The dark side of entrepreneurship

Without the shadow of a doubt the success of entrepreneurship has many beneficial rewards, achievements and successes which are evident to people. However there is also a dark side that exists which is suggested by Donald Kuratko and many other entrepreneurs I had coffee with. Entrepreneurship is all about risks, and the tricky part is that the higher the risk the bigger the reward hence most of the time we come up with some hilarious ideas which can cost everything. Risks are fun (at least to me). The more we take risks the more the dark side comes to live, one stupid mistake can kick you out of the game.

Financial Risk
Most business need capital to start, and as an entrepreneur you give all you have for the resources which will ensure the operation of the business. This risk is greater when you don't have retrievable assets which are invested in the business. If the venture fails, all is lost. For a start up this is a huge blow that can knock you out.

Career Risk
As an employee of a company you have many rewards because the company is established already. Working your nine to five stress free. When women are pregnant there is a maternity leave they are entitled to, and as an entrepreneur at some point you have to quit your job because you have to take care of your baby. Pity there is no "maternity" leave for entrepreneurs. You risk what you have now for an idea(How crazy can you be!), its a huge and dangerous step- but worth it provided you succeed.

Family and Social risk
Being an entrepreneur means you no longer work 9 to 5 for somebody else, it means you are working 24 hours for yourself. Everything you do, your business is in your mind. A start up needs more time and the more you focus on it the less you have time to go out and spend time with family and eventually friends will fade away due to loss of contact. And those who are married they expose their families the risk of an incomplete family experience and the possibility of permanent scars even worse, divorce. 

Psychic Risk
You loose it. this is the greatest. The lost job can be replaced, lost time can be attributed, lost money can be retrieved, friends come and go anyway. Some entrepreneurs who have been hit hard, its hard for them to bounce back. The psychological impact is too much for them, they go insane. After a big loss you can't sustain your ego anymore and as a result you collapse. The danger of this is that it can lead to suicide if you don't get help.

Maniac
Are you out of your mind? business will drive you crazy! I can recall many instances at a public place when an idea randomly comes up or triggered by an event I witnessed then I pause and write is down. It happens during meals, people trying to speak to you but you not in the moment thinking about the next idea, next step and amendments. You enter in your zone where no one can understand. That's why you need a right spouse when you want to become an entrepreneur.

If you are not a risk taker and crazy at the same time, stick to your job or go to school.