Entrepreneurship Is Safer Than Salary
This pandemic has given me time to reflect on my long term goals. I may be young, but I am confident in my ability to learn from older generations. Many Americans are now unemployed as a result of these struggling times, and the illusion of job security is especially apparent now.
Like many immigrant families, I was encouraged a simple path. Go to school, get into a STEM program, and get a high salaried job. But as I entered college as a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major, I started having second thoughts on what I thought my future would look like.
But now as I see many companies laying off employees, using PPP loans, or just shutting down, is there true job security in these fields? For those who didn't invest and have a strong financial foundation, their only source of income was the job they held. Their time at work equaled their living expenses.
What if I told you that there's a way to leverage skills to say have 100 different jobs at the same time, all while working similar hours (or even less), and doing something you are truly interested in? It's called entrepreneurship.
Justin, that's way too risky! What if you fail?
From my perspective, building a business seems much less risky than having a job. In a job, you have one source of income: the company. But in your business, you can build as many as you want.
Take financial planning as one example. If you serve 100 clients and 1 fires you, you still have 99% of your income. Even if something drastic happens and 50% of your clients fire you, you still have 50% of your income. Now let's compare this to a job. If your boss decides to fire you for whatever reason, 100% of your income will be gone. So, with this, I feel that having multiple bosses (your clientele) is much safer than just having one.
Of course, there is always risk of failure. But that risk is much higher in the so-called "secure" job market. And of course, there is a bit of survivor bias in current rhetoric from other entrepreneurs that have "made it," but there is also survivor bias in the rhetoric from the secure job market.
While I believe that a "stable" job with a steady stream of income can be an extremely valuable tool for wealth generation and growth, I don't think that it should be advertised as the only pipeline for growth. In today's discourse, we often see that all students are encouraged to get a job after college, because why else would you go to college?
Colleges should be encouraging students to pave their own path (even if that path is to go to a more stable job) and foster personal development and growth.
As to not be somber, I believe this change is happening. Many colleges now offer practical skills and applicable skills classes. Furthermore, many colleges are now offering entrepreneurship and startup classes or infrastructure to support this type of growth. It's a small step towards the growth I'd like to see in the future.
Live intentionally.