Can I Become an Entrepreneur as a Data Scientist?
Of course, you can. The job market is evolving in that direction: more and more freelancers and independent consultants are becoming active in the market and not only in the fields related to data.
If you want to become an entrepreneur because it is cool or you want to make some more money, I can tell you that you are on the wrong path.
As a data scientist/analyst/engineer, you can easily think about selling your data assets in a marketplace and earning money.
You can make a profit by selling your dashboards, charts, algorithms, datasets, and codes and using your intellect to help others and gain rewards for that as well.
If you can solve some genuine problems, you can definitely push yourself into entrepreneurship.
Data scientists are part of the elite sector that is constantly solving complex problems.
You need to have the confidence to move into entrepreneurship. In essence, being an entrepreneur is having the courage to solve lots of problems with limited resources. This can be in product space, in finance, in hiring, in sales, in marketing, or in business operations. Having a data background can help you accelerate the process because I personally believe that having problem-solving and being an analytics person can help you succeed.
On the other note, data scientists are on big paychecks. If you are a good data scientist, chances are you are earning good money and having a great life compare to other professions.
This can block you not to being able to think clearly about your entrepreneurship journey and the problems you must solve on a daily basis. This is against having a relaxed life if you work for someone else.
Essentially, this is a dilemma you need to solve for yourself.
In addition, you need to decide very early in the journey what type of business you want to have. Do you want to be a consulting firm or product startup?
Who you want to serve and what problem you want to solve.
Which sector or industry do you want to focus on and what is your messaging and promise for these groups.
Is this a B2B or B2C business?
Do you have resources to hire people to help you or you must start as a solopreneur and start from scratch?
I think this story can help you make a better decision as well.
If you are asking about my opinion, my response is YES.
If you feel inside you that you have the capacity to solve problems on a daily basis, then you definitely must become a founder.
It is actually your duty and responsibility or your calling to become one.
Remember, the first step towards having a good business is the pipeline.
Here in this blog, I explained how I built a $12M pipeline in only 3 months.
Feel free to reach out to me with your ideas and what is your plan for the future.
I may be able to help.
