Latest / The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast / Should You Really Start a Business or Nonprofit with Scott Ritzheimer (stages 1,2) - Ep. 407

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Should You Really Start a Business or Nonprofit with Scott Ritzheimer (stages 1,2) - Ep. 407 · The Start, Scale & Succeed Podcast

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Scott Ritzheimer: Hello, hello, and welcome, welcome once again
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to the Start, Scale, and Succeed podcast, the only podcast that
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grows with you through all seven levels of your journey as a
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founder. I'm your host, Scott Ritzheimer, and today we are
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tackling a question that our culture, at least here in the
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West, rarely lets you ask: Do you actually need to start your
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own thing? Do you really need to quit your job or drop out of
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school to start your own business? Do you really need to
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take the leap and launch your own church or nonprofit? You
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see, especially over the last five, maybe 10 years, now we've
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been sold the myth that if you're not building your own
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thing, then you're settling, and that pressure pushes really good
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people to launch businesses and nonprofits that they never
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needed to launch. So let's figure this out, and whether or
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not they should is entirely irrelevant. What we want to
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figure out today is whether or not you should, because take it
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from someone who's helped 20,000 people do this, a lot of them
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shouldn't have, and take it from someone who's had probably just
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as many conversations with folks who are thinking about it, and
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many of them should have, but they never did, and so what I
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want, I don't want to talk you into, you know, if you should or
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if you shouldn't, that's not the goal of this episode. The goal
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of this episode, and quite frankly, for the remainder of
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this series, because this is part two of a seven part series,
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by the way, if you missed one, go back, because you're going to
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get some really, really helpful context for what this series is
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all about. Links in the show notes, just go back there and
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watch if you're on YouTube, or if you're on Spotify, or Apple
1:54
Podcast, the video is available on all those platforms. If
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you're anywhere else, or if you prefer audio, you can listen to
1:59
it as well. All right, so what we really want to figure out is,
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is I want to give you the information that you need to
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make the best decision about whether or not launching your
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own organization is right for you. So what we're talking about
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here again is the difference between level one being that
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dissatisfied employee, and the two alternatives to that, which
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are for this series, at least, which are to actually stay in
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level one, and instead of being a dissatisfied employee, become
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what I call a purposeful employee, and for the vast
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majority of people feeling the dissatisfaction of level one,
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that's the right way to go. So we're going to talk about that.
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The other alternative is to progress to the next level,
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which means moving to becoming a startup entrepreneur, and that's
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pretty cool for the right people too. But which one is right for
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you? Maybe even which one's right for you, for right now,
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because those are two different things. Reasons one. Let's start
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here. Reasons one. Reasons why level one might already be your
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ideal level. So, what are the circumstances that fit? How do
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you know if you have what it takes to succeed here, so first
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off, and this, this won't necessarily be true for a lot of
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you, but it can be, is if you're in a role, and if not, if you
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can find a role where you can build valuable, marketable
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expertise, so even if one day you're going to start your own
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organization, if for now, or even if you're not going to
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start an organization for as long as you're working, if you
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can find a role that makes you more valuable, that's awesome,
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that's fantastic, and and it might not be in your current
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role, you might have to do the hard work and vulnerable work of
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finding another, but if you can, if you can find a role that adds
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value to you and and creates marketable expertise that can
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only help if or when the time comes that you do want to make
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the leap and start your own organization, so that's the
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first one. Second one, can you work for an organization that
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values mastery and rewards excellence?
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Because one of the things that folks mistake, they think that
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if you're great at cutting hair, for example, that you should go
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and start your own hair business, because that's where
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you'll cut hair, but the truth of it is you'll, you can cut
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more hair, and you can, you can develop a greater mastery for
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doing that, and get more reward from it in level one than you
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can by going and starting a business doing it, because if
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you go and start a business doing it at most. Cutting hair
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is like half of what you're going to do, because you have to
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go find new clients, you have to deal with all the administrative
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stuff that comes along with that, you have to deal with the
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problems that come with that. There are so many other things
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that you have to do that aren't cutting hair, that if, if
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whatever it is that you do is what you want to do. You're
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probably going to have a better experience doing that in the
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context of an enterprise that already has other people to do
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all that other stuff. So, if you don't want to do all that other
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stuff, but you really just want to master what it is that you
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do, or you want to get in a role where you can master what it is
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that you do, then it's probably better to stay in level one than
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to start your own business or nonprofit, because your
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attention is going to be divided a lot in level two. Another
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reason why you might find that level one is a fit is if your
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vision for your life is to become world class at what you
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do, so this is closely related to the earlier point, and it's
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kind of the theme of this is like if you want to be great at
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what it is you do, now what is it that you do? It might be the
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actual skill, like welding or carpentry or cutting hair might
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be the trades, it might be the skill of leading a team,
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managing folks, like there are there are way easier ways to
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find fulfillment managing a team of employees than going and
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starting your own business or nonprofit, so if you want to be
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world class at whatever it is that you do, and generally,
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whatever the thing is that you spend your day doing, then
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that's usually easier to do within an organization than by
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creating one. If you are at a stage of life, if you have other
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things outside of work that will benefit from stability and
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predictability from a paycheck, from a work schedule, from, you
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know, the benefits themselves. Then that's that's a strong plug
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for level one, if you are willing to let someone else
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carry the organizational weight while you focus on your craft,
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then level one might be great for you, if you are on the, you
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know, average to less than average in terms of risk
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profile, then everything comes with risk. You can be fired from
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a job, just like you can be fired by an employee, but there
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is a much, much greater level of risk in creating something from
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nothing than there is from taking part in an organization
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that's already functioning, so if you have a, an average or
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less than average risk profile, then level one might, might not
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be a bad gig. So, the reason why I'm not necessarily talking
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about how to do that is because what I've found is that for most
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folks, if they develop a conviction that what they're
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doing is right for them, so it is right for me to stay in level
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one. Well, then what happens pretty quickly is you realize
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everything else is just a problem to be solved, and, and
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so once you understand the tensions to be managed, you
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won't own the thing, you'll have to work with other people in
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some way, shape, or form, you won't have absolute autonomy
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over how something happens. Those are tensions to be
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managed.
