Can You Be A Risk-Free Entrepreneur?

The idea of an entrepreneur in Western society is generally built around a certain concept of a person. They are motivated, fast-talking and above all, they are unafraid. They’ll tell you, if you ask them, that the most important thing an entrepreneur can be is risk-driven. In drama, and in reality TV, one of the greatest cliches about successful business owners is that they are adrenaline-fuelled mavericks. Determined to make bigger profits and better deals each time, they’re always going to push the envelope that little bit further.

These facts can be enough to make the more cautious among us wonder whether entrepreneurship is really for us. If you have a decent idea for a business and can put together a plan showing how it could work, do you need to have vast reserves of self-confidence to make it happen? Or can you be a risk-free entrepreneur who takes straightforward, simple decisions and still comes out ahead?

Whatever your business is, it can fail

Success is never pre-ordained, in business or in life. Failure is always a possibility, because even if you have the “perfect” plan, there are always unforeseen circumstances that can take you away from your goals. It doesn’t matter how much of a blue-chip idea you have had, nothing starts with a 100% guarantee of success. That means that you have to be ready for the possibility that your hard work, startup capital and networking could end up coming to nothing.

You can’t control everything, but you can manage risk

Because there is the possibility of your business failing, it would then follow that you can’t be a “risk-free” entrepreneur. There will always be ways that it can go wrong - but you can control what is at risk from that failure. If you borrow significant capital to start your business, then you could end up on the hook for that money. If, on the other hand, you find alternative ways to raise capital, or mitigate your borrowing, you’ll be able to ensure a softer landing. Learn how to avoid unnecessary debt: is DTSS legit? Then consider it and other ideas for minimizing your liability.

Start cautiously and add strings to your bow

While you’ll never totally eliminate risk from business, you can decide what you will risk and when, and you can stage your entry into the business world by only expanding when you have achieved proof of success in each stage. This means that steps like opening your own premises, hiring staff and taking the business international can be taken once you already have the money in the bank to do those things. You can crack a profit in business while running things from home with only a website and minimal storage to your name: if things do fall through, you needn’t have too much liability to deal with, and if they succeed then you can take the next step without any great concern. 

Technically, entrepreneurship will always carry some risk, but if you’re a cautious and cagey operator there are still ways to minimize your exposure.