Why Entrepreneurs Need to Be Willing to Risk the Time

When starting something new, a common thought is, “Am I wasting my time? Should I just quit now and save myself the hassle?” My friends, nothing great ever came from avoiding the hassle.

 Edison and the lightbulb.

 The Wright brothers and flight.

 Elon Musk and Tesla.

 They spent their time on a risky venture in order to create something that may turn out to be great.

 Taking the Smart Risks

While we shouldn’t take on every risk we encounter, the real magic lies in determining which risks to take and which to pass on. If there’s a chance of doing something you love that makes you stay up late and get up early, and there’s at least some sense in your doing it, go for it.

 Calculated risks are those we study, we question, and we commit to. We know there will be sacrifices, whether that’s with sleep, time or relationships. The sacrifices and risks we take are often so that we can make more choices later on.

 The time you spend may seemingly get you nowhere, but I guarantee that if you take the risk, commit to a plan, and learn each lesson as it comes, you’ve made the risk worth it.

 When Risks Don’t Succeed

I said above that the founders I mentioned were willing to risk the time in case it succeeded. But each of them had their (many) failures before finding the success that we know them for.

 So what happens when a risk doesn’t pay off? No matter how much effort we put in, money we invest, or support we have, we can end up right where we began.

 We need to reframe our thinking for this. Any calculated risk is worth the time, even if it didn’t succeed in the way you had hoped. We can learn from mistakes, tweak (or overhaul) our methods, and start again.

 Be willing to risk the time, because you will always learn something.

The point of a risk is to challenge yourself to grow in new ways. Your time commitment with a new venture may not pay off in the way you think it will. But any time spent learning is worth the investment. Choosing a world of risk and potential success isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding. And that’s what really matters.