Start-Up! — 10 Reasons to Start a Business Now

Start-Up! is weekly column on entrepreneurship, start-ups, technology and innovation, powered by the Adams Hub for Innovation.

We’re all accustomed to hearing fantastic stories about a person who had an idea, started a business at his or her kitchen table, and later sold it for $1 billion or more. The sheer size of the value of the company makes it seem unreal for a normal person to achieve. Not all business start-ups will have that huge of a payout. However there are countless reasons for starting a business beyond just making a ton money. For our inaugural Start-Up! column, I am going to present a top 10 list of why you should start a business now:

10. Control Your Destiny
If you don’t work for yourself, someone else always controls the success of your career--when and if you get a promotion, when and if you get a raise, when and if you get the opportunity to take on new responsibilities, etc. If you want to take the risk of investing in yourself, and a business, you can control your destiny.

9. Live Your Dream
Usually no one will believe in you as much as you. You don’t have to settle for mediocrity, or clocking in and out for 40 years or being in a dead-end job. Seize the day, and go out on a limb to live your dream. How fulfilling would it be to build a business you could pass down to your children or to simply build your legacy? You don’t have to change the world, but you can change at least one person’s life…yours.

8. Be your own Boss
Let’s face it, one of the best benefits of running your own business is that you are the boss. The buck stops with you. If you have the right personality, this can be an amazing freedom. Maybe you have a great boss today, but when you work for someone else, that can change quickly. With your own company, you’re always the boss.

7. Earn More
No one said you will get rich quick, and likely it will be the opposite as there are real costs to starting a new business. But the upside potential is that your earning potential could be uncapped. Your income won’t be based on an annual cost of living increase, and there are no furloughs, it all comes down to execution, yours.

6. The Economy Is Improving
It may not feel like it, but economic signs are pointing in the right direction; and here is the good news-- if you can build a profitable business in today’s state of the economy, by the time it is in full swing again, a few years from now (hopefully), then your business should thrive.

5. Live With No Regrets
On their deathbed, most people regret what they did not do, more than what they did. If you have the right attitude and work ethic, then why not take a shot? Maybe the timing is not right at the moment, but frankly, it never will be the perfect time. Know that it is best to start your business when you already have a job.

4. It’s Thrilling
You want to know what is exciting? Getting out of bed each day and figuring out how to grow your business and having it actually grow. And when you get there and business is good, the reward pays off in spades, not just dollars — it is extremely fulfilling to build something and watch it grow!

3. Why Not You?
Tired of seeing your ideas come to life by other people who had the same idea and took the risk? Tired of saying, “one day I am going to start a business” and never doing it? You live in the greatest capitalist society ever. Someone is going to make the product you always thought of, build a better mousetrap, or whatever the business idea is, the point is why can’t it be you?

2. The World (Wide Web) is Your Oyster
In today’s Internet economy, you can set-up virtual shop and sell to customers across the globe from your garage. Technology and all that it enables decreases in cost every year, making the hard cost to start a web-based business approximately 99% less than it was just 10 years ago! That’s right, an enterprise grade e-commerce website that would have cost approximately $1,000,000 to develop now costs approximately $10,000.

1. There has never been a better time
The resources and tools available in Carson City and Northern Nevada today are greater than they have ever been for entrepreneurs. From The Adams Hub for innovation, to the Small Business Development Center, to the Library’s free market research software, to the Entrepreneurs Assembly’s peer mentoring program, to Nevada’s Battle Born Venture fund, if you need help, direction, or connections, there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur. You have the ability to start living your dream today…it just takes that first step.

Rob Griffin is the Executive Director of the Adams Hub for innovation, the region’s first tech business start-up incubator and seed fund. To learn more, visit http://www.AdamsHub.com or email Rob@AdamsHub.com