When Is The Perfect Time To Start a Business?
By Anna Johnson on May 13th, 2009A lot has been said, here in Kikabink News and elsewhere, about the advantages and disadvantages of starting a business during an economic recession.
Overall, the consensus seems to be that now is a great time to launch a new business. Among other reasons, this is because resources tend to be cheaper and, when the good times return, you’ll have the edge over competitors who were cutting back on innovation and marketing when you were investing in innovation and marketing.
Nevertheless, while we can rationally discuss all the pros and cons of starting a business during a boom or bust… the reality is that if someone needs to be convinced that any given time is good or bad for starting a business… they probably aren’t suited to starting a business at all.
Sure, some people will argue that their business idea requires immense amounts of capital to get started and that if venture capital is scarce then there isn’t much point pursuing that idea.
It’s hard to believe that someone would be unable to take even the smallest step towards building their business without outside capital. But even so, true entrepreneurs do one of two things in that situation: they either bang on hundreds of doors until they get the funding they need, or they put that particular project on hold while they start another business that doesn’t require so much capital.
True entrepreneurs do not, however, decide not to start a business at all. True entrepreneurs feel compelled to start a business – regardless of the availability of funding, regardless of the economic situation, and regardless of all the other pressures in their lives.
So, in a sense any time is the perfect time for an entrepreneur to start a business. And, at the same time, there’s never a perfect time for a non-entrepreneur to start a business.
In other words, if you have a great idea for a company, product or service that could solve a pressing problem or otherwise enhance people’s lives – now is the perfect time to get your project underway.
On the other hand, for those who are waiting for the perfect time – based on the economy, the market, their personal situation, or whatever other considerations – there will never be a perfect time. Simply because they don’t have the true entrepreneur’s ‘do or die’ mindset.
And if you’re sitting on the fence, eager to start your business but hearing the warnings of others (who probably aren’t entrepreneurs) who tell you that you should wait until it’s ‘better’ or ‘safer’… ask yourself this: “who should I emulate? The innumerable entrepreneurs who ‘just did it’… or the even greater number of those who still dream about doing it?”
