What should be my career ? What should I do ?

By | January 28, 2019

What should be my career ? What should I do ?

(…updated on 09.04.2020)

        Welcome to 4 pillars of a Start-up.   We will start our discussion on our “4 Pillars of a Start-up” with few questions. Ask yourself these questions and try to answer honestly. You are asking these questions for yourself only, but not for anybody else. Therefore, your sincerity in answering these questions will decide your future … Now, think on these and answer to yourself…

          What is successful career? 

          Is it getting employed in Central Government or State Government?  or, 

          Is it getting employed in a PSB or PSU? or,    

          Is it getting employed in an MNC? or,    

          Is it getting employed in abroad? or,    

          Is it getting employed in your hometown or place where you want to be? 

       To put in simple words, is it working for an organisation? be it a Bank, or any Company, or for any Government, that is, either at Central Government or State Government, as an employee?  

         If you succeed and got employed in a company or Bank or any other organisation, many consider this as an achievement.  Now, let me ask you another question, why do they consider this as an achievement?  

        The conception of the general public is that, If, one joins as an employee, monthly salary is fixed, working hours may be fixed, the career path is well laid down. There will not be any challenges as an employee. Once selected as an employee, rest of the life you need not worry about anything. Everything would be fine. This is what many people think.

     Normally, it is common phenomena that, we follow others. The same though process continues even in the case of employment, i.e. starting career. If you observe, many young people started their career by following others.

        In such cases, to be frank, there will not be any brain storming, simply they follow the path set by others. Generally, this happens while applying for jobs in Government or in companies or in Banks etc.

     Getting employment in a respectable organisation is a challenging task. Even though those who are selected in such organisations are intelligent, the point we are driving is that, they have not assessed and selected the job with substantive reasons. The decision on selecting the career in this way is not an informed decision. Simply, they followed others without assessing anything.

   The reasons for starting career without proper assessment could be

    • Conservative thinking i.e. following others without any assessment.

    • Lack of information on other career opportunities: When we are asked to complete a task, which is an unknown one or altogether a new one, then we presume that task is a very challenging one and we tend to avoid it. If, you have sufficient information on the task, then your preparedness will improve, and you may achieve the target easily.

     Because of these reasons, as said earlier, it appears, that,

       ‘being an employee is easier than being an entrepreneur’

       ‘being an employee is less risky than being an entrepreneur’

       ‘being an employee shields you from the performance of the organisation in which you are working, but it is not so in the case of being an entrepreneur.’ Is it so? Before jumping into conclusion, give a thought on these advantages…

       “Are employees of any company shielded from its performance?”.  Will they get incentives even if the company is not generating sufficient profits? Won’t they face any challenges in their company?

       The answer is a big NO. Because employees may not get incentives or salary hike irrespective of the performance of the company. Their career growth in the company depends on the performance of the company. Further, as an employee also has to face challenges. Thus, being an employee has some disadvantages as well. We cannot ignore those.

        If, the salary and/or other prospects as an employee are not shielded, the salary is linked to the performance of the organisation, which is owned by somebody else and when you are ready to accept challenges as an employee also… “why can’t you explore the idea of being an entrepreneur? 

        No doubt, owning an enterprise is a fascinating idea. But a successful enterprise cannot be built instantaneously. A successful brand and legacy cannot build instantaneously. When building an enterprise from scratch is not a cake walk, and when it involves challenges to be met, the question that comes to your mind is, “why should I take pain and struggle to build an enterprise on my own?  “Is it really going to help me in building my bright future?”. Please remember, even if you are an employee, you need to face challenges in your job. Nothing comes easily in this world. You need to put your efforts to win your life and, being an employee is not an exception. When you are ready to accept challenges either as an employee or as an employer, why don’t you be an entrepreneur for yourself and excel in your life?

     When you think on this and if you get the answer,   “Yes, I want to be an entrepreneur and will establish my own enterprise”, or if you feel that after assessing all the relevant areas with respect to selecting the career, then, go through the other articles / videos in this series.

        Now, what are the advantages of owning an enterprise? Why you should own an enterprise?

By owning an enterprise, you,

      can shape your own idea…

      can have flexible working hours…

      can select from where to operate …

      can earn more…

      can be a brand…

      are the BOSS…

You can shape your own idea…

       You may have several ideas which you feel, will be a successful business model. If you are an employee, you may not get the opportunity to implement the same and prove the management and world. Even if you get the opportunity to implement it may not as you thought. The process, procedures and objectives of your idea might be modified as per the vision and objectives of the management in which you are working. Beyond all these, you may not get maximum of it.

     Whereas, with your own business you can shape your own idea, you can implement modify and achieve the objectives as per your mind and prove the world. Needless to add, you can get maximum of it.

