The founder’s dilemma: the pros & cons of launching a startup

A successful businessman on holiday was at the pier of a remote coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. On the deck were several large yellowfin tunas. The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman proudly replied, Every morning, I go out in my boat for 30 minutes to fish. I work for myself. I’m the best fisherman in the village.

The businessman, perplexed, then asked the fisherman If you’re the best, why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish? What do you do the rest of the day? The fisherman replied I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, spend quality time with my wife, and every evening we stroll into the village to drink wine and play guitar with our friends. I have a full and happy life.

The businessman scoffed, I’m a successful CEO and have a talent for spotting business opportunities. I can help you be more successful. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats with many fishermen. Instead of selling your catch to just your friends, you can scale to sell fish to thousands. You could leave this small coastal fishing village and move to the big city, where you can grow your empire.

The fisherman asked But, how long will this all take? to which the businessman replied, Maybe five years. But what then? asked the fisherman. The businessman laughed and said, That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company to the public and become very rich, you would make millions! The Fisherman smiled, Millions – then what?

The businessman said, Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, spend time with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends.

Is that your dream when you chose to work for yourself and launch a startup? Do you join the community of founders where your choice is to ‘Work to Live’ or ‘Live to Work’? Is your mindset that you might be able to live like the fisherman and avoid the trap of always chasing more?

You can view a startup as two ends of the risk-reward spectrum, where reward is your definition. The risk is high because you have no information to make decisions. On the other hand success can create a fulfilling lifestyle, on your own terms.

I founded my first startup venture when I was 28. Six weeks later we had our first child. Many thought it was an early midlife crisis. For me it was to escape the inevitable structure and momentum of a successful career in professional services that intellectually was a great challenge, but I had to overcome the claustrophobia of expected behaviour and compliance to the culture –  I was told to stop playing rugby and star playing golf.

For me, a startup is not as demanding, overwhelming, or as lonely as some would have you think. Yes it’s a tough gig at time, but its most likely a conscious choice, no one has forced you to do it and my seventeen years’ experience tells me working for yourself has more upsides than downsides. But it’s not for everyone.

The romantic notion of being a ‘tech disruptor is simply an urban myth. These people stroll from coffee shop to coffee shop, event to event, convincing themselves that they are doing it. They tell themselves and others they have the capacity to be wildly creative, extraordinarily inventive, and everyone loves hearing about what you are doing. But the till isn’t ringing.

If you’re thinking about going into business for yourself, you need to ask Do I have the skills? Can I sell, build a team, manage cashflow? Will I enjoy building something from scratch and seeing it grow – without knowing if I will get a regular pay cheque? If you can answer yes, then the highs from starting your own business will be worth the downsides.

To give you an insight into what you’re getting into, let me share some of my own experience, considering the pros and cons below:

Pros

1. You’ll have the time of your life I put this first, because it’s the reason that I would encourage you to go for it. Starting a new venture may feel like work at times, but boy is it fun. It’s an adventure that you will remember for the rest of your life whether things go very well, or things go poorly. They used to say that everyone should try to be a rockstar at least once in their lifetime. I’m going to add to that and say that in-between being a rockstar and something else, you should be a founder at some point just to test yourself and seize the opportunity. I truly love doing this – the uncertainty, the victory, the failure, the connections with people, the freedom to experiment and simply letting your passion flow for yourself.  

2. Release your passion This is the best reason to kick start a venture if you are passionate about solving a problem that either you have, or you’ve identified. Passion will get you through the tough times as you work to make your startup a success, keeping you motivated when you feel like quitting. It brings meaning and purpose to your work.

Too often, people pursue startups because they sound like good ideas. These are the kind of people jot down in their ‘ideas list’. If you care deeply about solving a problem, and a big company is not the right place to be, then this is a better reason to go out on your own.

3. Fires up self-expression Related to the points above, I think a big part of the reason to start a venture is self-expression. Working in an existing company requires you to work on things that align with the company’s priorities. When this aligns with what matters to you, you feel fulfilled, and your work gives you a sense of purpose.

But working for yourself, the process of creating something and releasing it into the world for others to interact with is an act of self-expression. This is what artists and musicians do. Entrepreneurship is no different, creating something from scratch, from a crazy idea you’ve sketched out on a scrappy piece of paper means you’ll have no regrets in life when you look back, and that has to be a good thing.

