Why are there not enough folks having entrepreneurial aspirations?
I am addressing folks who have progressed in their careers enough to earn at least 30 LPA. If you are earning this much in India, you are already in the creamy layer of lifestyle. You can afford a decent house, a decent car and probably save up some assets for children's education (A lot of people bring up the expensive school fees). If you get a salary hike from 30LPA to 40LPA, there is a high chance that your lifestyle will not change that much. Your savings will go up, but still it will take years to retire early in either case. It's quite apparent that if you want to improve your lifestyle at this stage (highest-end middle class), you will require an income source capable of providing leverage and exponential growth. Barring a few folks I know, everyone else is busy grinding leetcode, mugging up system design for their next job switch or even worse, kissing ass for the next promotion. Why don't enough people start learning about business on the side and slowly start investing their free time in learning everything they can about it ? I am sure it will be a much better time investment if you play your cards correctly for a long enough time (I am pretty sure this is still a quicker path to riches as compared to 30 years of SIP investments). Note: I completely understand that many people have monthly payment obligations like EMIs. And that's why my question is about 'aspirations'. I am not asking 'Why are people not leaving their jobs to pursue entrepreneurship?'. I am rather asking 'Why are people not even thinking about anything else apart from the next (disappointing) hike?'
Being an entrepreneur isn't about skills, its about temperament.
The former is coachable, the latter isn't.
That's why you don't have everyone jump head first into being an entrepreneur.
@TallTales69 Agreed. It's about getting hit again and again and still standing up to get hit again the next day.
However, I think that everyone just deems it 'risky' more than they deem it 'hard'. With calculated risks, it's not that big of a gamble.
Its not just resilience. That gets highlighted the most.
It's self awareness, persistence, situation analysis, the ability to see patterns where most don't, and many more things that aren't teachable.
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dodgy_dave
Stealth
9 months ago
You’ll be surprised that 30LPA, while privileged, is not really financial freedom type money in most Indian metros especially if you’re the sole bread winner. Also, you need to be on this scale for a good decade maybe to have built some savings while maintaining a frugal lifestyle. However I believe the number of people trying entrepreneurship is increasing. Mostly in the 35+ age group.. after 5-10 years of B school (from my network)
Yup it’s definitely not FIRE money. That’s why I think people should start something on the side while keeping their main job and move to full time entrepreneurship only when they are confident in their business.
I don’t make 30LPA, but close to it at 25LPA, at the age of 25. I come from a business family, and work as a ML Engineer at a startup in Mumbai. The reason I didn’t join my dad’s business was because I have always been tech savvy, but my dad runs a textile business, which is good, but not of my interest. However, I plan to start up someday. For now, I’m learning about product management, will probably go for MS/MBA in Engineering and product management, work as a PM for a few years, learn about business, and eventually fulfill my aspirations of entrepreneurship. Honestly, I feel after working for 3 years at startups, I have seen and learnt a lot how businesses and organisations are run.
@HarveySpecter87
Looks like you do have solid aspirations and plans. All the best for the journey !
However, I personally think that you can be a successful startup founder even without needing an MS/MBA. But to each their own !
Pavi
Student
9 months ago
Mumbai startup name pls
Why you think everyone needs to be an entrepreneur? A person can be happy and wealthy (as you mentioned SIPs will take long) with a job as well, yes definition of wealthy is different. There are many projects/startups/businesses which close down everyday. So either you should show some data that Indians aren’t aspirational or it’s just a random rant.
I hope you do realize business shutting down and failing financially as a founder are 2 completely different things. If you're able to raise a few rounds of funding that's enough to set you for life even if your startup goes bankrupt in future.
2 unicorns in 2023 ( by whatsoever methods). Oh, yeah, we can raise raise! Dunzo struggling to raise, but we can raise.
Guys, be realistic. There’s no dearth of talent & aspirations. Entrepreneurship is a long, tiring, and stressful journey.
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In my case, I have zero business acumen and don’t know anything about marketing or customer acquisition. I could build a business but would have no idea how to actually sell
@Based1776
That's precisely my question is targeted toward. Why don't you learn sales and marketing then?
I am sure if you believe in yourself and continuously improve, you will be able to sell.
design
Stealth
9 months ago
It’s very difficult to learn, better have a cofounder.
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SoreMeme47
Stealth
9 months ago
Lol, this is a fun thread. Firstly, entrepreneurship is hard and it takes a lot of hard work and emotional investment to actually build a business from ground up. When we enter into corporate roles, even early stage start-ups, what we dont realise is that we do have a lot of things taken care of, as a founder you have zero when you start :). So it is quite draining, but yeah the rewards can be awesome too when things work out.
