Why Faith Can Move Mountains

I have been struggling with a decision for a long time. Should I start my own business on the side or not? What kind of effort does that require? Am I even cut out for it? 🤔

I have always been interested in startups, entrepreneurship, and self-employment. Even during my studies in the USA, I visited the Entrepreneurship Society at SDSU and realized that Americans are much more open and risk-tolerant towards new ideas.

I still remember listening to a product pitch and the question was asked, "What if the customer's sunglasses break? How do you handle repairs/after-sales support?"

I was actually quite surprised when the answer was, "I'll take care of it when the first complaint comes in!"

I was both positively surprised 😮 and somewhat skeptical about the answer 🤨 - wasn't that somewhat naive? What I definitely took away from the Society is the fact that my classmates fully believed in their ideas and were willing to go the extra mile for them 🚀.

I also realized that sometimes it's not productive to think through an idea in its entirety because things often turn out differently than expected. Is all the energy you invest upfront into considering all possible eventualities even worth it 🤯?

Over the years, I came to the conclusion - no, it's not. The most important thing is to start and believe in yourself 🙌! Of course, not everything always goes as planned, and maybe some ideas are bound to fail, but what stops us from reinventing ourselves and reflecting on a business idea over and over again?

And even if it turns out in the long run that the idea doesn't work - what stops us from discontinuing the project? Many people have their first or second idea flop - but the learning experiences are taken with them and unfold especially in the third business idea. So, no matter what happens: You always learn! Whether through good or bad experiences 😊

In my opinion, the important thing is to not allow stagnation 😉

 How about you? What experiences have you gained regarding self-employment abroad 🌍? What are your most important lessons learned?