4. Ownership and autonomy shapes your own destiny As a business owner, you have autonomy and control. If you keep pushing and figure it out, you have the potential for life-changing success and feel on top of the world. There is nobody stopping you except yourself. This is an incredibly liberating feeling. It is a great opportunity to put your own stamp on things and create something memorable.

The autonomy you create with freedom and flexibilitymeans that you decide your schedule, call the shots and get to create a business aligned to your vision. Forget the typical nine-to-five routine, your days aren’t dictated by punching a clock. Instead, you get to dedicate your time to a project you’re passionate about that is centred around your ambitions and an opportunity to fulfil your dreams. No one imposes anything on you.

5. An opportunity for personal growth As a founder, you will need to overcome challenges that will test you. The hurdles are in many ways, blessings in disguise. The challenges you face will contribute to your professional growth and help you evolve personally. From fine-tuning your communication skills to strengthening your problem-solving abilities, starting a business from scratch can be a steep learning curve, but learning is always rewarding.

You’ll meet great people as part of your growth journey, making new friends and connections that will last a lifetime. Networking is a huge part of startup life, and the community of entrepreneurs is benevolent, supportive, and altruistic, helping each other succeed.

These are just some of the positives of starting a startup. Of course, there are potential downsides that you need to be aware of before taking the plunge.

Cons

1. Permanent self doubt As a solopreneur, you never quite know if you are doing things right. Many actions you take are essentially best guesses. This can become frustrating as you may spend time and money on an initiative, only to find out it was a failure. There is a level of confidence that you need to have in order to start and grow a startup. Understandably, there is a great deal riding on your judgement, gut instinct, and business nouse.

An entrepreneur’s ability to persevere through bouts of self-doubt and potential failures is crucial, which is why working alongside a mentor is something to consider.

2. Ubiquitous uncertainty Launching your startup poses inherent risks, including uncertainty even for the most well-planned businesses. Adaptability and resilience are critical traits for an entrepreneur to be able to combat the stresses and uncertainty of the unknown. As uncertainty is a cornerstone of entrepreneurship, it’s a good idea to consider the level of stress and uncertainty you’re confident handling before launching your own venture.

Don’t do your own business to work less, you’ll work more than any 9–5 job, and probably with greater intensity and at times you may go backwards. The business is always on your mind, battling the turbulence, there is always something you can find to do. This can be emotionally and physically tiring, know your limits, capacity and boundaries.

3. You need to be a good all-rounder In a large company, you’ll have a manager and team that provide input and support with their skills and experience. When you start your own business, it’s all down to you – marketing, sales, finance. Nobody can tell you if you are doing things right or not. You have to figure it all out for yourself every day. Much of the early days are trial and error, throwing lots of tactics at the wall to see what sticks.

My advice is to get a mentor to offer guidance and insight, someone who creates trust,  provides insight and a sincere, warm relationship looking over your shoulder.

4. Personal financial risk You’ll need the safety net of savings to cover your cost of living expenses at the outset. Many entrepreneurs don’t get a salary for years – that is a lot of missed wages. If the business doesn’t work out, it could all be for nothing. This can have consequences and be a point of contention in your relationships and family.

Founding a startup means unavoidable financial risk. While it can be mitigated by business planning and financial forecasting, there is no way to eliminate financial risk completely. Therefore, before you start a startup, you should be sure that you are comfortable taking on the personal financial exposure it will inevitably create

5. Emotional risk Starting a new business can be an emotionally draining, for some this impacts their mental health. You may find yourself feeling isolated, anxious, or depressed during the course of your startup’s development.

But the worst that can happen isn’t really that bad. If your startup fails you will hurt physically, emotionally, and financially,  but failure at a startup doesn’t mean failure at life. I’m not trying to play down the reality, I’m just trying to say you will bounce back and you will live to fight another day.

So, will you enjoy being the captain of your own small boat? Go for it, the rest will attend to itself. Don’t play it safe, there is no limit to ambition.

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Wherever you are on your startup journey, get in touch and let’s unpack your thinking together and see where we can help turn your idea into a reality.