Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship... the word fasicinated me from the day I have heard it (I do fantasized about launching a venture, before I heard of the word!!). Well If I go and look into a dictionary (wordweb), it defines entrepreneur as "Someone who organises a business venture and assumes the risk for it". Now since the dictionary meaning are standards in english, so I guess this should be the actual meaning. So now I will not try to impose my meanings now (though I don't know why, I don't completly agree with this meaning). After thinking a lot about the idea of launching a venture myself, a lot of questions popped up in my head. So I started searching on net, reading books, newspapers, articles etc. etc. So here is a short summary of what I found out .

Entrepreneurship and Money
Common wisdom is that you can make more money if you are an entrepreneur rather than if you are an employee. Though you cannot say so seeing the market in todays date, as you will find (almost) equal number of rich entrepreneurs and employees. There are employees like India head of Pepsi, who are better off than most of the entrepreneurs in India. And if I see in todays corporate world, though my experience of corporate world is minimal, even the big companies owners dont have boasting ownership in their companies. As I was looking into Indiagames, a global game provider company, its founder Vishal Gondal has just 19.4 percent stake in his own company. Also, if you see now-a-days, atleast 10-15 percent of the company's (generally start-ups) stakes goes into IPOs and ESOPs and approximately 50 percent are taken by the VCs or whosoever funds the start-up and now if the company is even started by two partners, both will just get 17.5 percent stake in their own company. And this is the best case scenario I have considered. But then not everyone can be Country Head of Pepsi. They say that if you save from your salary and invest the savings wisely you can earn more than any entrepreneur in your age group. Oh really! where should I invest seeing the current market scenario. Obviously stock market is the last thing on my head. Property rates are climbing the ladder so fast, that if I fall I am surely going to heaven (or hell!). So if you see from that point of view, why to gamble on others talent rather than yours. So I believe that if you want to reach to the eight figure bank balance early, entrepreneur is a good option.

Entrepreneurship and Age
I have been researching a lot about entrepreneurship and what is the right age to start. I can see people starting their business/venture even at an age of 50. That makes me wonder, what is the right age to start a venture. Shall I wait some more years to gain more exposure to the market, make more connections (or as they say, gain more wisdom). Or am I ready to face those senior management of big companies and can stand against them. But then I guess there are a few advantages of starting venture at a young age:

1. I have more energy and zeal. I havent yet crossed the critical barrier of 30 after which your body starts imposing restriction on your daily habits!
2. I have far less commitments (rather none) as compared to a grown individual. I dont have family/kids (or any responsibility as such) to take care of.
3. I have large backup options, i.e. even if I fail, I can still be an employee!
4. I have a gut feeling that having my own company and fighting in the corporate world will definitely add to my wisdom/knowledge bank a great deal. And till now I have professional ethics living inside me, which they say are hinderance to your success path!

And now the final question, how to decide when its right time to start. I belive that opportunity knocks doors atleast once. And whenever it does grab the spoon! I had read in an article, the best predictor of entrepreneurship is not age, not money, not wealth but its the ability. Oddly enough, it is a U shaped curve. People very low and very high in ability tend to start companies. The middle usually stays put. You know yourself better than anyone. Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? If the answer is because you can't stand working for someone else or you can't deal with the 8-5 life, then you may not be cut out for startup success. You may fall on the lower end of that U shaped curve. But if you think you have untapped potential, if you think you could do more than you do at your current job, if you love the thrill of the game, and if you realize the financial risk you are taking, then make the jump.

Please note that views written above are solely my own views and if you wish to follow them, follow at your own risk! Adios...