The journalist in me loves to ask business owners: Why did you start your business?
In all my years of asking that question, I have found that for most people, the decision to go out on their own usually comes down to one reason. There could be contributing factors, but still only one reason. Their boss may have been a jerk, they were laid off, they were stressed out and unhappy, or some great entrepreneurial opportunity just dropped into their lap.
But I also found that the “reason” could exist for a while, and it takes just one “moment” that pushes the person to take the plunge and start a business.
For me, I was influenced by someone who couldn’t even talk! It was my then-four-month-old daughter, Loretta. She really threw a wrench in my plans! I was exactly where I wanted to be in my career at that time — a great position and an office with a view! But boy, I sure loved being home with her. One day after work, I came home, excited to see Loretta … and she wouldn’t look at me. She looked around me and through me, but not at me. I was devastated! Was she upset with me? Had our bond been broken? What was happening?
Well, it took that incident — which, ok, let’s be honest, she probably didn’t even know what she was doing! — for me to tell my husband, “I want to start my own business so I can be home with Loretta.” And he, being the good husband, said, “Ok, honey.”
And while this story may seem very cut-and-dry and easy, it wasn’t. It was a total risk, but luckily we were so young and naive that we didn’t even think of that! We had a house and a newborn baby — and, unbeknownst to me at the time, I was pregnant with our second child, Dorothy!
But that one “moment” provided me with real clarity, and that clarity helped me take my next step in life and start my own business.
Sometimes I look back in amazement at the risk I took, and I thank God for making it all work the way it did. Being a business owner provided me with great flexibility and a good income. When things got tough, I just looked at my “reasons” — Loretta, Dorothy, Steven and Sheelah — for the clarity and motivation I needed to persevere.
So that’s my story. What’s yours? What did it take for you to decide to take the plunge and start your own business?