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Those just come with level one, but everything else, like a bad
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job, a bad boss, low pay, work that doesn't interest you, those
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are all problems to be solved, and you can solve them inside of
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level one without having to take the often foolish risk of
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starting something else, so those are all arguments for,
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hey, level one's not a bad gig. You can actually be a purposeful
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employee by solving some of those problems and just managing
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the few tensions that are left over. However, that's not
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everybody, it's not me, it's not the many founders that I work
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with to get to even level three, level four, level five, where
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you're being a CEO. Oftentimes the way to do that is to go
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through level two. There's a caveat for buying into an
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organization. We're not going to talk about that right now, but
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what are some signs that it's actually time to move to level
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two. One of the most common, actually, is that things are
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going really, really well in level one. When you look at it,
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this is an old stat now, but founders, successful founders,
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if you rewind the take. To what they were doing before they
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started their organization, before they jumped to level two,
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they, they're not unemployed slackers living in their mom's
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basement, they, they're actually typically employed, and they're
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making somewhere between 125% 175% of what people normally do
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in in that occupation, that means they're good at what they
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do. So folks who start the dissatisfied employees who
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become successful entrepreneurs, successful solopreneurs, and
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onward, they are, they're not failing most of the time, but
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the they're not finding fulfillment, and that's probably
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the clearest indication you, you have to build something, not
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just contribute, you're winning in your role, but it's not
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satisfying your soul, and you've tried, I would say, not even
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thought about, but you've tried to go to another place, and,
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and, and to find satisfaction in the work there, and here's what
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it boils down to. You should start an organization and move
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to level two if you can't do anything else, if your vision
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demands it of you, if your soul cannot be settled, and you give
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it a legitimate college try. Then, then it's time. It could
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be time for you to move. Well, let me say, it could be right
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for you to move. Timing is a little bit different, and so if
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you're, if you're trying, if you're thinking about starting
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an organization because you're not thriving, chances are pretty
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good you're going to make a bad decision. So, you really want to
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solve for thriving first, and then from a good place that
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still isn't satisfactory. Now you know that you know, and so
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for those of you that are kind of teetering on the fence,
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you're not quite sure, don't go to level two yet, yet instead,
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this is the timing piece I just mentioned. Figure out how to
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truly thrive in level one and become a purposeful employee,
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and from that position of I found this place where I can
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have mastery. I've done it, and it's still not the right thing.
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Then you'll know that you'll know that moving to level two is
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right for you, and, and so, what are some other things that you
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need to know about this stage? Just real quick, level one, you
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know, if you're choosing, hey, should I stay here. Level one is
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where you're not limited to what you can do, which is kind of
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cool, like from a size perspective, you can join
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whatever size organization works for you. Here's a really
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interesting point. There are, I would say, roughly half the
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population, maybe a little less will become dissatisfied working
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in a large enterprise because they're really designed for the
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more entrepreneurial space, but that doesn't mean that they are
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founders. There's a difference in being a founder and being an
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being entrepreneurial, those are two different things, and so
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there's a lot of folks who they don't need to start their own
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thing, they just need to go and work for a smaller organization,
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because it's going to fit them culturally better.
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So you can be in level one and work for a startup, right, as
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part of the team, you can work for a more established but still
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entrepreneurial kind of small business, if you will,
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medium-sized business, or many of you, about half the
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population, especially those who shouldn't be a founder. They'll
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find a great fit in a larger organization with a little bit
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more structure, a little bit more defined roles, and things
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of that nature. So one of the things you might want to play
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around with is just finding the right size organization to be
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part of, and that might do the trick for you. Activities, you
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get to do what you do best in this level. That's what's really
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cool about it. You really do get to focus the most on your craft,
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however you define that. From a schedule perspective, this is
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obviously changing a lot in COVID times, and with
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millennials and Gen Zs, where nine to five kind of isn't a
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thing right now, but nine to five isn't a bad thing. We've
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made being a dissatisfied employee equivalent to working a
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nine to five, and that's not true. You can be a purposeful
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employee working a nine to five, and that's a pretty damn great
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deal. Like, if you can show up nine to five, do something that
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you're passionate about and that you've mastered, that makes your
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five to nine life better. It doesn't make it worse, and so if
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your nine to five is sucking life out of you. Don't settle
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for that, but also don't buy into the fact that the only way
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out of that is to go start your own business or nonprofit,
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because that's a false choice. There is a middle ground there
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that's great. Pros of staying in level one, for those of you who
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think, "Hey, I might not need to start my own enterprise, there
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is zero ownership pressure, which means that, especially
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once you control for taking control of your situation, the
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chaos stays at the office, and this is one of those things
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that's hard. If you've never had the pressure of ownership, it's
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difficult to understand what that feels like. I was actually
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just working with a client and friend of mine who's going to be
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buying into an organization, and we spent a whole session just
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talking about the move from not owning to owning, and the
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pressure that that creates. It's financial, it's it's a lack of
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clarity, it's volatility. There's an immense pressure for
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owners, right? Which, when you become a startup entrepreneur,
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you're an owner, you're not in the owner stage, but or level,
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but you, you have ownership pressure, and the benefit of
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level ones, like it's someone else's problem, which is
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fantastic, and you get to focus on mastering what it is you do.
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There's there tends to be a lot more stability in something like
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this. There's a lot of pros here. There are some cons. We
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have to be honest about those. One of the biggest is just the
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what ifs. I see a lot of folks, and you'll see this with any
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person, regardless of whether they choose one or two, but
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there's a especially later in life. Well, what if I had done
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that? What if I had taken the chance? And so, for those of you
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who really should go to level two, but don't, because of fear,
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insecurity, anxiety, just a lack of intentionality in pursuing it
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might suffer from the what ifs that that can gnaw at you,
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especially later in life. You do have to play by the rules, at
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least to some extent. You have to engage with other people's
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priorities, and while that sounds like, man, if I could
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just be my own boss, I wouldn't have to do with, do with any of
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that. That's kind of never true, I guess. To some extent, it's
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true in level two, where you get to set your priorities, but
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what's actually happening in level two is your clients are
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setting your priorities, and then once you get to level
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three, you've got to have priorities that are shared with
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everybody else. Now you have a little bit more say in them than
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you would otherwise, but not full say, because, like, we're
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going to talk about in that episode, people need stuff from
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you, and, and so that's there.
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And then there's this temptation to phone it in. I think that's
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true of every level, but it's particularly true of level one,
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and so what this really boils down to is what's your vision
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for your life. What's the work that you want to do, and if you
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can achieve that vision, and if you can do that work within the
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context of someone else's organization, you probably
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should. If you can't, if there's a better way, and, and the, the
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way for you to get that, either the only, or at least the best
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way to get to that other way to create that other product, to
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add that other service, to help those other people, is to start
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an organization, then that might be the right call for you,
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because the world needs both. The world needs people who are
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world class at what they do. The world needs entrepreneurs who
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are changing the way that we do what we do. What the world
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doesn't need is more people chasing someone else's borrowed
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vision. We don't need more people buying the lie that level
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two, starting your own thing is inherently better than level
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one. That's patently false. And so, if you're sitting there and
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you're struggling with this question, should I start my own
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thing? Here's the great news that I want to end with. You
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have two really good options. I want to say that you have two
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really good options. You can find a way to stay in level one
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and thrive as a purposeful employee, or this might just be
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the moment where you make the call, you start getting ready,
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and you ultimately take the leap and start your own organization.
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In either case, I'm rooting for you. I'm excited for you. If
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you're, if you're a dissatisfied employee, there truly is really
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only one way to go, and that is up in one way, shape, or form.
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When you take control of the situation and you decide what's
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best for you, so that's level one for those who are thinking
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about going to level two. Hope this was great for you. If
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you're one of those folks who've already been there, you've
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already done that, you've already started your own thing.
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Then the next episode might be just the perfect episode for
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you. We're going to jump forward to the transition from level two
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to level three, and we're going to talk about this question of
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should you really hire and manage a whole team, or is there
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another way? We'll talk about what that other way might be in
20:23
the next episode, and with that, you know your time and attention
20:28
mean the absolute world to us. I hope you got just a little bit
20:32
more clarity than you had before, and I cannot wait to see
20:35
you in the next episode in this series. Take care. Hey everyone,
20:40
ScoreTheimer here. Thank you so much for listening to the Start
20:44
Scale and Succeed podcast. I hope this episode gave you
20:47
exactly what you need for the level you're in right now. If
20:51
you want to discover what level you're in, take our 10 question
20:55
founders evolution quiz for free@foundersquiz.com That's
20:59
foundersquiz.com It'll pinpoint exactly where you are and give
21:03
you tailored tips to move forward and reach that next
21:06
level in your journey as a founder. If you got something
21:10
out of today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate, or
21:14
review. It helps us reach more founders like you, and let's be
21:18
honest, it means a ton to me, my team, and all our incredible
21:22
guests, so keep starting, scaling, and succeeding, and
21:25
I'll see you in the next episode.