Amid glowing myths of overnight success, many young people chase entrepreneurship as a shortcut to wealth and fame. Yet behind the hype, most start-ups collapse, leaving financial strain and mental tolls in their wake. This article uncovers the dangers of unrealistic expectations and calls for a more balanced path to entrepreneurship.
With overnight success stories and fairy tales of rising to fame by means of sheer good-idea-ness so rampant on the platforms of medium today, it is scant wonder that the youth of this day has taken to a vision of instant wealth and fame through the glorious, petal-laid path of entrepreneurship. Exciting, is it not? The idea that one can attain millionaire status merely by realizing the ideas they inherently hold in their very head, and that creativity combined with some level of diligent, healthy work would pay off in a happily-ever-after tale of start-up success. But is it all it’s hyped up to be?
Many young people dream of getting rich through startups
If entrepreneurial courses, mentorship programs, school clubs for young students and TikTok start-up prodigies aren’t any indicators of the growing popularity of entrepreneurship amongst youngsters of this day and age, what would? 50 millions new businesses, on a yearly basis, with almost 80,000 of them in the States alone. The number tells the tale of an “age of pirates” trope in economical equivalents, in which young adults rush out to harness the vast, incredible treasure that is entrepreneurship on a ship that promises wealth, fortune and fame.
Of course, reality often disappoints, and no exception it makes for this case of delusional syndrome that is so oft suffered by the young people of this century. We hear stories of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others along that line that have not failed to sow within the youth’s mind the idea that they could invent Apple, Meta and Tesla overnight; and while exaggerated much, this take hits way closer to home for a notable portion of teens and young adults than one would expect.
A survey shows that 9 in 10 young entrepreneurs end up failing
The truth is, entrepreneurship is not the luxury voyage into the sunset of success that it promises to be, especially for young people. To bring in the numbers, 20% of all startup businesses collapse within the first year, half would be gone by the fifth year, and if by year 10 your business is still booming, you are standing at the last 10% of all entrepreneurs in the world. And that is not to say that your odds at the start-up roulette is 1 in 10, no. Your odds are abysmally lower than you are willing to realize, and even if you do manage to keep your firm running for a while, you’d be sweating bullets to keep it operating on a sustainable profit margin for the next few years or so.
Considering this newfound knowledge that most start-ups are statistically likely to fail, it then becomes clear that entrepreneurship is more akin to the deadly financial whirlpool than the opulent yacht, now aptly dubbed the “entrepreneurship-wreck”. So terrifying it is, for what is practically gambling, veiled in gold-trimmed guise. As a significant number of young people take on crushing debts in attempts to set their business into motion, taking out loans, borrowing sums from families, friends and relatives, using credit cards, et cetera, this illusion of success fuels the inner gambler’s fever, entirely convincing that their golden hand would be imminent if they keep playing enough. Not helping this would be the “go big or go home” mindset that many young start-ups adopt, a particularly dangerous mentality for those whose resources are thin, failing to experiment and refusing to relinquish and learn their lesson.
And yet, financial strain is not the only leaden weight pressed against young entrepreneurs, as what is arguably even more mortifying would remain to be the mental toll it so vehemently exudes. The “hustle culture” mindset takes precedence over common sense, as long hours and midnight oil grinds are glorified. Young adults burning away their lifeblood like lighting incense to appease the start-up gods that their business may one day ignite into a booming dream-come-true. On that very altar they set up silver-lined photos of “entrepreneur gurus”, online predatory influences that prey on young people’s insecurities to market their courses, coaching programs and mentorships at the empty promise of success. All of this to keep on suspending a false hope, like a carrot dangling in front of a hare as it hops towards the cliff of certain demise. And when all the dust settles, as they realise all hope is gone, they are left with nothing, not even the friends and family that they once convinced to pour in help and support. Reality is grim.
And once again, looking back at our starting point, we see the one thing that is wrong with everything about entrepreneurship: delusions of grandeur. More precisely worded, we are staring at the ugly, grotesque face of unrealistic expectations. Overnight success, without all the 9-to-5, office work, being bossed around, fear of unemployment that comes with a white-collar worker job – it is not just affluence we seek, but liberation from the equally grim reality of the current job market. In retrospect, we now see that the system is inherently flawed, as people are forced to choose between a dull existence, and risking it all for the chance of getting slightly more control of their life, with most of the same caveats.
However, entrepreneurship does not have to be a fly trap, and it is ultimately a benign and honorable cause. In this case, young people are not at fault, not as much as those capitalizing on their mentalities and naivety, and rather than mocking the act of starting up, it is the system that should be condemned. Sympathy should be spared for those stuck in the vicious circle, and help should be offered to those most in need.
Encouraging young entrepreneurs is the key to unlocking sustainable growth
This article is not aimed at antagonising entrepreneurship, nor is it meant to discourage young, bright people to explore their ideas. The one thing they must recognise, however, is that start-ups are a long term investment, and losses are bound to doom upon. It is a long journey of hard work, patience, and constant learning. What is vital is to establish realistic expectations, and not succumb to the pitfalls of expecting instant gratification, and young people need to be encouraged to take a balanced approach to entrepreneurship, where failures are viewed as learning opportunities, and mental health is prioritized over the glorified grind.
– Bui Hai Dang (Written in collaboration with Midnight Miscellany)