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August 23, 2007

Today's Question of the Day: If you are NOT an Entrepreneur and if you work for a Corporation, why did YOU choose this career path?

As a follow up yesterday's question of the day regarding Entrepreneurship, Dr. Question asks: "If you're NOT an entrepreneur, if YOU work for a corporation and have spent your career as an employee, why have YOU made that choice?"

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Posted by jeff on August 23, 2007 09:36 AM | Permalink

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Comments

Posted by: دردشة at May 21, 2009 07:08 AM

Working at a Big Company lets me do Big Things. Yeah, it can be bureaucratic, but compared to my start-up days where we scrounged for every piece of attention, I have access to huge budgets and huge resources that a smaller outfit can only dream of.

Posted by: Richard Sprague at August 28, 2007 08:08 PM

While I have many ideas raging in my mind I dont have the guts to try them out.
A few times I have seen an idea i thought of for a while (and done nothin' about) actually developed by someone else, and then I feel like kicking myself on the butt or banging my head against the Wall.
I love my job (client relations) and I learn alot there (sort of like a classroom), while earning a comfortable salary (of course it could be more) and studying the things I like in university.
Now I have and idea baking in my mind for a few months and I am thinking of breaking free and trying it out...

Posted by: Anat at August 24, 2007 06:29 PM

last real job i had was working for myself and that wasn't very real - other then that the last job i had working for the surreal was in 1962 i worked on the floor of the ny stock exchange and never recovered - i think in the end its about risk tolerance and comfort level in the unknown - i think those who are afraid of failure are also afriad of success - geo (at) goodmistake.com

Posted by: geo geller at August 24, 2007 02:33 AM

Hmm, I jumped out of corporate this past April, and am trying to get things moving in the new/social media space.

When I originally went into a corporate environment from contracting work back in the mid 90's, I did so knowing I need to do it for my family. I needed those benefits for my kids, and planning for the future. Now that the kids are older and plans for tomorrow are started, I've allowed my true feelings to lead me out the door.

It's hard and I sometimes miss the reliable paycheck that corporate life awarded it's willing servants. Right now I'm just trying to keep from being forced back into the indentured servitude that pays those bills. We'll see how well that works out! ;)

Regards,
Rick

Posted by: Rick Mahn at August 24, 2007 02:16 AM

I have tried having my own business. I did one of those young people's business ideas compaetion when I was 24 and later set up my business with a partner and was selected to be part of the WA Government's Women in Small Business Mentoring Program back in the early 90's. What I learnt from that 6 months mentoring program is that I did not want to be in business for myself. By learning from the other women in the program and from reading the book "The E Myth" and taking the Herrman Brain Dominance test, I learned that I am a technician and a detail thinker, I'm not a marketer and I'm not an entrepreneur. I now know what I'm good at and I'm good at what I do. I am also very risk averse and like the steady income that comes from having a job. So the idea for me is to find a job where I can use my skills and my creativity and not have to do the stuff I'm not good at. So I've found a job that suits my skills but, as with any job at a large company it's the politics and the people skills that let me down big time. I just don't do them well.

I don't think I would ever rule out being in my own business but it has to be with a partner who can do the marketing and the entrepreneurial stuff and be as committed and passionate about the business as I am. So now to find the thing that I am committed and passionate about that will make me some money... I'm in no real hurry, if it happens, it happens.

Posted by: Jodie Miners at August 23, 2007 09:37 PM

I think it is in part accident and in part lack of confidence. I know for some people they just want a consistent job that they know will pay the bills, and they choose that. For me, I started there, but I've been migrating towards the entrepreneur edge. Times in the past that I have considered it I didn't do it because of fear - how do I get payed, what if it doesn't work, how do I promote myself and get hired, am I good enough to do it.

What is different now? I think the web 2.0 network is the answer. I have always done large projects on the side in addition to work. I'm realizing what I'm doing for work and what I want to be doing are different, and I can use the resources I now have to transition to what I want to do. I can test the waters so to speak. And somewhere along the way I began to have more confidence in my self worth, or the dissatisfaction of big corporate work got too great. I'm not sure which.

Posted by: Goldie Katsu at August 23, 2007 02:23 PM

While I am attracted to entrepreneurial people and companies, I just don't have the "balls" to leave a full-time gig for an exciting venture with an uncertain future. I think the decision of becoming an entrepreneur or not comes down how stable you want your life to be. I like stability...sometimes.

Posted by: Cory Dinon at August 23, 2007 01:42 PM

3 Letters:
F.U.D.

Posted by: dan mcweeney at August 23, 2007 11:12 AM

Not everyone can be an entrepreneur. And some people just need more time to find their niche than others. In the meantime there are parties to go to, video games to play, books to read, etc. I personally just don't have the discipline or the drive at the moment. I'd apparently rather party hard than work hard.

Posted by: FoulBastard at August 23, 2007 11:12 AM

Stability, primarily. I have a family to look after, and the risks I'm willing to take are limited in that. I also want to be able to take a holiday from time to time!

I hit a good compromise: I work for a small firm, and I've been here for a few years now; I have a reasonably strong influence upon policy and direction—assuming I can give appropriate justification for things. It's perhaps not quite the best of both worlds, but it comes close.

Posted by: Mo at August 23, 2007 10:56 AM

I'm too young to have made some sort of Final Career Decision (tm), but I imagine people who are fulfilled as employees rather than entrepreneurs choose to be employees because that's how they work best and where they're happiest.

Not everyone can be an independently motivated go-getter visionary. That's certainly an awesome skill set, but it's not the ONLY skill set. There has to be the people who support those independently motivated, go-getter visionaries -- Hey, aren't they just as important?

Posted by: Jess Haralson at August 23, 2007 10:46 AM

Benefits.
Fear.

Posted by: fleaSha at August 23, 2007 10:43 AM

People often tell me I'm an entrepreneur. I'm not; I just do things I think ought to be done. I'm an artist, life is art. art is life. I don't care how pretentious that sounds.

Then I keep bumping into people like yourself and Cameron Reilly... maybe I should ask you: why aren't you an artist?

Posted by: Dean Whitbread at August 23, 2007 10:43 AM

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