I’m married and have two kids. Can I plunge into entrepreneurship now?

Is it a good idea to launch a startup, however unique it is, if you have got a family that is dependent on you?

Three of my college friends and I (all journalists and married, with two of us having kids) made an ambitious plan a few months ago: to start a media portal for positive and inspiring stories.

As any other entrepreneurs, we also wanted to change the world. We wanted our readers to get inspired and motivated by people tirelessly working for the emancipation of the underprivileged and marginalised. We thought of giving a refreshing break to people, who are constantly bombarded with the lunatic utterances of demagogues like Donald Trump and the stories from those war zones. We also wanted people to get some good vibes from our articles and go home with positive thoughts.

Also Read: Why I will not found a startup

In future, we could channelise some of the revenues our startups generates (too early and over-ambitious?) to help the poor and the needy in the society (oh, so nice of us).

We dreamed of a much better world

much better Overall, it was an ambitious plan. In essence, we dreamed of a world where people love and help each other, where there is no hate or war. We wanted to build a heaven right here on the earth.

We prepared a draft over a drink (not me, I am a teetotaller) at a sea-side resort in Kochi in India. As you know, awesome things happen over drinks. As my friends drained their glass, ideas began to pour in from their subconscious minds. We discussed in length the impact that the blog can create on the society we live in. Every one of us went to bed with positive feelings.

Our ambitious startup talk continued the next day on a boat trip on the backwaters near the resort. The discussion was animated despite the hangover of the drinks we had in the previous night.

On our way back to our homes too, the discussion on the startup dominated. Every one of was weaving colourful dreams of becoming a great entrepreneur. One of my friends, who was yet to recover from the hangover, kept reminding us of setting a deadline for the launch of the blog.

Here was the plan: in the initial years, we would be crowdsourcing content from social media like Facebook, and friends and other blogs. We would also employ some freelancers to write content for us. We might also take content from other sites and rehash. In five-six years, we would build a good user base, launch some events, get some digital ads and generate some money.

Also Read: Why I should found a startup

Weeks passed. The talks now moved to our WhatsApp group. We were aggressively contemplating a suitable name for the portal. I suggested some names, which were summarily rejected! Others also came up with some awesome names, inspired by some Russian, Spanish and French words. My ego did not let them win, so I rejected those faster than they did.

Some advices from peers

After the initial euphoria, the excitement waned. But, before the idea died down, I spoke to some entrepreneurs for advices. They were all very encouraging. I also talked to a friend of mine, who is the co-founder of a seed-funded technology portal in India. He also cheered our idea but with a stern warning.

“Before you start, you have to keep three things in mind. First, you need to make sure your idea is unique; secondly, you need to have at least six months’ salary in hand; and finally, you need to commit full-time to the project,” he said.

After 30-minute-long telephonic discussion, I went back to my desk and asked myself: Do we have a unique idea? The answer is ‘yes and no’. There are at least three positive news portals, one of which is VC-funded. But our idea was to launch a news blog in a vernacular language, so it was not a bad idea either (after all, over 90 per cent of startup ideas in the world are copy-cats).

Now, can we save our six months’ salary to invest in the business? That could be very difficult. None of us can afford to save six months’ salary, in the circumstances. But it is still manageable and can crowd source some funds from the family.

Finally, can we commit full time to our idea? There is the problem. All of us are family men and have lots of responsibilities and obligations. We have families and kids and all of them depend on our salary. Some of us even have some distant relatives who also depend on our salary to meet their ends.

Last year I had a chat with a Singapore-based entrepreneur, a newly-married then. He told me that married life of an entrepreneur is really difficult. He told me most nights he would be coding, checking emails and answering clients’ questions, and that he did not get time to go and visit her family or go to parties. You might not get time even to sleep.

So, can I afford to leave my family behind and dedicate myself to the startup? Honesty, I CANNOT. I have two kids and I work from home. I would say working from home is the most wonderful thing that could happen in my life. The kids and family help me take some stress off your work.

So committing full-time to my startup, with no time to take care of my family and kids, is something that I cannot even imagine. For me, family always comes first and everything else is secondary. For, it is the family who will stand by your bedside when you are sick. Your startup, fame or money will not!

Mark my words!

Image Credit: Sidelnikov/123RF Stock Photo

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