Why Starting Multiple Businesses is Not a Bad Idea Getting expertise in different industries helps one to stay relevant
By Apurva Udeshi •
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An entrepreneur running more than one business is often asked: "Why are you being a jack of all trades?", "You're always so busy!", "Why don't you focus on one business", "Do you have time for your family?", "Why are you always seeking opportunities even outside of your expertise?"
Let's find out the answers for what inspires an entrepreneur to build businesses, why any new entrepreneur should strive to be a serial entrepreneur, and how everyone trying to start a new business has burnt their fingers in their initial ventures and how they have learnt from it.
Coming to the question of why people who start multiple businesses should be encouraged and why you shouldn't ever stop at one business. This is why:
Network Building
Starting multiple companies helps you to expand your network tremendously, to the extent of even starting a new venture based on the contacts/customers/ partners from your previous business. The advice and recommendations you receive from your network force you to think about several key business decisions. Also, the type of learning you receive from your network of close business contacts will be stupendous. You get different perspectives from each team.
Staying Relevant
In today's rapidly changing world, we need to stay updated with the latest technology irrespective of the field we are in. The world is evolving with artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, automated payments, etc. Getting expertise in different industries (even if you don't know anything about it when you start) helps one to stay relevant.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman once said, "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." For everyone who is trying to build the perfect product in order to launch—don't. Get your product out in the market as fast as possible. It will help you find a good product-market fit, identify any leaky buckets, and give you a quick understanding overall of where your product stands in the market and what you can do to make it better. In short, multiple ventures help you to get the know-how in various industries.
Always Having a Back Up Plan
Running multiple businesses gives you financial security and expertise in different fields. Nobody ever said that they have enough money. A widely known fact is that 90 per cent of start-ups fail and it can take years for a start-up to taste success (unless you are Apple or Google). Having multiple businesses also gives you the experience in different sectors.
Learning from Mistakes
Every time you start a new venture – you try not to repeat mistakes from the past and you get faster at the whole process. Keith Richards, one of the UK's Agile experts, said, "If you are going to fail, fail fast."Mistakes will happen, things are bound to go wrong. It is how you deal with it that matters.
Building the Right Core Team
It is the team that builds the core of any start-up. We all want a Dream Team to form the core of our company. Sometimes you don't find the team that share the same passion and commitment as you do. It is only on venturing into the tech space did we find the right core team.
In a nutshell, you should nurture your ambitions to start multiple companies; it gives you both roots and wings. Start small and dream big – you will definitely be able to successfully sustain all your ventures. All in all, you will never have a dull moment in your life and will continue to stay relevant.
