This is the first post in what I plan to be a series. In these posts, I will explore ideas in entrepreneurship. It’s a given that working for yourself, while it brings many risks, can bring many rewards. I believe that it is one of the only ways to achieve freedom from the daily grind and to meet long term financial goals.
Benefits Of Working For Yourself
- Achieve – The sky is the limit.
- Vision – Your the one with the vision (for the company and/or product).
- Destiny – You make your own destiny.
- Freedom – You call the shots.
- Profit – As owner, you reap the rewards.
What I Think Works
My thoughts on what works will probably change a lot over time, but currently I think one of the best ways to become a successful entrepreneur is to develop applications, websites, devices, etc that are an improvement to a larger company’s product in the hopes that they buy out your company. For example, $10 million is a lot for an individual working the daily grind, but pocket change to large corporations. Buying other companies is at the heart of how Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, or any other major companies acquire new technology and features so it definitely works for some people. Think of whatever your company is bought for as excellent seed money into the next. The big “but” here is don’t undersell either. If you can see a larger valuation for your company/product, stick with it and don’t take a buyout.
What Doesn’t Work – Writing Books
Apparently, writing books isn’t as profitable as you would think. If you listen to the Entreprogrammers podcast, you’ll hear just how much they make on their books. While I don’t remember the exact numbers they say, it wasn’t a lot (only a fraction of a good year’s salary). It’s enough to make me think that unless you are some big publishing company its simply not worth your time and effort.