The Decision to Start a Business.

“A person who can completely refuse to be influenced by others. Someone who, after observing people or things around them, can express their opinions without being swayed, without prejudice, without being bribed, and with fearless honesty. Such a person always becomes a formidable opponent. When this person shares their opinion on what is happening around them, people listen because they know it’s a necessary opinion, not a personal one, and they become a force to be reckoned with.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance, p. 18

Yesterday, I attended a co-founder item meeting. We’ve reached a conclusion, and by next week’s meeting, we plan to conduct market research and gather materials for prototype development. I decided to get a job and did so, and now I’m preparing to start a business with the same determination.

I have no intention of letting this venture fizzle out. In the short term, there will be numerous challenges, and I expect them to be quite difficult to overcome. Through repeatedly creating a product cycle in my personal business, I’ve become accustomed to failure. And I’ve also become accustomed to success.

There is no definitive answer to entrepreneurship, but there is a solution. The fundamental value of the market, “the customer,” does not change. Entrepreneurship begins with opening the customer’s wallet. To understand the customer, you have to be on the ground.

This July, I moved from Sejong to Hanam City. I took a leave of absence after my first semester of university. Despite the tough job market, I found a decent salary, a permanent position, a short commute, and a strict 9 to 6 schedule. I’m satisfied with these good conditions.

However, the longer I stayed at the company, the more I noticed myself becoming complacent. Ironically, the work at the company is busier than ever. I’m busy resolving backlogs, addressing client issues, and sometimes even taking calls directly. After finishing a few tasks, I end up postponing new challenges or creative attempts to the next month, losing sight of my original goal of “growing the company.”

Recently, I’ve barely managed to hold onto my enthusiasm by resuming a side project. And then I realized.

“I need to do my own work.”