{"id":2992,"date":"2023-02-19T16:11:16","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T16:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/reasons-to-be-an-entrepreneur\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T14:59:46","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T14:59:46","slug":"reasons-to-be-an-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/reasons-to-be-an-entrepreneur\/","title":{"raw":"Learn It 8.2.4: What Is an Entrepreneur?","rendered":"Learn It 8.2.4: What Is an Entrepreneur?"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Why Entrepreneurship?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_13607\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"214\"]<a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3006\/2015\/07\/10183407\/25926818271_6a8fef53f7_o.jpg\"><img class=\"wp-image-13607\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3006\/2015\/07\/10183407\/25926818271_6a8fef53f7_o-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"An entrepreneur working on her laptop.\" width=\"214\" height=\"322\" \/><\/a> Figure 1. A key advantage of entrepreneurship is being in charge of your own destiny.[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<p>As entrepreneurs often caution, being an entrepreneur is not a job, it\u2019s a lifestyle. Of course, that\u2019s precisely the attraction for many potential entrepreneurs. Life is more than a paycheck. Entrepreneurship is an alternative way of looking at the world and your place in it. For many, it\u2019s an opportunity to achieve their potential\u2014a potential that may be limited or managed in a traditional job.<\/p>\r\n<p>In an article for Entrepreneur, Uber Brands founder Jonathan Long cites 60 reasons to be an entrepreneur. Number 1 on his list, \"You have full control over your destiny.\" That\u2019s a particularly powerful motivator, especially when you factor in \u201cat will\u201d employment law (that is, you can be fired without cause), increased use of contingent labor (no benefits), gender and racial wage gaps, and other predatory behaviors.<\/p>\r\n<p>To the salary point, a woman earns on average 83 cents for every dollar a man earns. For some groups, the wage gap is even larger. For example, Black women earn 65 cents and Hispanic women earn 58 cents for every dollar that a non-Hispanic male earns.[footnote]Glynne, Sara Jane, and Diana Boesch. \u201cConnecting the Dots: \u2018Women\u2019s Work\u2019 and the Wage Gap.\u201d U.S. Department of Labor Blog, March 14, 2022. https:\/\/blog.dol.gov\/2022\/03\/15\/connecting-the-dots-womens-work-and-the-wage-gap[\/footnote] What\u2019s particularly disturbing is what\u2019s been termed the \u201cmommy penalty.\u201d A Senate Joint Economic Committee report found that women with children often earn less after returning to the workforce, while the opposite is true for working fathers. Key takeaway: if you\u2019re a woman and\/or minority, the game is stacked against you. Perhaps it\u2019s time to take your marbles and start your own game with your own rules.<\/p>\r\n<section class=\"textbox seeExample\">\r\n<h3>Statistics for Minority Owned Businesses[footnote]Bureau, US Census. \u201cCensus Bureau Releases New Data on Minority-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses.\u201d Census.gov, November 10, 2022. https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2022\/annual-business-survey-characteristics.html[\/footnote]<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Approximately 1.15 million or 19.9% of employer businesses[footnote]An employer business is one that has employees. These statistics do not include businesses that are run only by their owner[\/footnote] in 2020 were minority-owned.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Around 1.24 million employer businesses (21.4%) were owned by women.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>The number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew about 8.2% from 346,836 in 2019 to 375,256 in 2020 and made up about 6.5% of all businesses with an estimated 2.9 million employees.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>There were an estimated 612,194 Asian-owned businesses in the United States in 2020. Asian-owned businesses had the largest estimated receipts ($841.1 billion) among minority race groups.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>There were an estimated 140,918 Black- or African American-owned businesses with 1.3 million employees.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>There were an estimated 40,392 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses with 243,523 employees.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>There were an estimated 8,822 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses with 60,129 employees.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<h3>Reasons That Motivate Entrepreneurs<\/h3>\r\n<ol>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunity to make an impact<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ability to live by your own rules, from values and culture to dress code, work environment, and location<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Membership in an elite group of leaders and doers<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No bench time or waiting to be chosen<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunity based on performance rather than degrees<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relative freedom from discrimination<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The thrill of creation and the ongoing challenges of growth<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlimited upside (financial) potential; no growth ceilings<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extreme learning &amp; personal growth<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working with stimulating people and emerging ideas\/technologies<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognition\u2014after all, entrepreneurs are the rock stars of the business world<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build something for future generations<\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defining \u201csuccess\u201d in your own terms<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<section class=\"textbox seeExample\">\r\n<h3>Watch It!