Entrepreneurs have much to risk in an affluent country like Singapore where stable jobs are the norm. Banking and finance is the industry to enter if you hope to achieve at least a 6 figure salary. Dreams will remain dreams. But chances of branching away from the usual path of life are increasing as society begins to open up to new ideas and culture. However, it still takes a substantial amount of motivation to pull yourself away from the inertia of a stable income and plunge yourself into the hectic world of your own business, your own startup.

So, what is it that drives you towards such a decision?

Here is a list of 5 reasons that drags and drops people into the world of Entrepreneurship :

1. Money aka Cash

Financial freedom. Millionaire. Billionaire. Many dream of being rich, leading an extravagant lifestyle. Money is always a great motivational factor and that is why sales is such an important part of every business. It is the basis of a business. It is the reason why investors dump in up to millions of dollars of funding to a group of young prodigies working on a new product. It is also the reason why these youngsters are willing to step away from cubicles to create their own empire.

There are many ways to make money. Successful people have increased their wealth through trading, climbing the corporate ladders to the top, investing, inheritance and starting their own businesses. Looking at the Top 10 Richest Americans of Forbes 400, 5 of them made it to the elite list by starting up a tech business. They are the founders of Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Dell. Sergey and Larry of Google are both in the Top 10 list. However, in the list of Singapore’s Top 40, companies are focused mainly on the finance and investments industry. There is no doubt a difference in culture between the two countries. America definitely presents more hopes for entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams.

However, trends can change. Tech companies in the States are still young. Entrepreneurship in Singapore is also an emerging trend among the youth, even though it is not yet running rampant. Can tech companies in Singapore join the Top 40s? Yes they can. And I hope to build a community of peers who believe as I do.

2. To become Somebody

To be the Next Big Thing. You want to be the next Bill Gates (Microsoft), the next Steve Jobs (Apple), the next Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). You want to be a name to be remembered.

This could be a big motivation for some as well. Especially for those with vision and a dream. A dream and vision so great also requires a great person to transform the dream into reality and in doing so, become a name well known all around the world.

It will be hard work and it will be trying times as an entrepreneur. But that is what differentiates Somebody from Anybody.

3. To be in charge

It may be that you are tired of doing work for others and want control over what you do and your life in general. Entrepreneurship is your chance at it. You get to make the decisions that you have always wanted to make. You get to be in charge of what you do everyday. You get to answer to yourself and no one else in particular, other than your fellow founders in the case of your startup.

4. To do something they love doing

Entrepreneurship can be really exciting and fulfilling because more often than not, these entrepreneurs are doing what they love and building a business out of it. The best job you can have is really something that you are interested in and love doing.

Here is an excerpt of how Paul Graham of Y-Combinator puts it in his article “How To Do What You Love” -

With such powerful forces leading us astray, it’s not surprising we find it so hard to discover what we like to work on. Most people are doomed in childhood by accepting the axiom that work = pain. Those who escape this are nearly all lured onto the rocks by prestige or money. How many even discover something they love to work on? A few hundred thousand, perhaps, out of billions.

It’s hard to find work you love; it must be, if so few do. So don’t underestimate this task. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t succeeded yet. In fact, if you admit to yourself that you’re discontented, you’re a step ahead of most people, who are still in denial. If you’re surrounded by colleagues who claim to enjoy work that you find contemptible, odds are they’re lying to themselves. Not necessarily, but probably.

Although doing great work takes less discipline than people think—because the way to do great work is to find something you like so much that you don’t have to force yourself to do it—finding work you love does usually require discipline. Some people are lucky enough to know what they want to do when they’re 12, and just glide along as if they were on railroad tracks. But this seems the exception. More often people who do great things have careers with the trajectory of a ping-pong ball. They go to school to study A, drop out and get a job doing B, and then become famous for C after taking it up on the side.

I have to say that this article is a really good read to get people started on entrepreneurship as it gives people the courage to sound out to themselves that they could be doing something they actually love doing and start making big bucks out of it.

5. To change the world

All of the above are great motivations for a person to start their own businesses. But that couldn’t be all could it? There has to be something more novel than the self. Money, being somebody, being in charge and doing something you love. They are all self-centric. And if that was it to entrepreneurship, then the entrepreneurs would never truly become great people.

So, in Steve Job’s words to John Sculley when he was recruiting from Pepsi to be Apple’s CEO,

“Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?“

Guy Kawasaki is also a great guy who is an evangelist of changing the world. Take a look at his blog. His blog is also named “How to Change the World”.

And that really is what defines entrepreneurship other than reasons associated with self. It is about changing the world, making it a better place for everyone through innovative means.

It is a chance for us to make human lives more efficient and fast forward us into the future. We are living in an age of rapid technological advancements that improves the humankind so quickly we could easily lose track of ourselves. And this age provides us with so many opportunities and ideas. Entrepreneurs have to grab on to the possibilities and unleash their creativity and innovate.

There is no time nor are there opportunities to waste. It is time to play your part to change the world.