Of course, independence does not guarantee an easy life. Most entrepreneurs work very hard and for long hours. They must remember that the customer is, ultimately, the boss. But they do have the satisfaction of making their own decisions within the constraints required to build a successful business.
ESCAPE A BAD SITUATION
People sometimes use entrepreneurship as an escape hatch, to free themselves from an unde¬sirable situation. Some may wish to leave an unpleasant job situation, while others may seek change out of necessity. Other individuals become entrepreneurs after being laid off by an employer. Unemployed personnel with experience in professional, managerial, technical, and even relatively unskilled positions often contemplate the possibility of venturing out on their own. Those who started or acquired small businesses as a result of financial hardship or other severely negative conditions have appropriately been called reluctant entrepreneurs
In 2001, Tina Aldatz faced her now-or-never moment when she was laid off from her job at an Internet startup. Deciding to test her entrepreneurial skills, she set a deadline of six months to see what she could do before trying to get a new job. Aldatz had burned her feet as a child, so high heels were terribly painful to wear. She had been thinking about creating a designer insole that looked good and felt better than those in other shoes. In no time, she had a working prototype of a new insole for high heels, and by six months, she was shipping out her first product, in spite of some early obstacles. Nine years later, her firm, Foot Petals, had sales of over $10 million.23
Individuals may also flee the bureaucratic environment of a corporation that seems stifling or oppressive to them. In a survey of 721 office workers, 42 percent had considered quitting their jobs over bureaucratic hassles.24 Entrepreneurship often provides an attractive alternative for individuals fleeing from such undesirable situations (sometimes called refugees).