5 Reasons to Start a Business, Even in This Economy

Starting your own business has long been considered a risky proposition. Just the potential for failure and loss discourages many would-be entrepreneurs from giving it a go. Intimidated by oft-reported statistics like “50% of all businesses fail within the first two years,” even those with great ideas or lots of skill frequently decide to play it “safe.”

Perhaps in economies past you could legitimately argue that starting a business was just too big a gamble, but the tables have turned. Now becoming an entrepreneur is not only a safe and manageable career prospect, but it’s also the best (and perhaps only) way to get what you want professionally.

Here’s 5 reasons why it makes sense to start a business…evenespecially now!

1. Job Security Doesn’t Exist

Job security is a thing of the past. It used to be that you could safely commit to a well-trodden and clearly defined corporate career path. No longer. Not only has the corporate contract changed, but industries are evolving so quickly that jobs appear, change, or disappear practically overnight. All of this is true even in a good economy—so if you account for the economic downturn of these last few years, the stability of traditional employment weakens even further. So much so, actually, that scores of former employees have decided to become their own bosses to make their jobs more secure.

2. You Don’t Have to Bet the Farm

The risk for any experiment or new venture can never be mitigated completely, but it’s up to you to decide just how much to chance. You can put yourself in a risky position by keeping your genius idea to yourself, double-mortgaging the house (or racking up credit card debt), and launching the biggest version of your dream possible. Or you can play it safer by soliciting lots of feedback in advance of launching and finding small inexpensive ways to test your idea in the market. Neither path guarantees success, but the latter certainly insulates you from total devastation in the case of failure.

3. You Know How to Get More from Less

Several years of a significant recession has made us all experts in how to get more from less. We are more productive and thriftier than ever. Each dollar goes further and each minute matters more. This is the exact mindset that an entrepreneur needs to be successful. In the past corporate refugees could take years to figure this out. Now people are showing up to entrepreneurship prepared from the start.

4. Satisfaction Matters

One benefit of this otherwise devastating recession has been the shift in our collective definition of success. While we used to lust after big ticket items and sacrifice for far-off rewards, we now know that daily satisfaction reigns supreme. After all, things don’t necessarily bring happiness and future promises are never guaranteed. What really matters is how rewarding and fulfilling our daily life is. It’s a reality that entrepreneurs get to uniquely exploit. Because when you’re the boss you get to do the work you want on your terms. And if, at some point, your business no longer adds up to happiness, you have the power to make the necessary changes so that it does again.

5. And So Does Regret…

Of all the business-related angst I’ve witnessed, nothing seems more haunting than the experience of regret. That mournful curiosity about “what could have been”—if only you had done something differently and given your business venture a shot. It’s a feeling much worse than failure. That doesn’t mean that you need to pursue every idea you have, but you owe it to your future self to at least explore the possibility seriously. You won’t regret things that you decide not to do for a good reason, only the things you decide not to do for bad ones.

The truth is, the risks associated with entrepreneurship are all relative. And now that the rules of the game have changed so much, it’s not fair to write off the possibility of starting your own business just because it’s too “risky.” You actually may stand to lose a lot more if you don’t.

article from Adelaide Lancaster on Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/thebigenoughcompany/2011/11/03/5-reasons-to-start-a-business-even-in-this-economy/