SHOULD YOU TAKE THAT RISK TOO? ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE RISK TOO? (IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP).

nyandamarcoz_writing

Published on: February 18, 2024 (10mo ago)

I have different views of the world at different points in my life’s timeline. I have come to see this as I look on the answer to this question that “should I just walk my way in into risks as an entrepreneur or take one step back and do it while I have calculated how things can work out safely?” To get a clear picture of this idea, look at the conversations between me and me in 2019 and 2024.

[2019] NYANDA MARCO:

You must use all your strength in working hard to reach your dreams. You should not wait for the right moments; in fact, you are just wasting time now. I will never get employed. I will do my own projects and make money from them. I have skills; I can make it work too. Why did great people like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Benjamin Fernandes make it? I will do whatever I can to make my dreams come true.

[2024] nyandamarcoz:

I can get the perspective you have highlighted here because it is something which I have lived with for "years". And the main thing which I have come to understand is "You have to start before you think you are ready". You know I started my entrepreneurial projects even while I was still in college and even my first startup which I managed to start with my classmates just died a few months ago. I had this conviction that I must fight no matter what until I make my dreams come true, but it changed and not due to fear (though we are all not immune to this) but due to changes of perspectives. At that moment until July in 2022 I started to see everything was real not going to work out based on my analysis at the time (as normally for startups especially the ones I was doing was heavily funds dependent). But I was lucky to come across books which I have come to treasure until now which completely changed my perspectives (it made me take seriousness in reading books and getting information, to know how other great people do their stuff, I will share them with you too more and more in my future I guess they might help). What I found out was different from the "push hard" mindset I had at that moment. In short, the main takeaway point I got from these since then is that you must balance your portfolios to do well. By balancing your portfolios I mean take risks in one part of your life (and that is what I do with my current projects) while at the same time balancing the other domain of your life (for me it is my current job which coincidentally has become something which I like to do a lot as an Industrial Chemist). This is what we call taking calculated risks knowing that you have something to fall back on (for me my job is used to support my other businesses which I will depend on once I decide to leave my job and at the same time supporting the activities of my startups financially). This model is like hidden from us "new-comers" of Entrepreneurship but it was used by the ones we call "the mightiest", the one who took the high risks (if you manage to read biographies of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs and other great people you will be surprised it is different from what we saw on the internet). I have come to see that you will be doing more great work if you know you got nothing to lose (and by that I mean you don’t have anything to worry about as you have a backup plan and the only thing you focus on is to try your idea and see if it will work out). For my case, I am supporting my family (parents and siblings, I am not married yet by the way, hahaha) while at the same time doing my other businesses and my projects without worrying about anything. Otherwise, I would not have the courage to do anything as I do now.

I admire the boldness you are showing and am truly proud of you bro (always). But from what I see in "my perspective now" some actions to take to get a positive outcome depends on the kind of projects you are doing. For example, I can clearly see yours really supports these as you see to others, they can supply their services directly to companies and get an income, but it might be different for others to be able to reach that stage (based on the kind of startup they are working on). What I am trying to point out here is that you take a closer look into the realities in what you are doing and measure the "currently possible actions" you can take. If the odds currently do not favour you, you cannot just work your way into it while you know you will jeopardise the other part of your life. For example, for you at the moment you just needed shelter and food but for me now it is both of those plus helping my mom and siblings as I am the first-born son "who just graduated from college". If their future is affected because of me, it will not be good for me, that is why I must play safe (while at the same time working on my projects and not giving up on them). I was this resilient saying that I will not get employed (since first yr.) but it reached a point I cannot run my startup with an "empty stomach" with others looking at me as their saviour.

You just take it as I am a person who has decided to think differently (not by conforming to what society is but by seeing what really ticks if performed in a certain way). If you get the mechanism behind it, I believe it can add up something too to your ways of viewing. I have come to value reading more than ever before as it was a tool in defining my future (on the way I think and view the world).

[END]

The key takeaway points from this for me:

  1. Speaking of this, it came to me that it is not a must for all people to take these bold moves and it is always not a terrible thing as how it might be depicted right now by people.
  2. Balance your portfolios, taking risks in one part of your life and playing safe in the other part.
  3. Always keep moving, do not wait for the right conditions however small capabilities you have now.

I still believe that I might have a quite different perspective in the coming future as I talk to the current me. The one thing which I want to keep constant right now is to make sure I never stop learning new things every day, I hope you will too if this has sparked some curiosities in you.

_nyandamarcoz