You can have flexible working hours…

      One of the advantages of owning an enterprise is that, owning an enterprise results into flexible working hours. This is possible but may not be every time. Especially, in the initial days of a new start up you may need to spend more time and work hard. Flexible working hours is possible once the enterprise is well stabilised and duties are delegated effectively. Once these are delegated effectively, you may utilise the time as per your interests and your life and you would be more and more happy.

You can select from where to operate …

        If you are owning an enterprise, you have the option of operating from the place of your choice. The place may be near the market or near your own town or near your home etc. Even though place of business plays crucial role in the profitability of the enterprise, you have every chance of selecting the place and managing the business. The option of selecting the place entirely depends on you only.

You can earn more…

        If you are an employee, your income would be naturally limited or fixed. There may be guaranteed salary every month, but, again, will there be job guarantee always?  

       When you are starting your own enterprise, even though, running an enterprise on profitable lines depends on many factors, if you assess properly, you have the possibility of earning good profits. Needless to add when you start an enterprise you will be holding the maximum share of equity and thus share of profit will also be higher for you. This will finally increase your income and net worth. However, one should not forget that the other side also cannot be ruled out and those challenges that arise can be met with.

You can be a brand …

        When you establish an enterprise successfully, this success will create a brand for yourself. While creating the brand you have the choice of involving yourself in every aspect of creating the brand i.e. running the enterprise on profitable lines. These may be right from estimating and projecting the business, designing, manufacturing, marketing, customer service, post sales service etc… In every aspect of this you have the opportunity to involve yourself in establishing the enterprise. This involvement gives you great satisfaction as the idea is yourself. Further, when you are able to establish the brand, the legacy can be passed on to your family….

You are the BOSS …

        You are the captain of your team. You can decide what to do? Who will do what? How to do it? With your own enterprise you will design and implement the policies, procedures for the enterprise i.e. corporate culture of the enterprise in a way in which you would like to have in a corporate. The Corporate Culture that you plan and create in your enterprise plays a crucial role in the long run for the enterprise.

         As said earlier, owning an enterprise is a fascinating as well as challenging idea. To successfully establish an enterprise, you need to have certain qualities. Now assess yourself on these. Ask yourself and assess.

  1. Is it your passion?

  2. Is the idea excites you? Do you have enthusiasm?

  3. Ready to accept challenges?

  4. Can you lead the Team?

  5. Is it worth considering?

  6. Is the opinion genuine?

 

Now, let us discuss on this…

  1. Is it your passion?

         What are your dreams? What you love doing more? Are you happy in working on a job (even if you dislike) or else working on a project which you love most? There are good number of success stories which might have inspired you in considering this. However, you should honestly judge whether your answer suits to you or not?

  1. Do you have enthusiasm?

         Assess whether you are full of enthusiasm. This is very important as enthusiasm is the key factor in converting an idea into a success story. When you yourself lack enthusiasm how can you expect reciprocation from your own people / team. Remember, it would be very difficult to make the project a successful one without enthusiasm. Also don’t forget that without great enthusiasm great works can’t be achieved.

  1. Ready to accept challenges?

        Assess, whether you are ready to accept challenges. In other words, love to face challenges. Never forget, whether, one is an employee or an entrepreneur, at many stages of career one needs to face challenges. Whatever be the career one should be ready to face challenges. Therefore, carefully analyse and assess whether you are ready to face challenges as an entrepreneur.

     4. Can you lead the Team?

        Assess, whether you can lead your team i.e. your employees. You are the Leader for your employees and you should lead your TEAM. There is no substitute for TEAM WORK. Therefore, you should guide your employees and drive them to work in team, which results into achieving the targets easily. 

  1. Is it worth considering?

       Whenever a new enterprise is to be started, lot of time is to be invested by the promoters. Therefore, you have to judge, is it worth investing so much time in the new enterprise? You have to take into consideration pros and cons of establishing a new enterprise. Also, consider your experiences as well as the success stories of your peers. Thus, you have to take a conscious decision of going for a job or establishing an enterprise.

  1. Is the opinion genuine?

     When you reveal your plan to your friends and relatives, judge their opinion honestly. Take ques from the feedback, discuss with them and finalize the idea.

If the answers to the above questions leads to positive response, then, move to next thought….

Please note, that these discussions shouldn’t give you a thought that there are disadvantages in doing a job either in the government or in private and there are advantages in establishing an enterprise. Owning an enterprise (Self-employment) and working for an organisation as an employee both have their own advantages and disadvantages. You should select either of these based on various parameters, situations and circumstances under which you live. Once you have decided to go for self employment and want to establish an enterprise then you should go ahead …

All the  best…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.