Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2013, at the height of Spain’s unemployment crisis; its references to the current situation and to government policy reflect that moment.
I’m the first to be outraged at the realisation that our country’s policies are not going to create jobs for a long time. But I’m also aware of the harm done to people when they are told that their only way out is to start a business, because, realistically, becoming an entrepreneur out of necessity rather than vocation is very dangerous and pushes up the failure statistics. That is why an article by Javier Megías titled “Please, don’t start a business” caught my attention. I understand its message and could even share it, but I don’t entirely agree with it, sound as its reasoning is.
Javier is right when he says that entrepreneurship is hard enough when you do it out of vocation, and that it is therefore a serious mistake to push young and unemployed people into starting businesses out of necessity. Clearly, increasing the number of self-employed workers is the best way to improve the unemployment figures: we take someone off the dole and turn them into a semi-entrepreneur (a self-employed worker, or autónomo) in a country where support for entrepreneurs is on a par with the honesty of our leaders. I agree with all that, but…
It is also true that in Spain you have a better chance (despite the high failure rates of new entrepreneurs) of succeeding in your own business than of succeeding in finding a job. Looking for work in Spain has become an unpaid, exasperating full-time job. Today it is much easier to create a job for yourself than to find one. Are failure rates for entrepreneurs high? Agreed, but if you don’t try, failure is 100% certain.
I don’t agree with pushing the unemployed and young people into entrepreneurship out of necessity, but if it is the only way out (and it seems it is), you will have to take that path. The other option is to do nothing, complain, and starve or lose everything.
I’m not Chuck Norris and I have no calling to be a professional fighter, but if I know for certain that someone is going to cut me into little pieces, you can bet I’ll fight back to stop them. I may still end up in little pieces, or I may get my way, but at least I’ll have done something to try to prevent it.
The hidden potential of some people
No one can, or should, tell you that you’re not cut out to be an entrepreneur, especially if you have never embarked on the adventure. Many great business owners came up with their big idea at the moment they were fired from their job. Until then, starting a business had never crossed their minds, and later on they discovered abilities they didn’t know they had.
(Read: 10 personality traits you need to start a business and succeed)
If we go by the statistics on new entrepreneurs, around 80% of new businesses probably fail. But come on, damn it: don’t look at the 80%. Look closely at what the 20% do, and identify the reasons that lead a business to fail.
Remember: a person who has lost everything is a person who has everything to gain.
The other day someone told me that the only thing they owned, their house, had been repossessed, and that they were afraid of failing if they started a business. What are they going to do, repossess your house twice?
We’re not talking about trying your luck. We’re talking about looking for a way out that, while it may not be your vocation, is probably the only viable door, because the other door would have us waiting for things to be fixed or for help from above, and that isn’t going to happen (I think they’ve already handed out all the envelopes).
As I said some time ago, starting a business in Spain is not an option but an obligation if you want to get ahead. It will go well or it will go badly. If it goes well, congratulations. If it goes badly, congratulations too, because you’ve learned a lesson and next time it will go better.
If you know you need to start a business but aren’t sure what kind of business would suit you, I recommend this article: How to know which business to start.
In short: in the current situation, you can do nothing (a risk-free decision) or you can do something (a high-risk one). The risk-free decision leads nowhere. The risky decision may well lead you somewhere.
Some business ideas:
- 11 profitable micro-business ideas for the unemployed, homemakers and young people
- 6 business ideas with no investment for young entrepreneurs
- The most profitable businesses of 2013
- 9 business ideas you can run from home without commercial premises
Featured image: Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
