Forced Entrepreneurship

When Entrepreneurship become essential. I often times envision the budding Entrepreneur as the hard headed office worker who has enough and takes his box of stuff and walks out. That is not always the case. Working last night I talked with a new Entrepreneur who was forced into it. He was laid off. With the option to go into another dead end job he decided to take his chance and start his own franchise. He bought into the business and saw the potential to have more control over his career. He is six months into the venture and trying to put all of the pieces together. It just got me thinking. What can you do to succeed when it is your only option?
Entrepreneurship is not a magazine or a movie. It is not six months of unexpected success. It is a lot of early morning and late nights with self doubt and confusion. Times when it would be easy to give up. So when someone is suddenly starting their own business when they just walked out of a cubicle it may be a daunting task. Here are some simple things if you find yourself looking to start a business.
1. Consult friends and family. With the current economic environment everyone understands what you are going through. Talk to them about what you are thinking about. Let them talk to you about what they think, and listen to them.
2. Manage expectations. There is a billboard on the side of the road that says Microsoft was started in a recession. Know you might not have Microsoft, but you should understand what opportunities you do have, and never stop dreaming.
3. Start with a low cost trial. Try to boot-strap as much as you can. Work from home, solicit friends. Do whatever you need to do to save some of your cash for a later date.
4. Do not give up.
Entrepreneurship can be the most rewarding career you can have. For some it is the best decision of their lives. For others it is not the perfect fit. Find your mix. Take deep breathes.