PayPal Stories Archive

For most of my life I didn’t have entrepreneurial aspirations. I had a job I loved (as the longtime editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine). And I was happy to be an employee—until I wasn’t.

 

That may sound odd, but people start businesses for all sorts of reasons, some of which make sense only to them. That’s what happened to me. Looking back, I’m not sure if I really was content as an employee or deluded myself into believing I was. But, doing work you love, especially as an employee, is safe.

 

And that need for security is common among women, especially those my age. When Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique in 1963, I was in elementary school, unaware of the possibilities. In fact, several years later my high-school guidance counselor told me I (as a female) could be a teacher, nurse or secretary. I rejected them all and remembered seeing women's bylines in The New York Times. Out of desperation I decided to be a journalist.

 

Journalism is not a career that prepares you for entrepreneurship. Though covering small business gave me an advantage, we all know the perils of startup. Many fail. Cash flow is an issue, even in the best of economic times. Makes you wonder why anyone would be crazy enough to start a business.

 

And yet—why not? That’s the question I kept asking myself. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, entrepreneurs “see things that never were and say ‘why not?’” And I could never come up with an answer. That's how I ended up on Thanksgiving, at the age of 55, in Paris with my sisters and nieces, staring at the magnificence of the Cathedral at Notre Dame sipping the best hot chocolate ever made, and deciding, "Why not!"

 

Owning a business is not easy. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. Or slept so little. There were months I questioned my decision several times a day—and my sanity more often. There were weeks I didn’t think we'd make it. But make it we did (knock wood).

 

Are you thinking about entrepreneurship?  

 

Don’t be afraid. That doesn’t mean be fearless. Use your fear. Follow your gut is not a cliché—it’s sage advice. Find people you can trust. Believe in yourself. Ask yourself, “why not?” And when you can’t think of an answer, just do it!