Location and Starting a Business
Why Environment Impacts Success
Written by James Garvin for Gaebler Ventures
An entrepreneur's personal and professional environment has an immense impact on their ability to succeed. Placing yourself in a positive environment will help give you the motivation and access to resources you need to see your start-up succeed.
There is a reason why there are geographical pockets of successful start-ups.
San Francisco leads the way with Silicon Valley followed by cities like: Boston, Chicago, Austin, and Boulder, CO. These cities have been building a community of successful startups in high technology firms from software to biotechnology. Entrepreneurs thrive off of each other and rely on an entrepreneurial environment to access resources they need to successfully manage and grow their startup from an unstable venture with no money to a thriving profit machine. These startup communities thrive on one another and as a result create an environment that is very friendly, supportive, and encouraging for new entrepreneurs.
Many of these communities offer local entrepreneurs plenty of opportunities to socialize and network with each other. In Silicon Valley alone, there are entrepreneur networking meetings every day attended by both new entrepreneurs and established ones. These local meetings provide new entrepreneurs the ability to learn from one another and hear from entrepreneurs who have seen their fair share of success. They share stories of failures and successes, and are open to helping each other whether it is connecting them with other friends or introducing them to investors. What makes these communities so great for new entrepreneurs is the support structure that they offer.
An entrepreneur's personal environment is also a critical aspect that is required to help keep a positive and encouraging attitude when times get tough (and they will). The best thing an entrepreneur can have is a supportive group of family and friends in their corner. Having a spouse or parent that doubts your abilities as an entrepreneur or thinks your business idea is bad, can have a huge negative impact. Entrepreneurs need support and that critical support usually starts right at home or within your group of friends.
One of the most common things entrepreneurs may here from there parents is not to do a startup because it's too risky. Rather they'll recommend you go get a job like everyone else and like they did and collect your weekly paycheck like you have been every week since you got your first job. Entrepreneurs rise above these challenges because they know what they want and they go out and get it.
Entrepreneurship isn't about taking uncalculated risks and one risk that all entrepreneurs need to mitigate is their geographical and personal environment. If you are working by yourself with out a professional or personal support structure it can be extremely difficult to endure the forces against you for the long-term. If you do not live in a thriving entrepreneurial community, look to build your own. Contact old professors or professionals working in your industry and bounce ideas off of them. Most people enjoy hearing about new business ideas and are likely to offer a helping hand when they can. Whatever your startup and wherever you start it, build your support network early on, it will pay its dividends down the road.
James Garvin began his education studying biotechnology. In recent years he has turned his interest in technology to helping two internet startup companies. The first business was an online personal financial network and the second was an e-marketing platform created to help entrepreneurs demo their web sites. Currently a student at University of California Davis, James is spending his summer incubating two new online businesses and writing about his entrepreneur experiences.
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