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Six hard questions

September 11, 2018
 - Tim Hardman

In response to my post with tips for people who want to start their own business, a good friend who has been planning his own project sent me an email.

He is now at a point where many people are: he is between jobs and wants to take charge of his own life. He is getting back in touch with his network, getting his marketing tools ready, and looking over the resources that are out there.

He has been offered a job that he says he has wanted for years, which is ironic. He tells me it's with an in-house agency for a well-known pharmaceutical business. It's part of the job to help peer-to-peer Med Ed programmes grow. It's a pretty good job with perks and a good salary (at least in UK money). And yet, he tells me, “I’ve been angling to get a pharma ‘brand’ job for so long. It was a huge goal (dream job). But I just couldn’t get any traction with my applications over the years”, until now.

Yes, it’s his dream job but in the time it has taken for this opportunity to come along, Mark (not his real name), has been bitten by ‘the bug’, that is the idea of running his own company. Instead of focusing on the good things, he has begun to wonder if taking the job was a good idea. He says that project management isn't his strong suit, and while the job has a strategic aspect, he doesn't think he fully understands it. It would take him an hour to get to work, and he doesn't think the job would give him the chance to do artistic work directly.

He is also worried about how to stay alive in the business political world. He thinks that he will be happier and be able to spend more time at home, which will allow him to help his son with his homework, even if he gets less than half of the offered wage on his own in the next year. A lot of people I know have been in the same situation. They have had to choose between giving up great prospects or making them. If you ask him if he should miss this chance, there is no right answer. Mark is the only one who can choose what is best for him. But I thought I could help by asking the tough questions that I think everyone should think about before they start a new business.

  • What will you lose by starting all of this over if you take the job and things don't work out? You will still remember everything you have learned so far.
  • If you decide after a year that the job isn't for you, will you have had the chance to build up your war chest and meet more people?
  • You have a young family. Are you ready to give up a lot of time with your child and wife in favour of the easy corporate choice and all the benefits that come with it? Because make no mistake about it, having a business wastes your time and money. A client who needs you to work on Christmas Day is much more important than an hour driven to and from work. No matter how far away you move, you can never get away from your job.
  • You have the toughness and drive to run a business, but are you ready for the grind, where clients, coworkers, and suppliers all want a piece of you? It might be easier to work to live than to live to work. It sounds like the job title isn't exactly what you want, but once you start working for a company, you should be able to change the focus of the job over time so that you can do things you enjoy.
  • Are you willing to do all the work that no one else wanted to do at work, even though it makes you angry that you never get to do the things you love?
  • Most businesses fail in the first few months. Are you ready to start over if everything falls apart for no reason? You want to get into a very competitive and well-known area, but you don't have many contacts or a track record.

These are tough questions, but there's no way around the truth about starting a business. And the best chance of success is to be ready. I have to say that I did give Mark some straight advice this time. I told him I thought he should take the job for a year and use that time to make contacts (which he doesn't seem to have many of) while he works for this huge, global business. Be the nicest person in the company. Help everyone, keep a smile on your face, and question their methods as much as you can. Take classes to learn. Afterward, if it gets too dull, begin again, this time better ready.

Is taking the corporate job an easy option – Yes. Is there anything wrong with that – no. Will his soul suffer? Will he be left asking himself whether he would have been brilliant – probably. What would I say if he asked me whether I would do it all again, even though all I have gained is grey hair and infinite patience – YES!

About the author

Tim Hardman
Managing Director
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Dr Tim Hardman is Managing Director of Niche Science & Technology Ltd., a bespoke services CRO based in the UK. He also serves as Managing Director at Thromboserin Ltd., an early-stage biotechnology company. Dr Hardman is a keen scientist and an occasional commentator on all aspects of medicine, business and the process of drug development.

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