The uncertainty of entrepreneurship causes many entrepreneurs to put off starting their business. For others, losing a job or other economic hardships push them starting their businesses earlier than expected. In our conversations with thousands of entrepreneurs we’ve seen so much variety in when, how and why people started their business and so we wanted to share a wide variety of views and reflections on the question of whether these folks wished they had started sooner or waited longer before starting their businesses.

Cam Williamson

I definitely would have started my own brand sooner given the choice. I think it’s important to remember that you learn the necessary lessons at your own time. I think in a way, had I started my brand sooner, I would have ruined it. Read more>>

Julie Rieutort

I had almost began my career as a painter early on but had decided to pursue the pastry arts instead. I was worried about becoming a “starving artist” and feared that I would not be able to support myself through my paintings. I do not regret this decision however, because this path led me to creating wedding cakes and through the wedding cakes I discovered live wedding painting. Without this experience I may have never come across such a perfectly suited career. Read more>>

Ruthie Bee

In my 26 years on this planet, I have learned that there will never be a “right time” for anything; there will always be a reason not to try. Launching a business during the pandemic sounded like a crazy idea, but I chose to face the unknown and started Sandollar Soap Company at a time in my life when I needed it most. I believe that all things work for good, and despite all the negative things that were impacting my life at the time, I wouldn’t change a thing about how my business got started. Read more>>

Pily Montiel

I started operating like a business right after graduating from a master’s program, in 2017. By “like” I mean I incorporated, invested a substantial amount of capital, and signed a long-term lease. I’d say overall it was a premature decision. I was fully secure in my creative skills, but I needed more experience in the business department. Ideally, I would have had a business partner or a mentor to cover this gap. I had to learn by making mistakes. Read more>>

Claire Thom

If I could go back in time I would have started my business much sooner. Photography and business are two things that I have always had an interest in. And if I had just had more faith in myself I could have had a fulfilling business for much longer. Before I had my photography business I had a kids clothing company in Scotland. Which I did enjoy, however, photography is where my passion has always been. Read more>>

Stephanie Gutierrez Macias

Definitely wish I started photography sooner! Fun fact- I used to be a hair & makeup artist. I was alway at photoshoots/sets but never the one photographing them. Just a behind the scenes, girl. The more shoots I went to the more I wanted to be the one photographing my work. So thats exactly what I did! I became the photographer and I wish I had started it sooner. Read more>>

Mushin Media

Mushin doesn’t believe in time. Mushin believes in The Moment because The Moment is all we have, all we experience, all we are. Mushin has always been built by moments. Moments shape who we are and what we do. They are the foundation of our very being. The option of starting Mushin sooner or later doesn’t exist because it would be altering existence. Read more>>

Brooke Laycock

If I had the opportunity to go back knowing what I know now I want to say that I would change how things happened and start sooner, but then I also feel like I would have missed out on the opportunities that I have been given and the set of skills I have acquired. Many years ago when I graduate highschool I was also in a modeling school where I learned how to network, market myself, and a little bit about how the fashion world operates on a social media platform. Read more>>

Eduardo Garcia

Helados La Azteca was founded by my father back in 98. Originally La Azteca main point of sale was manufacturing popsicles for stores in the DFW area. As the years passed my father transitioned to a more community/public business. Not only selling popsicles for bulk buyers but switching to serving our community with ice cream scoops, corn in a cup, fruit cups, mangonadas etc. I’ve always shadowed my father from a very young age. Read more>>

Amanda Wander

3 years ago when COVID-19 became the topic of the world I found myself without a job, alone and wondering where my life would take me. I watched as so many people lost jobs, homes, family members, hell they even their minds. The only thing that kept me somewhat connected to the outside world was the internet. Like most people, I turned to it for entertainment, scrolling through videos of people living their lives on camera, trying to keep a connection open. I thought to myself, I could be doing the same thing. Read more>>

Cassie LaMere

If I could go back in time, I do wish that I had started my business sooner. With that said, the moments that preceded me starting my own business makes me believe that there was serendipitous timing at work and that everything unfolded as it was intended to. Read more>>

TJ Mixon

Looking back, it’s not that I wish I’d started sooner, it’s that I wish I had a business mindset shift earlier in my life. I became a “business man” in college. I started selling school necessities to classmates, eventually ran a network marketing organization, to investing in a health bar and acquiring a rental property in my hometown! If I understood the concept of business in my younger years maybe high school, I would have focused more into developing the necessary skills to run a business. But, it’s never too late! I am still young and on the move! Read more>>

