Why do people become entrepreneurs - part II

In the last 10 years that i've been an entrepreneur, I've met scores of entrepreneurs - and many more potential entrepreneurs that were so close to taking the plunge - but for various reasons did not.

Some of the common motivators that get people thinking about e-ship:

- Independence
- Wealth creation
- Frustration with current job/corporate world

Once they get serious about it - and actually start planning their financials, convincing their spouse/friends etc, thats when the key issue of "What do i do?" comes up.

Seen a few categories of people on this front:

- Analyzers: Will do market research, focus groups, buy reports, business plan sensitivities to death. Will let the spreadsheet make the decision for them!

- Satisficers: Will do some bit of what the Analyzers do - but not a whole lot. Will go with the view that if overall, it makes sense - and if i like the concept and am willing to give it a full shot for 2-3 years, let me jump.

- Impulsive: First decide to jump based on the idea - and then build a case around it!

- Financial: "I want to make money. I dont really care what the idea is". Quite a few of these folks as well. As my friend, Jay, used to say, "Its like having a new girlfriend. Everything seems rosy and nice in the beginning. The old girlfriend suddenly does not seem that exciting anymore!"

Personally, am not sure if this model works...as there is always another brighter idea that you get after you find that the current idea takes a lot of grunt work. But guess what, taking any idea from concept to a business takes a lot of work - and time!

So, the other question is - is it a business or a hobby? A business has different parameters (profit, sales, clients, full-time etc) while a hobby has others (interest, spare time etc)

Why do they turn entrepreneurs? Sometimes, i think its the "new girlfriend" syndrome - and after a few months or a year, they realise that the older one was better!

But in a lot of cases, its for the joy of creating something while creating wealth for all stakeholders.

Entrepeneurship does violate the laws of physics! You create something that did not exist earlier! ...so, its surely exciting, dangerous - and fun!

Why do people become entrepreneurs?

What is it about entrepreneurship that attracts some of the best minds?

Is it the wealth creation? Is it the excitement of creating something new? Is it the joy of navigating through complete ambiguity? Figuring things out with every meeting - and then realising that all you learnt so far does not apply?

Why aren't people happy in their high-paying jobs? Why are corporates struggling to hold on to some of their best talent - and in the end, losing them to entrepreneurship?

What is it about the corporate environment that makes people yearn for the freedom of being on their own?

After all, each corporate today was started by some entrepreneur long ago! What goes wrong along the way? Does the reason people become entrepreneurs get irrelevant after the business reaches a certain stage?

Questions. Questions. Next time, some attempts at answers.