunities to
create your business.
While others struggle you will thrive because you have become trained to see
opportunities in what appears to others to be loss.
66. Do more good.
Entrepreneurship is literally the art of making as many lives better as possible
while getting paid for it. You dont succeed as an entrepreneur until youve made
lives better.
67. You have infnite earning potentially.
There is no earning ceiling placed above you.
68. Your choices matter.
The decisions you make have consequences larger than before. Youre the one
behind the wheel. Youre responsible, not your boss.
69. You get to wear multiple hats.
Its fun to be able to jump from one thing to another. Instead of a monotonous
routine
70. its an adventure!
71. Fulfll wishes.
Entrepreneurs fnd what people wish they had and then try to make those wishes
a reality. (Or create something they didnt even know they wished for!) Instead of
complaining about lack you create possibilities.
72. You can start as small as you want.
Most successful entrepreneurs dedicate their lives to their businesses. You dont
need to jump there yet. Its not all-or-nothing. You can put up a website and start
selling your products today.
73. Entrepreneurship will grow your vision muscle.
Most of us have had our dreams beaten out of us. Either by realists or just by
hard experiences. Entrepreneurs are forced to push forward to keep the boat
from sinking. Over time, their capacity for envisioning great possibilities grows.
74. Prove that you can do it.
If youre really not interested, fne. If youre reading this you have at least an itch,
though. You dont want to be on your deathbed regretting that you never did what
you wanted to do. Use death as a motivator to push past the fears of failing and
uncertainty.
75. You will become more human.
76. Your responsibility to society.
Entrepreneurs survive because they are constantly looking for ways to better
serve their communities and the world.
77. Knowing that what you do matters.
Everything you do will afect your business. This adds a sense of importance to
your life that you just cant get working for a large company.
78. A sense of accomplishment.
Knowing that you created something from nothing provides a powerful sense of
achievement.
79. You can work from anywhere.
This is specifc to online businesses which is where a ton of entrepreneurs are
headed. You dont need to report to the same cubicle every day. You can cycle
through the cofee shops in town or go work on the beach
80. You dont need a ton of money for advertising.
You can create your own content marketing campaign or you can run a Google
AdWords adwords campaign for $100.
81. You must continuously get better.
There is no self-development program as brutal as entrepreneurship.
82. You can work in your undies if you want.
(But you might do better work wearing a shirt.)
83. You have a better understanding of money.
You will start to be disgusted when you see money wasted. Youll think of how
you could have invested it to grow your business. You begin to see money for
what it is: a tool.
84. You will be an inspiration for others.
When you become an entrepreneur it creates that possibility for many others who
see you doing it.
85. Youll be forced to turn pro.
There is nothing that will more quickly transform you from an amateur into a pro.
(Or from a boy to a man.)
86. Builds assertiveness.
The entrepreneur has to ask for the sale. He has to go after clients. He cant sit
back, waiting and praying that someone will fnd him and decide to give him
money.
87. Builds empathy.
In order for you to sell efectively, youll need to understand the needs and wants
of others.
88. You will become an expert.
Both in business and whatever industry youre in. An entrepreneur needs to know
the ins and outs of the world hes dealing with. It feels great to be competent
and youll need to be more than competent.
89. Youll get tougher.
Negotiations, competition, and long hours will test your mettle.
90. You will be forced to get organized.
(Not everyone but most.)
[Note: the following are quotes that are powerfully entrepreneurial, even if they
weren't made by "entrepreneurs".]
91. Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.
Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
92. Dont worry about failure; you only have to be right once. Drew
Houston, Dropbox Co-Founder and CEO
93. Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard. Guy Kawasaki, Alltop Co-Founder
and Entrepreneur
94. Any time is a good time to start a company. Ron Conway, Noted Startup
Investor, SV Angel
95. I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. Wayne
Gretzy, Hockey Star
96. If youre going through hell, keep going. Winston Churchill, British Prime
Minister
97. Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not. Michael Dell, Dell
Chairman and CEO
98. I knew that if I failed I wouldnt regret that, but I knew the one thing I
might regret is not trying. Jef Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO
99. If you are not embarrassed by the frst version of your product, youve
launched too late. Reid Hofman, LinkedIn Co-Founder and Venture Capitalist
100. The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing. Walt Disney, Co-
Founder, Disney
101. Projections are just bullshit. Theyre just guesses. Jason Fried, Founder,
37Signals
102. User experience is everything. It always has been, but its undervalued and
underinvested in. If you dont know user-centered design, study it. Hire people
who know it. Obsess over it. Live and breathe it. Get your whole company on
board. Evan Williams, Co-Founder, Twitter
103. As long as youre going to be thinking anyway, think big. Donald Trump,
The Trump Organization President
104. You dont learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing and
falling over. Richard Branson, Virgin Group Founder
105. Dont be afraid to assert yourself, have confdence in your abilities,
and dont let the bastards get you down. Michael Bloomberg, Former
Mayor of New York and Founder of Bloomberg L.P.
106. Im convinced that about half of what separates the successful
entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. Steve Jobs,
Co-Founder and CEO, Apple
107. All of my friends were doing babysitting jobs. I wanted money without the
job. Adam Horwitz
108. Be undeniably good. No marketing efort or social media buzzword can be a
substitute for that. Anthony Volodkin, Hype Machine founder
109. Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You dont want to run out of
gas on your trip, but youre not doing a tour of gas stations. Tim
OReilly, OReilly Media founder and CEO
110. Dont worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the
day they stop. Jefrey Zeldman, A List Apart Publisher
111. The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to
every evening think what can be done better tomorrow. Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA
founder
_
There you have it.
111 reasons.
If I havent convinced you, let me know in the comments and Ill try again.
If you have another reason, let me know in the comments.