Donya Stingley

I think I started at a good time. I do wish I would have kept going when I was younger, but taking a break made me realize this is a real passion of mine. I started when I was younger, but I lived in a terrible state for growth. I was still in high school, so it wasn’t like I had the ability to just move. Read more>>

Amber Kenni

If I could go back in time, I absolutely would have started my creating career sooner, and I would have taken it seriously, I spent loads of time feeling insecure about wanting to pursue a career with no guarantee of lucrative income for fear of outside judgement. I always knew I wanted to be on TV with my own show, however, through the years I essentially forced myself to want to pursue safer more reliable professions. Read more>>

Zelda Polk

If I could go back in time, I would have started my creative career as a Model sooner. Modeling was something I’ve always wanted to do but never pursued for several reasons. Low self-esteem was the number one culprit. Growing up I was picked on. I was told I was ugly, called blacky for being darker than most of the girls in class and crack baby due to being extremely skinny. One day while in college, a Model Scout approached me. Read more>>

Ryan James

If I could go back in time, I def think I would have preferred to have started my acting career as a child. I was always so fascinated watching shows on Nickelodeon and Disney and seeing the child actors doing their thing on camera! Learning the craft at that age is priceless because it puts you ahead of so many others who wait until adulthood to pursue this dream. Read more>>

Jonathan “Jai’ Eagle” Parker

Like most creatives, I really wish I would have stepped out on this journey a lot sooner. Much of my creative ability was molded and developed in my adolescent years. However, back in 2008, being an entrepreneur or relying on your creative gifts to independently support you was not celebrated, nor popular. Now, while many of the people who were around me at that time can tell you that I was not a stranger to being a rebel, Read more>>

Millionaire Milly

I started singing around five and wrote my first song around 11 and i new i wanted to be on stage one day. I would run home to catch 106& Park to watch all the music videos and dream of being on the show one day , to talk about my video ! It wasn’t my time , I always imagined how it would be too be a teen star but God had different plans for me. Now in my 30s my music and business Choose Life Win Productions are in full effect and thriving! I wouldn’t change a thing As a kid growing up in Columbus Read more>>

Omar Sicilia

When I was 22 years old, I wanted to write the most beautiful and profound songs in the world, but to write songs we need to live, one day I asked a writer if it was normal that in 3 months, I had not written any song and he answered this: ”You are doing something more important, you are living, if you don’t live you can’t write songs”, at that moment I didn’t understand it, I thought he answered like that just to end the conversation, but I realized that the songs I wrote after that were more about me, or about people around me, I think you need experiences to write songs, Read more>>

Francis Baker

I definitely wish I started my creative career sooner. I started blogging in high school which is around the time some of the most well-known creatives did. Growing up I was self-conscious about my body. Fashion was my way of building my confidence. So blogging was my way of sharing my journey of self-love through fashion. My problem was that I was never consistent with it. I started taking things seriously right before Facebook introduced the algorithm. Before the algorithm, I saw all this engagement and followers, but now my work is rarely seen. It was easier to build a following years ago. Read more>>

Heather Burch

I wish I would have started my own business a lot longer ago. I was always so hesitant to start because everyone always told me I need to go to college and have a degree in order to make a living. Which now I have learned that is not true. If you have the passion and desire, you can achieve anything. I have a medical background and have worked at the hospital for 12 years. I have always had a passion for helping others but then realized I wanted to pursue my beauty career. I am so happy that I have, just of course, wish I started when I was younger, however, nobody is ever too young to start doing what they love. Read more>>

J.P. Haynes

I suppose this answer could take on many directions. On one hand, I often think of what my life/career would be had I started much younger; out of high school or college. But then I realize the woman I am now wouldn’t even recognize the person I was then. I’m not sure that person possessed the emotional maturity, integrity, self-awareness, business acumen or confidence to reach extreme levels of success or excellence. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it mentally, financially, or emotionally. As a matter of fact, had I started sooner, it’s a good bet that I would’ve faced many public embarrassments. I wasn’t ready then. Read more>>

Dez Stephens

When I grew up, I never thought about starting a business or even going to college. It wasn’t part of the conversation that my family, my school, my neighborhood or my culture taught me. I was raised in a blue-collar part of Chicago and my future felt like, “Maybe I’ll become a teacher or a secretary.” Ugh. Not for me. Read more>>

Kennedy Kyle

I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember. I have flashbacks of me sitting in front of the TV enamored by the musicians and singers I would see, or trying to imitate the sounds that blared through my grandmothers Jeep. I knew at a very young age that music was supposed to be apart of my purpose. Honestly, that’s something I am still navigating, but have no intentions of stopping my pursuit. Read more>>