Top 10 Reasons People Become Entrepreneurs & Why You Should Become One Too

There is a special appeal about entrepreneurship. Starting a venture of your own, being your own boss, doing things you love… what can be more charming than living life on your own terms? So many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs; yet so few actually choose to become one. After all, giving up the financial security of a job to embrace the risk and uncertainty of entrepreneurship takes courage. But for those who dare to take the road less traveled, entrepreneurship offers rewards that are unmatched by any job.

There are dozens of reasons why people become entrepreneurs. Here are the top 10 ones that successful entrepreneurs cite as to why they chose entrepreneurship as a career.

1. Entrepreneurship is a ticket to freedom. Freedom to be in charge of your destiny. Freedom to make your decisions. Freedom to do what you want the way you want. Freedom to use your time the way you like. Freedom from office politics. There’s a long list of freedoms that come with being an entrepreneur. In a survey of 800 American small businesses, 68% of respondents described “living the life I want” as the top motivator for choosing the path of entrepreneurship.

2. You get to do what you enjoy instead of being forced to enjoy what you do. As entrepreneurs, people end up working more than they did when they were working for someone else. But when you do what you want to do, work doesn’t feel like work. Research shows that entrepreneurs have higher job satisfaction and, by extension, more life satisfaction than non-entrepreneurs. In a 2019 survey by GoDaddy and OnePoll, 84% of millennials reported being more satisfied as entrepreneurs than when they were working as employees.

3. It helps you find a sense of purpose. There comes a time in everybody’s life when they come face to face with the existential question: What am I even doing with my life? Working for someone else may bring in a lot of money or even a lot of career growth, but the goals of the organization you are working for are not your goals. Turning to entrepreneurship allows people to achieve their full personal potential and brings meaning to their lives.  

4. You can create a culture that supports your values. As an employee, you are bound by the rules and culture established by your employer. Often times, there is a mismatch between them and your own belief system. The working hours, the benefits and incentives, the power dynamics, the approach to customer service – things like these are central to satisfaction at the workplace. Having the opportunity to create an organization whose culture aligns with one’s values is one of the major reasons to become an entrepreneur for many people. 

5. The thrill of taking risks has a charm of its own. Office life can be dull and boring, particularly for those who enjoy living on the edge. From starting out as a small business to building a successful business empire, entrepreneurship is all about taking a lot of risks. There is excitement and adventure and anxiousness and sleepless nights involved in running a business. Most people like to play it safe and stay away from the temptation of entrepreneurship. Those who take the plunge do so because risk-taking motivates them to outdo themselves.

6. There is no limit to how much you can grow. There are few jobs that offer endless opportunities for growth. With entrepreneurship, the sky is the proverbial limit. Be it Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Mukesh Ambani, or numerous other successful entrepreneurs, their growth stories are simply awe-inspiring. Of course, not ever entrepreneur goes on to achieve this kind of mind-blowing success, but there is no cap whatsoever on how much any entrepreneur can grow.

7. What can be better than getting to make money from your passion? For most people, their passion is something they keep hoping to indulge in when they are not drowned in work or don’t have responsibilities on the personal front eating into their me-time. One of the top reasons that motivates many people to choose entrepreneurship as a career is the opportunity to pull their passion out of the neglected corner and turn it into a money-making enterprise.

8. The opportunity to become a change agent is a powerful motivator. One oft-cited reason why people become entrepreneurs is that they were sick of the way things were and wanted to shake up the status quo. As an entrepreneur, you get to drive change, do things once considered unthinkable and make life better for others. To make things better, faster, cheaper, or stronger requires a change mindset. Those who have it find in entrepreneurship the perfect environment to make such changes possible.     

9. There is no better outlet for ideas. Entrepreneurs tend to be people full of ideas. Clever, crazy, unconventional, risky ideas. The workplace is not the most welcoming place for people who think different. Not having any takers for your ideas can be very demotivating. With entrepreneurship, you get the reins of your life in your hands and have the freedom to test the workability and profitability of your ideas. It’s your lab and your experiment. The outcomes – good or bad – are yours too.   

10. It’s a platform to make use of all your talents. Entrepreneurship is a canvas on which you can apply the full range of your talents. As an employee, you can only be one thing at a time. You may be a great programmer, a very good writer, an excellent manager, a smart salesperson – all at once. But your job will need you to focus mainly on only one of your many talents. As an entrepreneur, you wear many hats, especially in the early stages of founding your business when resources are scarce. Entrepreneurs need to have a wide range of skills, have the ability to see the big picture, and be open to ideas. This is why entrepreneurship is the perfect choice for people with many talents.    

There are tons of others reasons why people choose entrepreneurship as a career. Whatever the reason, the path of entrepreneurship is defined by challenges, constant learning, self-development and self-improvement, and personal satisfaction. If you have been considering to become an entrepreneur, let us know what reasons motivate you to choose this path.