Esch

You know it is funny, I have always had interest in starting my own business. No matter where I was in my career I always found that there was something missing in the satisfaction side of my work. I have worked for some companies that I truly enjoyed and respect to this day. The most enjoyable where Kelsey-Seybold a Health Care system in Houston and Egenera a pioneer in I/O Virtualization (9 years before Cisco’s UCS).

However I always felt that there was just things I could not accomplish within the constraints of being an employee of a company. Not because the company had bad ideas or were not willing to listen to ideas of the employees. More because an established business can not change directions on a dime. It has to stay within the confines of the road that it decided to follow. Drastic changes can mean a bumpy ride or even a catastrophic crash for an established business.

That is when I realized what was missing, I like to build. I want to design and build the road that I am on, not just drive on an existing road built by someone else.

One thing I have realized is that designing and building your road in business is a lot of hard work. There is a lot you have to take into consideration when your business is going to rely on the road to survive. You realize why there is hesitation for established companies who have already been down this road. This is the basis of that rewarding feeling you get building your business. It is also what keeps you up at nights because of all of the risk. There is no way I would want to have to take my business back through this part of the cycle again.

I truly enjoy starting my own business and it has been exciting, scary, and a lot of work. There is so much to think about when starting out. Now I know is because I am the Engineer, the Construction Worker, I am the driver. You can use other maps to help design your road, but your road will always be unique.

Tags: business, start-up, work

esch  Aug 7 EschWeb