What was your initial motivation for starting a business?
People’s motivations for wanting something of their own vary quite a lot.
So far, though, I’ve most often heard these three answers:
To make a lot of money.
To work really hard until 30 so I can relax later in life.
Time and location freedom.
Of course, these don’t exclude each other; we can want all of them at once.
But when things don’t go well, do you remind yourself of the main reason you started? Is it a strong enough motive and push to keep going? What is it for you?
In my case, it was this:
I really didn’t like the idea that one day in life, I would have to
– follow a fixed schedule,– work with people who might not even like me, and
– do things that don’t interest me, don’t make sense to me, or that I simply wouldn’t learn anything from.
And what scared me the most was that work would interfere so much with my free time that I wouldn’t be able to do the activities I enjoy, like exercising. So for me, fear was probably the strongest factor.
Replies
Honestly, I just really like the buzz around building things. :) The speed, chaos, and momentum suit me much more!
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@tereza_hurtova When did you start building and with the whole process?
For me, it was mainly freedom. Not even in the abstract sense — more the ability to choose what to work on, how to spend my time, and who I work with.
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@farrukh_butt1 I feel this sameway – to have a freedom in general :)
Flavored Resume
I have a few reasons. For one, I was always tinkering and building stuff and I thought, why not capitalize on this? However this can fall into the trap of turning all your hobbies into some kind of revenue and that sucks the fun out of it.
I also like helping people in general. This is why I stick to B2C products. I experience a pain point, find a way to solve for it, then share it with others. I created Flavored Resume because I spent more than enough time writing and rewriting my resume as part of the job hunt so I learned a lot. I'm not a professional writer but I got really good at writing resumes as a result. Based on what I saw from others' resumes....most people are not good at writing them :).
Finally I wanted to take the venture towards independence. I hate the idea of being a cog in the machine.
Money and freedom are nice too :)
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@edward_g yeah, I wanted to be altruistic too, but then realised that things I am building or investing something should have some returns :D
I don't know how far Retrocodex and my simple in-progress custom avatar reminder app will get as businesses let alone products. But I know for a fact that my motive for building them was because I wanted them to exist and because...just look at the demand! (The site was based on this viral concept.)
I mean, learning what parts of our education is outdated or was always untrue is extremely important for our own good and to prevent future misinformation and misunderstandings. So for me, I was more driven by the products themselves rather than the idea of pursuing a particular career as an entrepreneur or CEO or whatever.
If I can make money off this, that would be great because I'd love to have a flexible life and be able to travel the world.
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@christina_m_nguyen DId you already launch your tool here? :)
@busmark_w_nika Not yet, I have it scheduled for tomorrow so hopefully that works out. Having a few more friends test it first!
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@christina_m_nguyen Wishing the best! :)
@busmark_w_nika Thank you! Pushed it to today, just launched it!
In my case, as an engineer, I was motivated by the gap between what’s technically possible and what’s actually built.
I wanted to design and ship systems—especially in areas like AI and real-time applications—where performance and practicality really matter.
Fear is honest, and I think more founders than admit it started from there. For me it was a different ache: I wanted ownership of the output. Not equity ownership — creative ownership. The ability to decide what something is, how it works, what it refuses to do. Every job I had before, the best ideas got filed down by committee until they were safe and forgettable, and I’d watch the version I cared about die in a meeting. Starting something of my own was the only way I could think of to keep the original idea intact long enough to find out if it was any good. When it gets hard, that’s still the question I come back to: is the thing I’m making the thing I actually wanted to make? If yes, keep going.
Fear of a boring, fixed schedule is a huge motivator it’s like running away from a life that just doesn't fit. My version of "freedom" is a bit simpler: it’s that pure high when a tangled, messy problem finally clicks into a clear solution. Being able to prioritize your own health and peace of mind is the real "rich," regardless of what’s in the bank account.
Is that fear still what pushes you today, or are you starting to feel more "pulled" by the excitement of what you’re actually creating?
This really hits home. For me, the motivation was less about escaping a 9-to-5 and more about solving the "dependency" problem.
My husband and I work in manufacturing and manage several rental properties. We got so tired of that sinking feeling when something breaks and you realize you're either going to lose half your Saturday Googling part numbers or pay a $150 "diagnostic fee" just to have a pro tell you what you already suspected.
I built fixRAgent because I wanted to turn that "fear" of the unknown into actual utility. There’s a specific kind of freedom in being able to point your phone at a problem, identify the exact SKU, and know you can handle it yourself. For us, starting this business was about creating a tool that gives that time and confidence back to people who are already working hard enough.
It’s definitely a push to keep going when things get tough, but knowing that we’re building something that actually touches the physical world keeps it from feeling like just another project.