My friend Jerry always hated to be an employee.

He was never a morning person. He hated it when others tried to tell him what to do in his job. He didn't like getting called out for things he did wrong. And finally, he wanted to make tons of money to live a luxurious life.

For many people, these are perfect reasons to start a business. When you are no longer a corporate person and want to start shining on your own, the best idea many individuals get is that they have to start a company.

They feel that, with a company, they will solve all the problems they have right now by having a full-time job, and then the only reason why they are failing as employee is because their destiny is to be a company owner.

And while these reasons may be one of the motivations to start something, not having the right mindset from the beginning can quickly bankrupt you.

Let me explain why.

Many people have the wrong idea of what a business is.

Just like my friend Jerry, many people's idea of having a business is freedom.

Freedom that they no longer have to do what a boss says, freedom to choose their own schedule to work on their dreams, and freedom to earn what they want.

But they are wrong.

For a business to work properly, especially in the beginning, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.

You will not have to wake up early every day, but there will be times when you will work more than twelve hours. You may not have a boss who tells you exactly what to do, but you have to hear your clients. You could earn more in certain months, but there will be periods of losses.

Jerry started a bar. The principal reason for it was not waking up early. However, only days later, he realized it didn't matter if the place opened at 6:00 PM; he still had to wake up early to have everything ready for the day.

The suppliers work from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, so if he wanted inventory, he had to attach it to their schedule. The people who cleaned the place and left everything ready for clients also worked at that time. He hired a company for snacks and desserts, and they also made deliveries early.

He started a late business not to wake up early, and now he had to work from the morning until very late at night.

There were times when Jerry wanted to have a boss again because he didn't know what to do. The suppliers stopped working with him because he was not paying on time, he received resignations later from many employees because they didn't think my friend was doing a good job, and many clients were mad for the lack of customer service that the place had.

He realized that having people telling him exactly what to do and others criticizing his work was not that bad because he knew exactly what areas to improve.

Also, the only consequence he had when he had a job was a call to attention from a mad boss. However, having his own business, every mistake was costing him a lot of money and clients.

After that last incident with the suppliers and employees, Jerry got in more trouble. He went bankrupt because he believed that the money would always be there, but after having no people to help him, he had to spend a lot trying to maintain the bar on his own. However, he hadn't saved enough by that moment, so he had to close.

Yes, sometimes a business can be more profitable than a full-time job, but that doesn't mean there will always be money on the table. And you have to be prepared for that, or everything could go wrong.

What is a valid reason to start a business then?

But Desiree, if freedom to take rest, the wish to do what you want, and the possibility to earn an enormous quantity of money are not valid reasons, then what is?

A business is not about what you want for yourself but what you want for others. People create a company to supply a necessity for a group or city, not to supply their own whims.

A valid reason to open a business is to have the opportunity to make something big, create value, or create something better than what actually exists right now in the market.

When you focus your energy on having a business because you want to wake up late or because you don't want to have someone to tell you what to do, you won't do something of quality. You will not be working to create something good, and that mentality of thinking just about yourself and your needs can lead you to bankruptcy.

However, when your mentality is to create something for someone, your priority will be your clients and your products. When you want to be the best, you work for quality, and as a result, you will grow.

Waking up later, money, and freedom are rewards for doing a good job, not skills to open a company.

When my friend understood that his business was not to accomplish all his selfish desires but for the people in his area to have a good time, he understood why he failed.

A business is not an opportunity to escape reality, and being an instant millionaire is the possibility of creating something big on your own. And creating a business for the wrong reason can make you fail, too, if you don't have the correct mentality from the beginning.

One of the best decisions I made four years ago was to start working for myself. It has given me financial security, allowed me to grow exponentially, and let me do the things I love.

However, I believe all this has been possible because I had the right business mentality from the beginning.

I knew that I wanted more freedom and creativity in certain ways, but I also knew that I had to give value so people could trust my work even if I were not there. I knew I wanted to take as many vacations as I wanted, but I first worked in advance to leave everything ready. I knew I wanted more money, but I only counted on them when I already had it.

So, if your mentality is to be your own boss because you want to be free and do what you want, reconsider again because you would probably be disappointed to realize in the future that that is not what a business is for.

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