All successful entrepreneurs, throughout time have done one thing: Successful entrepreneurs make some group of people so happy that they are gladly given money in return.

This principle points to how the goal of entrepreneurship is always about creating positive emotions for others, not creating profit, product or technology. Entrepreneurial success also always requires focusing on a specific group of people that are not as happy as they want to be or dream to be. Entrepreneurship requires you understand specific people, or work with somebody who understand them.

Entrepreneuring is a journey and if you are thinking of being an entrepreneur you will benefit from understanding and anticipating what’s ahead. While everyone’s entrepreneurial journey is unique, all journeys share several fundamental characteristics. All journeys start when a person contemplates whether entrepreneurship could be good for them and all journeys end when that person no longer cares whether entrepreneuring could be good for them. In between think of the journey having 5 steps:

Everyone becomes an entrepreneur for reasons that excite them, but most of these reasons are not powerful enough to enable someone to succeed in completing the arduous entrepreneurial journey. It is very important to know your real reason for thinking entrepreneuring could be good for you. You can then figure out whether your reason(s) are powerful enough to believe you have the motivations to overcome the struggles inherent in becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Today, over one billion people around the world are trying to start businesses or are running businesses they founded. You are not alone in thinking about entrepreneurship. Of course, that’s both a good thing and a bad thing. It’s good because we know so much about entrepreneurship. We know many things that will make almost anyone’s entrepreneurial journey less risky and stressful. It can never be no-risk or no-stress because no matter how well prepared you are because there are things you cannot predict and prepare for. Entrepreneuring will never be a sure thing.