Many engineers nowadays are entering the world of entrepreneurship, hoping that they may be able to combine their engineering skills with business and create something revolutionary for the world. If you are one of these people (or planning to be one), it’s important to know that you can’t afford to be too meek if you want to be a successful as an entrepreneur. There are a lot of businesses that fail because the owners lack boldness and the vision to create something new. Here are a few reasons why playing it safe isn’t good for engineer entrepreneurs.
You won’t be original
Many entrepreneurs choose the comfort of staying in a business that has flourished throughout the years. For example: restaurants, since “there’s always money in the food business”. It may be true that there’s a sure market, but when you’re competing with thousands of other restaurants, your profits are going to be slim. Think about the uniqueness of your menu? What’s the difference between the dining experience in your restaurant and others? If you follow the same old business models of other entrepreneurs, you could risk being unoriginal and your business won’t stand out and may die.
As engineers, don’t be afraid to add something new to your ideas. Think outside of the box, and add something to your business model that will make your business stand out above the rest.
You turn a blind eye to challenges
Source: Society for Human Resource Management
Every business, like engineering projects will have multiple challenges that will require thousands of trials and errors. There is no perfect business model that is a one-size-fits-all for all businesses, so as you advance in your business you may need to tweak your invention/product, find new suppliers, or market your product more aggressively. Unfortunately, there are timid entrepreneurs that don’t do anything in the midst of challenges, they sit and wait hoping that their venture will soon prosper. They stay in their comfort zone and don’t want to take necessary risks for the company.
You become indecisive and settle for less
Source: Human resource online
We all want to make the best decisions, that’s why we usually check all the facts and wait until we have complete information before we end up deciding. However, it doesn’t work that way in real life. Most of the time you can’t wait ‘till you have all the information before making a decision. If you wait too long, the problem could blow up into a unsolvable crisis. We engineers are used to solving problems with limited information, so it’s a good trait to apply in these situations. If you have sound judgement, you will be able to make the right decision, and if it’s still not enough, you can solve the problem along the way. Awesome entrepreneurs are those that can solve problems in time of uncertainty.
Article Sources:
