Don’t Listen to your Parents!

All that talk of business being too risky is so 2008. If you want to start a business, push all the naysayers out of the way and START! 

Think back to your childhood, back to your school days. Whenever the subject of your future and what you wanted to do in your life came up, nine times out of ten, your parents would probably tell you that you needed to choose a major in college that would more or less guarantee you a secure job at a bank, insurance company, or law firm. If you had a talent for something that did not fall under conventional fields of study, they may have tried to steer you clear of it, and encouraged it as a pastime, instead.

The thing is, love and trying to secure a better future for their kids made up the core of this mentality. What they failed to see was that your passion could actually make you a better living than any conventional job ever could.

When the topic of starting a business is brought up, it is usually met with the same broken record: “Business is too risky, and it requires capital. A job at a bank is secure, and if you fall behind, you will still get your salary.” That last quote is specifically Bahraini, by the way.

“Your passion could actually make you a better living than any conventional job ever could.

Well, newsflash, moms and pops: a job at a bank is no longer secure. Just ask all of the laid-off bankers and others who still fear for their jobs at conventional companies and financial institutions. Downsizing is all the rage nowadays here in Bahrain and in the region, so, no—it’s not such a wise thing to do, after all.

In their era, our parents did not have the benefit of technology, business forums, or angel investors, so they are not entirely to blame. The tools available today don’t guarantee the success of a business, but they can at least reduce the chance of rookie mistakes. Besides, Bahrain now has enough startup success stories to render the old “secure job” mentality obsolete.

If you do have the ambition to start a business, do it NOW. There’s no point in waiting for this or that to happen. It’s much better to start at a young age, fail at a business, and learn from your mistakes than it is to start later in life, when responsibilities have already piled up. This is not to say that any of us are too old—far from it!

“Bahrain now has enough startup success stories to render the old ”secure job” mentality obsolete.

You see, when you’re younger, the usual life commitments, such as family and mortgages, are virtually nonexistent. What’s the worst that can happen if your business fails? You learn from your mistakes, and move on.

If this sounds anti-parents so far, it really isn’t. In fact, you will need their full support if you’re going to take that first step. And you know what they say here in Bahrain: if your parents don’t approve, you will most likely fail. Bahraini parents’ Hex 101.

Don’t let anyone, including your parents, dictate your path forward. If it’s in your genes to start a business, then by all means, work toward that goal. The resistance you face in the initial stages might be a little overwhelming, but fight through it, and soon all those who stand in your way—even your parents—will come around, and might even support you.

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