<\/h3>\r\n<p>The following short video is an example of the entrepreneurial spirit in action!<\/p>\r\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/jrOXnWs8km0<\/p>\r\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Intro+to+Business\/Transcriptions\/Sriracha_transcript.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for \"Sriracha\" (opens in new window)<\/a>\u00a0or the <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Intro+to+Business\/Transcriptions\/Sriracha_alternative.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">text alternative for \"Sriracha\" (opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\">[ohm2_question height=\"300\"]4471[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>","rendered":"<h2>Why Entrepreneurship?<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_13607\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13607\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3006\/2015\/07\/10183407\/25926818271_6a8fef53f7_o.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-13607\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3006\/2015\/07\/10183407\/25926818271_6a8fef53f7_o-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"An entrepreneur working on her laptop.\" width=\"214\" height=\"322\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13607\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Figure 1. A key advantage of entrepreneurship is being in charge of your own destiny.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As entrepreneurs often caution, being an entrepreneur is not a job, it\u2019s a lifestyle. Of course, that\u2019s precisely the attraction for many potential entrepreneurs. Life is more than a paycheck. Entrepreneurship is an alternative way of looking at the world and your place in it. For many, it\u2019s an opportunity to achieve their potential\u2014a potential that may be limited or managed in a traditional job.<\/p>\n<p>In an article for Entrepreneur, Uber Brands founder Jonathan Long cites 60 reasons to be an entrepreneur. Number 1 on his list, &#8220;You have full control over your destiny.&#8221; That\u2019s a particularly powerful motivator, especially when you factor in \u201cat will\u201d employment law (that is, you can be fired without cause), increased use of contingent labor (no benefits), gender and racial wage gaps, and other predatory behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>To the salary point, a woman earns on average 83 cents for every dollar a man earns. For some groups, the wage gap is even larger. For example, Black women earn 65 cents and Hispanic women earn 58 cents for every dollar that a non-Hispanic male earns.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Glynne, Sara Jane, and Diana Boesch. \u201cConnecting the Dots: \u2018Women\u2019s Work\u2019 and the Wage Gap.\u201d U.S. Department of Labor Blog, March 14, 2022. https:\/\/blog.dol.gov\/2022\/03\/15\/connecting-the-dots-womens-work-and-the-wage-gap\" id=\"return-footnote-2992-1\" href=\"#footnote-2992-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> What\u2019s particularly disturbing is what\u2019s been termed the \u201cmommy penalty.\u201d A Senate Joint Economic Committee report found that women with children often earn less after returning to the workforce, while the opposite is true for working fathers. Key takeaway: if you\u2019re a woman and\/or minority, the game is stacked against you. Perhaps it\u2019s time to take your marbles and start your own game with your own rules.<\/p>\n<section class=\"textbox seeExample\">\n<h3>Statistics for Minority Owned Businesses<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Bureau, US Census. \u201cCensus Bureau Releases New Data on Minority-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses.\u201d Census.gov, November 10, 2022. https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2022\/annual-business-survey-characteristics.html\" id=\"return-footnote-2992-2\" href=\"#footnote-2992-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Approximately 1.15 million or 19.9% of employer businesses<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"An employer business is one that has employees. These statistics do not include businesses that are run only by their owner\" id=\"return-footnote-2992-3\" href=\"#footnote-2992-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a> in 2020 were minority-owned.<\/li>\n<li>Around 1.24 million employer businesses (21.4%) were owned by women.<\/li>\n<li>The number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew about 8.2% from 346,836 in 2019 to 375,256 in 2020 and made up about 6.5% of all businesses with an estimated 2.9 million employees.<\/li>\n<li>There were an estimated 612,194 Asian-owned businesses in the United States in 2020. Asian-owned businesses had the largest estimated receipts ($841.1 billion) among minority race groups.<\/li>\n<li>There were an estimated 140,918 Black- or African American-owned businesses with 1.3 million employees.<\/li>\n<li>There were an estimated 40,392 American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses with 243,523 employees.