I’m often asked the same question: “How did you become an entrepreneur?”
It’s a broad and very open-ended question. But when I get down to the logistics of it, the real nuts and bolts of how I did it, (not why) there is one reason… I had minimal fixed costs when I started my first business because I was young. I could dump any and all extra cash I had into my business. Back then, my personal economy ran lean. I had the luxury of only having to feed one mouth. Given that, I could take a lot of financial risks as no one but me would suffer from any losses. Additionally, I didn’t have any time constraints. I could work twenty hours a day and no one would complain. Simply put, when I launched my first business at twenty-two I had very few responsibilities - an advantageous position to be in when starting a business.
At the time, my biggest financial responsibility was paying rent. And given the rather sketchy place I was living in, the rent was minimal. I drove a ten year old car that was barely worth the rubber it sat on. And I’m not proud to admit it, but I mooched dinner’s every other night at my mom’s - I’d always ‘be in the neighborhood’ conveniently around 6:30. These dinners were a real sacrifice for me. You see, my mom’s cooking is eaten more out of necessity than pleasure, if you catch my drift. Bless her heart.
There is nothing romantic about starting a business. Being an entrepreneur is about living like most people won’t for a period of time so you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t. Most importantly, timing has a lot to do with entrepreneurial success.
To my point of this rant…
If you’re young and don’t have children yet, and by that I mean in your twenties or early thirties, there will likely never be a better time to start your own business in your entire life… that’s a fact. And, aside from the early-twenty moochers like I once was, there is a particular demographic that has a distinct advantage when it comes to starting a business: DINKS.
Double
Income
No
Kids
Timing matters in the real world. It matters when buying stocks, houses, and especially when starting a business. If you’re a DINK, and have aspirations of becoming an entrepreneur, get your ass in gear because now is the time.
The Key to Being a DINK is the No Kids Part
I got news for you… if you’re in a committed relationship and planning on having kids, forget about starting a business and chasing your entrepreneurial dreams after baby arrives. You need to start your business BEFORE diapers and cribs and onesies are needed.
The amount of money I spent on my son in his first year on this earth was more than double what I spent in the initial two years on my first business venture…
With kids in the picture, your dream of starting a business may have to wait a couple decades. And by then, who knows, you may have become so fat and bald that all you’re worried about is rocking back and forth in a comfy chair on your porch.
Harsh words, I know. But I want you DINKS to grasp the advantageous moment you are presently in. Now is the time to make things happen!
Sit down with your spouse/partner. Tell them your entrepreneurial vision. Prepare a mock-up budget to see where you can cut costs and how you can realistically live on one salary in the time it takes to start making money as an entrepreneur.
I’m not here to bash having kids. Far from it. I’m a proud father, and I’d give everything up right now for my son. God willing, I hope to have more children in the years to come. That being said, I was lucky enough to have started a business at what I believe to be the best time in my life to do so. And, if you’re a DINK, now is the best time in your life to start a business.
Stay hungry,
Aaron