So be an entrepreneur if you are willing to do the long yards, dont build dreams of becoming rich through just a few funding rounds. With each funding round you are taking on obligations and more responsibility.
Now regarding the premise of the thread itself where OP questions why people don't want to become rich by learning about business. I feel things are improving significantly now than a few years ago, entrepreneurship is an easier conversation to have with family (whether your family has business background or not). Some successful startups and a whole lot of shark tank is making this the 'cool thing to do' for the masses :). But the costs i spoke of earlier havent changed.
What can make this better?
certain regulations, it takes ages to close a company in india, the alternate is registering in singapore or usa, a lot of early stage startups dont do that.
Materialisation of esops payouts, the more this happens the more people will be driven to start their own venture and trigger this cycle again for a few others and so on.
Lack of interest in people being a barrier today is an assumption imo, i have data neither for or against it. If i were to look at my circle i can find the outcome to be exactly opposite to what OP is suggesting. Maybe the course distribution on coursera / udemy can shed some light :)
I’m 23 and I earn around that number, but what can I do, I feel being an entrepreneur is easier said than done (obviously im young and dumb). Even with a good risk appetite I feel it’s difficult to find opportunities where I can take enough risks to be an entrepreneur. Enlighten me please! How do I best utilise my time
SoreMeme47
Stealth
9 months ago
It's all in how you define the problem. If you want to get good at spotting opportunities to improve and create impact, start with your current role. Assess yourself on how well you are able to identify opportunities, what gaps are there and what you need to do to improve.
Once you are able to identify and validate these opportunities, next step is to make sure you are catching the biggest of them all. Understand your business, understand your competitors business, build a sense of where the market for your business is headed. Once you start doing this on a consistent basis, your confidence to do this independently will increase and you can think of making the leap.
The reason i am recommending opportunities in your current work area is coz it will be easier to build and validate. The execution muscle needed to power a startup idea is the most important (ideas are plentiful), so my suggestion is to focus on building that execution muscle early on.
design
Stealth
9 months ago
Running a business is a different story, money is a factor, but there are too many other moving parts. In comparison a job is mostly peaceful. Yes, bad things happen even in job, but the frequency at which bad things happen to you while running a business is high. You really need a lot of strength.
Qwerty2398
Stealth
9 months ago
So true. .. if fired one can find another job , at least with lesser pay. But a being a entrepreneur, any serious loss in capital can destroy one.
Just like a renter will easily shift houses according to his needs. A home owner doesn't have that luxury.
RockOn
Stealth
9 months ago
@Qwerty2398: love the analogy
Qwerty2398
Stealth
9 months ago
If someone earns more than 30lpa.. entrepreneurship is waste of time. You should do it only if you have a great idea.
With 30laks they can make themselves 10timea.aa rich as a entrepreneur without the headache. The only drawback is the lack of social capital. The contacts and network that a small scale entrepreneur is much better than a mid level salaried employee.
There are quite a few reasons for lack of aspirations like.
1. Not getting out of the comfort zone.
2. Tiresome and lonely process which is akin to a special forces training kinda regimen
3. Lack of cultural support
4. Increasing aspirations of the noveau rich middle class .
5. Networks, as Qwerty2398 said. A small scale SME kinda businessman has lot of network than a mid level salaried employee.
Reto
Stealth
9 months ago
@codebreaker thanks for nice thread . I have only 1yoe only with 5lpa in a startup .I have worked upon spring boot , python , react js and react native devops . I have also read some product management books like habit forming product , steal like artist , Made it steak .. and lot more . I have also some knowledge of creative marketing and sales and patterns recognition, I can see lot of genuine problem statements on which things can be built.
I am working on some of them with very less resources and credits from azure and learning from resources like Y combinators.
Edit :- I was a Upsc aspirant earlier, my educational background is B.a(Arts). I switched to teck coz I want to convert my bookish ideas to products .Now I am working on these side projects with one more fullstack genius . I will left my job when I will get some sufficient funds to expand my team otherwise will hire some freelancers and interns initially. I hope I WILL not burn out coz I do practice Vipassana meditation for 2hours daily.
Love to connect with enthusiastic and creative peoples 👋 for my team.
Many people don't want to get out of their comfort zone by leaving their cushy job. Being an entrepreneur is very hard and takes a lot of effort.
In my friend's circle, I have 6 persons who have become entrepreneurs. Barring one guy, all others have parents who are into business , guess that's prepared them mentally to take risks
OnADietCoke
Stealth
9 months ago
I believe entrepreneurship also requires a certain sort of creative mindset to identify solutions to problems that can be easily sold. I always felt that I lacked such a mindset and people that succeed usually have that. Sales and marketing are skills that definitely can be learned but still it doesn't drive entrepreneurship rather complements it.
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