This article is written by someone else... I have simply copy pasted it here
This is a question which (if not anyone) my parents continue to ask me till date – why Entrepreneurship and not a secure job? After years of avoiding the ‘dreaded topic’, today I decided to give it a shot and give them a satisfactory answer to their questions about their son’s doubtful future. Here is a transcript of what transpired.
(My Cell Phone rings, I pick it up.)
Me: Hi, how are you doing, Mr. Client?
Mr. Client: Hey, I called to inform you that the payment that is due tomorrow will be sent to you within the next week. I apologize for the delay but there has been a slight issue.
Me: It’s fine, it’s part of business but make sure you pay it up by the next weekend or I am afraid I might not be able to provide uninterrupted services this month.
Mr Client: Sure, I will send it before the next weekend. Take Care. Bye.
(My Dad hears this conversation and is giving me a stare that I recognize and christened as “The Undertaker Stare” for its uncanny resemblance to the original and its ability to make me feel uncomfortable under my skin, although it is mixed with a look of pity)
Me: (Acting Innocent) Well, looks like our shopping plan will have to wait a week.
Mom: (Grumbling) Why do you want to go through this? Get a job, there are a lot of people who would give you a job. At least, you get a paycheck every month on time. I and your dad are tired of seeing you struggle for payments.
Me: Mom, please, not again. It’s a matter of just 3-4 days. I will get other payments too, next week… promise.
Dad: Don’t avoid your mom’s question. Why don’t you join a job?
Me: Dad, one thing is clear to me. No matter what rung of the ladder you are on, jobs are going out of style. Fast.
Dad: So says the guy who has worked in a job for a month or two.
Me: I understand your concern, but look at it this way. Once upon a time, the world was full of small business people and independent entrepreneurs. Every town was bound to have a baker, a blacksmith, a preacher, a barber, a shepherd, a farmer, a weaver, and a shoe maker. There were all Entrepreneurs not factories or corporations and maybe very few employees. With the Industrial Revolution, the economy centers grew, and more people began to “go to work” for fewer people. Employees and employers were added to dictionaries. Traditional family trades became companies or corporations.
Mom: What is your point?
Me: My point is companies are not built for providing job security. They are built for providing maximum revenue for the investors. America was booming and there was no unemployment until the 2008 meltdown. All the jobs are now transferred to places with cheap labor. You can fire employees but you can’t fire a company or the benefit its investors get.
Dad: You are talking something much unrelated. We are in India son.
Me: Agreed. India is growing; maybe it is the next super power. But I don’t need job security, I need income security. Job security gives me freedom to grow to a certain level, till my economy grows. Income security allows me to outgrow the economy I live in. If India doesn’t work for me, I am in 3 other countries which are sure to give me returns in future. But if I lose a job, I have to find another for the salary.
Mom: (cuts me off for some emotional drama) So what you are saying is that your dad was a fool to work in a job all his life?
Me: Ah! No, that’s not what I meant! For your era, I think it was a very good choice and the fact that dad enjoyed his job is more than enough to justify his choice. But what I mean to say is, as of today, I don’t want to put our faith and trust in the wrong places, counting on an employer or a company to sustain me, when I should have been developing my own value in the market place. We can no longer count on jobs to sustain us, rescue us, or bail us out. Employers are doing their best to keep their own head above water – do not count on them to rescue you when the sea is rough.
Dad: So, being an entrepreneur guarantees you income? I can’t believe you can talk so immaturely. Your business can shut down tomorrow. What will you do then?
Me: (Frustrated and getting second thoughts on why I even tried explaining) I don’t expect that everyone will “get it.” The Indian culture does not yet know how to support the entrepreneurs in our midst. (Apply for a credit card or a loan with a new business, even a profitable one, and you’ll see what I mean.)
People believe that being a business owner is risky, but I believe that having only ‘one’ source of income – ‘one’ source that can be terminated at any time – is the real risk. As a business owner, I currently have 3 different businesses in 3 different countries. What is the risk they will all shut down at once?
Mom: Okay, but it takes a lot of time and we want you to get settled as soon as possible. There are lots of fluctuations in a business. With a job, you can get settled faster.
Me: I know where you’re going at, but a job is often a fixed set of requirements and rewards, whereas a business is as good as a breathing organism. A salary may be preset and many times stagnant, but business revenues rise when properly attended to and fostered. A job may be a set of tasks which have been determined, but a business is a white canvas, and the entrepreneur is free to paint his/her imagination, the entrepreneurial freedom that makes him/her get up in the morning because the canvas beckons. Sure, some employees are enthusiastic and motivated by their job, but among entrepreneurs, it’s the rule, to be successful you have to be passionate about what you do.
Mom: So you are not going to change?
Me: Why should I? It is a way of life for me. I get up in the morning looking forward to the day and it gives me satisfaction to know I am making a change in the world.
Dad: (Smiles slyly) You will not change but you will change the world?
Me: (kind of pissed) Yes, a business is built over solving a problem. Businesses don’t just provide economic solutions. We make living providing solutions to all kinds of needs and challenges. Whether the problem is physical pain, a desire for a better travel experience, or how to get a package to Bangalore overnight, entrepreneurs are the alchemists of our time. Henry Ford might be called an inventor/scientist but I prefer to call him an Entrepreneur. You don’t have to necessarily sell to be an entrepreneur. We are literally turning problems into gold.
Mom: At the end of the day, you will continue to refuse joining a Job?
Me: I can’t help it. I am happy being an entrepreneur and I would be glad if you understand my work and appreciate it. Money is a part of my life, but I wouldn’t want to make it the only focus and later regret it my whole life.
Dad: Okay fine, just make sure you know where you are going. (Turns to my mom) what are we having for dinner?
I would like to keep my dad’s expressions on that last statement a secret. A hint maybe is that I am a happier person today. I firmly stick to my belief that entrepreneurs are the best set of people I have met. They come in many shapes, sizes and behavior patterns, but they certainly love what they do and I have immense respect for the fact that their passion for their work is undying and unchanged, come what may.
