These are exciting times for my company! This week Kanwer Anwer Saeed joined Engage Consulting as a partner responsible for expanding the company and launching a partnership with one of the top global HR and Leadership firms in Pakistan. The question is, why did Kanwer leave his high profile job at one of the largest and most successful FMCG businesses in the country to start his own initiative? I also did something similar 8 years ago – so what drove us to take this leave of faith? Why do people take that risk, throw their high profile, secure and well paying jobs away, what drives them and what would make them succeed?
When I talk to Kanwer, he says the main driver for him to start on his own is to be the master of his own destiny and to create something that is his own. To take full responsibility for a venture and of course have the windfall when it goes well or the downfall when it goes wrong. Kanwer is an evangelist with a strong belief in what HR should stand for and he would like to influence as many companies as possible without being constrained by the one company that he works for. He now has the ability to live his dream.
Are you a Budding Entrepreneur?
That’s his story, what’s yours? Are you an budding entrepreneur? Masters in Business have come up with a funny infographic to see whether you have what it takes to dive into the world of entrepreneurship.
Are You Going to Succeed or Fail?
You could always take an entrepreneurial aptitude test and see how you score to see if you should make the jump. However, the authors of Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck, Athony Tjan, Richard Harrington and Tsun Yan Hsieh think it’s about:
- Heart: Do you have the passion and inspiration to start your own business?
- Smarts: Do you have the intellect to outsmart and outpace competition?
- Guts: Do you know how to get started, persevere and evolve?
- Luck: Generating your own luck bubble?
In a recent HBR article on titled Can Entrepreneurs Be Made, Tjan explains how you can nurture and develop these traits. I specifically like his advice on how to increase your luck by being open and humble, by having the right attitude and approach toward relationships and by building lucky networks.
Even if you believe that you can check off all all the required entrepreneurial characteristics, I have a personal checklist of whether you’re ready for going off on your own. This includes the following very practical considerations:
- Can you afford it, do you have money set aside for the next 2 or 3 years to run your kitchen?
- Are you disciplined enough to manage your own time instead of being driven by the heart beat of a large organisation?
- Can you live without the ‘frills and spills’ that come with a large organisation?
- Can you give up that big car and start driving a Suzuki again?
- Can your partner (and kids and parents) understand why you are not working for that big name company anymore?
- Can you commit yourself for a number of years to persevere, evolve and adapt if and when necessary?
- Have you got an exit strategy in case things go south?
There are plenty of business considerations that you must think of before you take the plunge and set up a business but I will discuss those in the future. In the meantime I’m encouraging all other entrepreneurs who have taken the plunge to leave a comment on what drove them and what lessons they have learned the hard way.