A DECADE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP: WHY I'LL NEVER GO BACK TO BEING A WAGE WORKER?

Today, July 5th, I am celebrating my 10-year journey as an entrepreneur. I didn't die, didn't have to move under a bridge to live, and not once did I have to eat pine cones during my entrepreneurial journey. Instead, my knowledge has grown enormously over these ten years, my hunger for learning continues to grow, I have been able to do diverse and interesting jobs in various sectors with both large corporations and startups, and I've even managed to accumulate a nest egg of my own. But how did I become an entrepreneur in Finland at a time when entrepreneurship was mainly considered a fool's game?

How did I become an entrepreneur?

It's July 2013, and I'm anxiously awaiting the decision from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office: will my business name be approved or not? Everything is planned out on paper, starting with the business plan. Everything that could be thought of with the knowledge I had at the time. There were many practical matters related to running a business that I had no clue about then. On the other hand, perhaps it was good that I didn't know everything I didn't know. The whole thing could have ended before it even started. What I didn't know, I learned along the way. Sometimes out of necessity and through trial and error, but what you learn the hard way, you remember forever. That's just how it goes, at least for me.

Back in 2013, the attitude climate in Finland was not at all encouraging towards entrepreneurship. I was mostly considered crazy for having decided that I was going to become an entrepreneur. For some, the idea of becoming an entrepreneur seemed completely insurmountable, and there were all sorts of persuasive talks trying to change my mind. Usually, I'm very quick to act, some might even say impulsive, but this time it took a full year to make the final decision, such was the fear instilled in Finland at that time. I considered all possible options in my head, what's the worst that could happen? I'm probably not going to die from this, I thought. And I'm unlikely to end up living under a bridge, the safety nets of Finnish society are quite good. I had also managed to accumulate some buffer in my bank account, which gave me some security. So what was the worst possible scenario in my mind, what could happen if the business didn't take off? That I would have to go back to being a wage worker.

I received a positive decision on the business name and with the help of a start-up grant, I kick-started the business. And then it started, except it didn't. For the first three months, I didn't have a single gig and I was sure that the whole thing was dead on arrival. Then, one Friday, everything exploded. I received eight different contacts in one day and since then, my calendar has been more or less always full.

Being the greedy bastard that I was, I accepted all possible jobs and halfway through the year, I found myself working around the clock with stress levels somewhere in the exosphere. I encountered customers who were demanding things that were not part of the agreement we had both signed. There were also partners who failed to do their part and I was fixing their outputs in the early hours of the morning. One of those nights, I saw my own reflection in the window. A tired and extremely stressed young adult was staring back at me. I didn't recognize myself in the reflection. I asked myself: “Did I become an entrepreneur so I could kill myself with work?” “Definitely not!” “I became an entrepreneur because I wanted the freedom to decide what work I do, with whom, and how much.” It was time to stop and think about my own values, why I do what I do.

Why will I never return to being a wage worker?

All sorts of things have happened over the past ten years. The company form has been revamped, as has the business name. At one point, I jumped back into employment, thinking that in that role, I could influence things, and I continued entrepreneurship as a side job. Both the brand and the offering have changed over the years. The very concrete design of web and mobile services at the beginning has turned more and more abstract and systemic towards strategies, business model, and process design, as well as implementing cultural transformations. I've even set up another company, so I guess I'm a serial entrepreneur these days. Along the way, there has also been an identity crisis as my skills have grown. If I can move smoothly on land, sea, and air, what am I? A lion, fish, or bird or perhaps some combination of these?

As an entrepreneur, you have the freedom to be anything, and often entrepreneurship leads to doing a bit of everything from all possible areas, even if you don't offer it all to customers. In addition to my core expertise, I am not unfamiliar with coding, doing marketing and sales, looking at key figures and economic prospects, thinking about different future scenarios, hosting a podcast, or being a YouTuber. If I were an employee, most of the above would remain undone. As an employee, there would be a predefined stall that comes with the role, where I would be put with a leash around my neck, expected to behave according to my role and position.

I also feel that as an employee, there is a risk of stagnation. The salary keeps coming in, but at work, you may not have the opportunity to develop yourself in the same way. An entrepreneur must learn and renew oneself; otherwise, you'll soon be left behind and be eating those pine cones. In my own company, I have made an agreement with the CEO (myself) that there is an unlimited budget for training, always. Rarely does work feel like a chore. I am constantly building my own business and not someone else's. How far we go depends largely on our own abilities, motivation, and actions. As an entrepreneur, I also don't have to deal with ego-centric internal politics, which unfortunately exist in almost every larger company.

I have a business owner's mindset. I am a change maker who challenges existing practices and brings in new ways of thinking. It is often expected of a consultant to challenge, as if it is permission to do so. As an employee, I have experienced that too many people resist change, view change makers as a threat, and at that point, everything becomes a waste of time.

Never say never. At this point in my life, however, I dare say that I will hardly ever become an employee again. Entrepreneurship is what keeps me awake, motivates me, makes me constantly learn new things, and forces me to step out of my comfort zone. Entrepreneurship has also taught me that life supports you. You have to trust the future and not overanalyze things. The sky is the limit for what you can do as an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is what I want. I am an entrepreneur, and this is my story.