I’m of the opinion that sticking with one field and riding out the challenges is more important than constantly switching back and forth between industries to find the “perfect” fit. When you first start in any industry, it’s only natural to feel like a fish out of water. You lack connections, knowledge, job applicants, and clients. However, by persevering through these initial challenges, you gain several advantages.
[1] You build up a track record.
Having a track record makes it easier to gain trust without having to prove your work ethic, trustworthiness, or your abilities. People will initially look at you skeptically, unsure whether you’re here to stay, but once you’re in, you’re in.
[2] You form connections.
You form connections that grow over time. The people you meet early on will gradually rise up within their own respective organizations, and you can benefit from their success. The scope of what they’re able to help you with will be limited at first, but this will progressively broaden. These connections will help you to do business more easily, hire employees, and get advice.
[3] You gain foresight.
As you attempt various new things and accumulate experiences of failure, you’ll begin to notice a pattern. When you first start developing software, you have no idea what steps are required at what point in time in the process. You’re oblivious to how long these processes take. The required time may exceed your expectations, you may run across difficulties in hiring new team members, or some things just may not work out the way you intended them to. Business plans made under these chaotic circumstances will never pan out the way you envisioned them in your mind. But over time, as you continue to try new approaches, the gap between your plans and the actual execution will slowly diminish.
[4] You accumulate knowledge.
There is an ocean of knowledge to learn from in order to manage and lead a successful business. While there are some overlapping aspects of business such as finance, accounting, human resources, etc., each field has its own unique challenges and requires specialized expertise. But despite these common areas, there is no end to what you can learn about each individual industry. You can delve even further within a single industry and discover detailed sub-fields. You need to be versed in software architecture, QA, data analysis, planning, design, etc. just to create a semi-decent piece of software. As you keep your focus and continue to learn and grow, you’ll become an expert in that area.
One thing to note, however, is that “riding it out” doesn’t mean simply repeating the same tasks over and over again without making any progress. It means trying every conceivable approach, searching for new solutions, seeking help, vigorously studying, and finding ways to survive. By doing this in one field, you increase your opportunities and chances of success even if you decide to switch to another field in the future. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose a field that motivates you and gives you enough reasons to stick with it even during tough times.