<\/li>\n<li>There were an estimated 8,822 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses with 60,129 employees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<h3>Reasons That Motivate Entrepreneurs<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunity to make an impact<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ability to live by your own rules, from values and culture to dress code, work environment, and location<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Membership in an elite group of leaders and doers<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No bench time or waiting to be chosen<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opportunity based on performance rather than degrees<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relative freedom from discrimination<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The thrill of creation and the ongoing challenges of growth<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlimited upside (financial) potential; no growth ceilings<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extreme learning &amp; personal growth<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working with stimulating people and emerging ideas\/technologies<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recognition\u2014after all, entrepreneurs are the rock stars of the business world<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build something for future generations<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defining \u201csuccess\u201d in your own terms<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<section class=\"textbox seeExample\">\n<h3>Watch It!<\/h3>\n<p>The following short video is an example of the entrepreneurial spirit in action!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Sriracha\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jrOXnWs8km0?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Intro+to+Business\/Transcriptions\/Sriracha_transcript.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">view the transcript for &#8220;Sriracha&#8221; (opens in new window)<\/a>\u00a0or the <a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/Intro+to+Business\/Transcriptions\/Sriracha_alternative.txt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">text alternative for &#8220;Sriracha&#8221; (opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"textbox tryIt\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ohm4471\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/ohm.one.lumenlearning.com\/multiembedq.php?id=4471&theme=lumen&iframe_resize_id=ohm4471&source=tnh&show_question_numbers\" width=\"100%\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/section>\n<hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-2992-1\">Glynne, Sara Jane, and Diana Boesch. \u201cConnecting the Dots: \u2018Women\u2019s Work\u2019 and the Wage Gap.\u201d U.S. Department of Labor Blog, March 14, 2022. https:\/\/blog.dol.gov\/2022\/03\/15\/connecting-the-dots-womens-work-and-the-wage-gap <a href=\"#return-footnote-2992-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-2992-2\">Bureau, US Census. \u201cCensus Bureau Releases New Data on Minority-Owned, Veteran-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses.\u201d Census.gov, November 10, 2022. https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2022\/annual-business-survey-characteristics.html <a href=\"#return-footnote-2992-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-2992-3\">An employer business is one that has employees. These statistics do not include businesses that are run only by their owner <a href=\"#return-footnote-2992-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":21,"menu_order":11,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Sriracha\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"BBC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/jrOXnWs8km0\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-nd\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Reasons to Be an Entrepreneur\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"wocintech (microsoft) - 182\",\"author\":\"WOCinTech Chat\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wocintechchat\/25926818271\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Statistics for Minority-Owned Businesses\",\"author\":\"OpenStax\",\"organization\":\"Rice University\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/Tgl3H6iq@8.4:pEdkag9F@8\/5-1-Entrepreneurship-Today\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/4e09771f-a8aa-40ce-9063-aa58cc24e77f@8.4\"}]","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"part":2981,"module-header":"learn_it","content_attributions":[{"type":"cc","description":"Sriracha","author":"","organization":"BBC","url":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/jrOXnWs8km0","project":"","license":"cc-by-nc-nd","license_terms":""},{"type":"original","description":"Reasons to Be an Entrepreneur","author":"Nina Burokas","organization":"Lumen Learning","url":"","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":""},{"type":"cc","description":"wocintech (microsoft) - 182","author":"WOCinTech Chat","organization":"","url":"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wocintechchat\/25926818271\/","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":""},{"type":"cc","description":"Statistics for Minority-Owned Businesses","author":"OpenStax","organization":"Rice University","url":"https:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/Tgl3H6iq@8.4:pEdkag9F@8\/5-1-Entrepreneurship-Today","project":"","license":"cc-by","license_terms":"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/4e09771f-a8aa-40ce-9063-aa58cc24e77f@8.4"}],"internal_book_links":[],"video_content":null,"cc_video_embed_content":{"cc_scripts":"","media_targets":[]},"try_it_collection":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9500,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2992\/revisions\/9500"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/2981"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2992\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2992"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}