Most of the people who go in for the job profile have the entrepreneurship ideas kindling inside them. Similarly, the people who graduate from the college have an entrepreneurship and innovation dream world in their eyes. Then what is it that holds us back from taking the plunge. Why doesn’t everyone or say the majority get into the business of their own?  The reasons could be many and some of them are listed here:

• Over the generations, the family has continued the saga of doing a job for making a living. You are no different and have to continue on the same path.
• The family liabilities do not allow you to think otherwise. You have to get a job quickly in order to ease the burden on the family.
• There are examples in the larger family of huge losses in business leading to pathetic conditions. Nobody has the guts to get into entrepreneurship development.
• Who has got the capital to invest in business? You have to earn something before you can even think of such an option.
• You are getting married now. How will you run your family if you get into business at this stage?
• Do you have the requisite experience to become an entrepreneur? You will fall flat on your face if you make an attempt.

Are you bewildered with the negative statements that go very much against the very concept of entrepreneurship development programme? It is quite possible that one or more of these reasons has extinguished the entrepreneurship development drive in you. However, you need not worry as we are bringing out the two very specific times in your life when you can get into entrepreneurship as a career. We are also going to tell you how to go about it.

The first period is when you are fresh out of college to the time when you have spent around three years in the job. This three-year window allows you to experiment, make mistakes and gain confidence in yourself.

The second season comes almost three decades later when you are past 50 years of age and have settled your children. Your liabilities are limited and you have gained enough experience from your job. However, it should not happen that both you and your child jump into the entrepreneurship ideas bandwagon at the same time. If a situation does arise give preference to your child, get him established and then join him.

Let us also look at the other aspects which you have to tide over. As a fresh graduate from college, tell your family that you are still going to be a liability for another three years as you may decide to study further or get into business rather than do a job. They should be ready to support you while you do the experimentation. If they suggest otherwise and ask you to share the family responsibility, you have to be firm on your entrepreneurship as a career decision.

If you plan to start a business at 50 plus the mantra is to ensure that you have substantial income sources like a house on rent, interest from deposits, investment yields etc. to support you and your family. You can also make a beginning to the business while you are still in the job. As you see the stakes becoming higher in the business leave the job and concentrate on your entrepreneurship development programme.

Get along with a few like-minded people to start a business. A team has a larger chance of success as it builds on the strengths of each team member. Get some mentoring from businessmen in the larger family or take help from the successful alumni from your college to help you out in the initial phase.

You should not invest your own money into the business especially when you are in the 50 plus bracket. You can join a running business and branch out to a different domain at a later stage or go in for a venture capitalist funding while still holding on to the majority share. It is not easy but you can get it if you approach through the right forums. With the start-up options, it is possible to create businesses out of scratch and reach out to the masses through the internet. Once the idea sells, the funds flow in automatically.

The most important aspect is to have the conviction to succeed. Ideas flop and experiments fail, yet the development continues over a period of time. Three years is all that you will take to set up your own entrepreneurship ideas and start earning. The hard work that you have to put in is akin to a situation when you have lost everything and you have to start from scratch again. If you have the guts to do it, you will have entrepreneurship as a career one day- take my word for it.