There are people who get job offers even before they graduate from college. For most people, a six-month wait post-graduation is just enough to recharge from the last few months of college.
There are also people who seem to get it straight from the start. After successful probationary periods at their companies, they land regular positions right away. Perhaps it’s a combination of luck, timing and hard work, but some people get promoted to a higher positions ahead of others. And they just keep climbing. The higher they climb, the heavier the responsibility.
Some people’s career paths look straighter than others. They work in two or three companies and get promoted or get transferred to a different company and get promoted again. Some career paths look like starbursts rather than steep inclines with surprising plateaus.
Have you ever felt an inkling that the corporate life isn’t for you? Have you ever felt a burning desire to create something, make it grow and drive it towards great lengths? Something that you can call your own?
Here are some of the reasons that drive some people out of the corporate race and into the long and winding road of entrepreneurship. If you have a 9-to-5 job but have always wanted to start a business in Singapore, some of the reasons below just might hit you.
They want to follow their passions and get paid for it.
People who get to do their passions and get paid handsomely are very rare. It doesn’t always happen right away. Surely, you can’t expect it right after graduation from college or right after quitting the corporate world and deciding to follow your passions. You’ll most probably starve first.
In the eternal debate of passion versus money, the money you expect to get almost always comes later. Passion always comes first, hard work second, time third, persistence fourth and so on. Money is always the last to arrive.
But earning money from your passions is possible.
They want to break free from living on paychecks.
In 2014, researchers from the University of Phoenix Business School in the U.S. conducted a nationwide survey of working adults. They found that 39 percent of employees want to open their own business. They also found that the younger the employee, the bigger the desire to go into entrepreneurship.
Working adults have varying reasons for wanting to break free from the usual 9-to-5. For some, it could be the need for a change of pace while others feel that their daily work routine is limiting their earning capacity. There are people who feel discouraged at the thought of having to receive a fixed amount each month despite levels of input.
For people who want to dictate the amount of billable time they clock in each day, setting up their own business could be a way to control how much they can earn.
They want to be their own boss.
In a recent survey by Ernst & Young and the University of St. Gallen Centre for Family Business in Singapore, researchers found that only 3.8 percent of Singaporean students who are their family businesses’ prospective successors would jump in line after graduation. Moreover, only 1.1 percent are willing to join the family business right after graduation.
“Not only is there competition from the wider jobs market, with young people keen to explore their options in today’s fast-moving economy, but many also feel that they need to prove themselves outside of the family firm first. In many ways, this is a healthy attitude,” said Peter Englisch, EY Family Business Center of Excellence’s global leader.
Singapore’s many multinational companies and increasing opportunities for startups could be affecting the young generation’s desire to join the family business. The age and size of the family business also affect their decisions. Most of the family businesses in Singapore are in their second and third generations with the founders still very much active in the decision-making. Joining the family business would not give the young generation the freedom they could have if they try on their own first, whether it’s with a different company or their own.
They want to create legacy.
The desire to create something from scratch is very strong in some people. They want more than just a pat on the back for a project well done, projects that people will soon forget until the next big project arrives.
In a corporate arena, you are only as good as your last project. Legacy in the corporate world are, more often than not, only applicable to the CEO or that infamous newcomer who blew up the company’s last town hall.
A big chunk of today’s workplace is currently dominated by the Millennials. In a 2014 study conducted by Bentley University, researchers found that 13 percent of Millennials want to be president or CEO of a corporation while sixty-seven percent said their career goal involves setting up their own business.
“Millennials are realizing that starting a company, even if it crashes and burns, teaches them more in two years than sitting in a cubicle for 20 years,” said Bentley’s Entrepreneurial Studies program director Fred Tuffile.
Millennials believe that flexible working hours is one of the most important factors that boost their generation’s creativity and productivity. Many feel limited by the current 9-to-5 setup which fuels their desire to try it on their own.
What drives you towards entrepreneurship?
A 2006 worldwide poll covering over 4,000 small business founders revealed that generating money to cover living expenses was the most common motivation when setting up a business. The research also revealed that in countries where individual freedom is cherished, the major reason for starting a business is independence, which was cited by 67 percent of American respondents.
Interestingly, in other parts of the world, wealth and independence do not take center stage. In Brazil, 71 percent said they want to set up a business to provide employment while 64 percent said they do it so they can contribute to the improvement of their society. Fifty-nine percent of Chinese respondents said the desire to pass something on to their family is the main motivator in starting a business.
Different nations vary in reasons when setting up a business. However, the desire to start is a universal desire that comes in varying degrees.
If you’re planning to start a company in Singapore, give us a call today and let us help you set up shop so you can set up roots.
