Often the gap between being an employee and being involved in a start-up seems daunting. Even though you have nurtured a brilliant idea and might have even developed a prototype, you are not sure if this opportunity should be pursued– especially at a younger age and earlier point in your career. Although it might seem intimidating to start your own business, there are many benefits. Here are five reasons that should motivate you to taking that leap and becoming an entrepreneu!
1. Expanding Your Network
Entrepreneurs interact with different people and new environments every day. They escape the monotony of a 9 to 5 desk job in favor of a more exciting schedule. No two days are the same! You also have the opportunity to network with a large community of motived people, and develop valuable communication skills while building a network of contacts.
2. Risk-Taking
Entrepreneurs become more accustomed to taking calculated risks, which will ultimately pay-off in the future. You will not be spoon-fed success; opportunities are created by taking risks. Being a young entrepreneur teaches you how to take calculated risks, and helps develop confidence while overcoming the crippling fear of failure.
3. Flexibility and Freedom
By becoming an entrepreneur at a young age, you quickly learn to be independent and self-reliant. Entrepreneurs have full control of their schedule and of their business – they are their own boss. There is an opportunity to expand your skill set by experiencing and performing the varied roles in a start-up. Self-directed learning is another positive side-effect.
4. Making a Difference
Entrepreneurs give back to society. Your start-up could provide the community with a product or process solution to a specific, existing problem such as creating an environmentally-conscious product like Andrew White of CHAR Technologies has done. Entrepreneurs are able to see their product impacting and improving society – that would feel good!
5. Accessible and Available Support
There are many organizations that support entrepreneurs and their start-ups in Southern Ontario. For example, the Altitude Accelerator serves the Peel Region by providing free mentoring, networking, funding, and entrepreneurial training. There are many opportunities to get funding as well, such as the Ontario Centres of Excellence’s SmartStart Seed Fund, which is “designed to assist young entrepreneurs from the age of 18 to 29 transition their start-ups from product development to market entry and company building”.
Here at Altitude Accelerator, we know that building a startup can be difficult. That’s why we created a blog series called #HelpMeStartup designed to clear up some common confusions among first-time startup entrepreneurs.
See how Altitude Accelerator can help by checking out our RevUp program for pre-revenue startups. Or register as a Altitude Accelerator client to get access to all our tech-startup focused programming and resources.
On the Blog: Learn How to Start Your Startup
Building a Value Proposition in 3 Steps
Without a fully articulated and compelling value proposition, it is difficult for customers to understand why they should buy your product or service… Read more
How Do I Develop a MVP?
Whenever a startup endeavors to build a product, offer a service, or introduce a new idea, its founders make assumptions. They assume what customers… Read more
How Do I Talk to Customers?
Customer development can be an often overlooked part of building a company, but it is just as important as meeting with investors and building a… Read more
