Since the controversial days of Thatcherism and Ayn Rand’s The Virtue Of Selfishness there’s been plenty of debate about whether or not people should be more selfish. For businesspeople in particular, there’s the stereotype of a money-grabbing backstabber that every entrepreneur is counseled to avoid.

But since starting a one-man recruitment consultancy and leaving a job at a large multi-national drinks manufacturer, I’ve come to realise that it’s essential for an entrepreneur to be selfish. Essential for success in business and in life.

I was reflecting on this as I read Street Smarts, Norm Brodsky’s excellent book on the mindset of successful entrepreneurs. He tells several fables of people who started a business for the wrong reasons. The most common is starting a company without thinking it through. Often because they’re not being selfish enough.

Let me explain.

The temptation when writing a business plan is to rush into things. There are so many details that need to be factored in and planned out - revenue projections, a market audit, long-term growth plans, cashflow estimates, staffing costs etc – that the list can seem endless.

The paranoia of getting it all done while fighting against the ticking clock of not being out there doing and selling means many people don’t take the time to work out the answer to one really big, basic question.

Why am I doing this at all?

It can seem self-evident that people start a business to make money, explore their passion, not be a slave to the man or to prove themselves to the world. So a lot of would-be entrepreneurs don’t figure out the real reasons they’re taking the risky and unstable path of doing their own thing.

Starting a business actually never has a one-size-fits-all self-evident motivation, and none of the things listed above is sufficient motivation to fuel a career as an entrepreneur.

Yes, you can make a lot of money as a business owner. Yes, it’s more fulfilling to work in an area you are passionate about. Yes, it’s great to show the world you’re nobody’s lackey, and that you can build something from nothing on your own. But are any of these enough to fulfil you, in and of themselves?

"Don't be swayed by the demands of potential partners in your business or investors or even customers"

Starting a business to prove a point to a condescending ex-boss or teacher may feel great at first, but not in 10 years’ time.

Tim Martin may have called his very successful pub chain JD Wetherspoon as a joke on a teacher who told him he’d never amount to anything, but I’m pretty sure that’s not why he started the company. Likewise starting an enterprise to compete with a friend, sibling or ex-colleague, or to please a parent or impress a girl.

In other words, nothing that only scratches a short-term itch.

Instead, think about what you want to be doing when you retire, and work backwards from there. Where do you want to be, what kind of lifestyle do you want to have, how much free time do you want in between now and then, and how will you manage any family obligations?

These are very important long-term considerations, and even if you plan to build a business quickly, sell it and go do something else, you still need to think about these things.

You also need to think about how resilient you will be when the going gets tough (and it will get tough!), especially if you’re forsaking a good, steady salary and all the other perks a corporate career can offer.

You have to be sure your motivation for creating a business outweighs the temptation to jack it in and return to the warm embrace of a large employer when you hit a bump in the road.

When I wrote the business plan for my company, Wednesday Consulting, a niche recruitment firm focused on the alcoholic drinks industry, the first page was a vision statement for the company. It has a couple of short paragraphs about what I wanted the company to be and do.

After reading Norm Brodsky’s book I went back to my plan and inserted a new first page: my life goals. These are the real foundations of my business.

The page says three things. First, simply that I want and need total geographical flexibility: my wife and I will move around the US for her career – probably at least twice – and we may even leave the country one day.

Second, that I want to make enough money to give my family a comfortable lifestyle, regardless of my wife’s income.

Finally, that I want to spend the rest of my career involved on a broad basis with the vibrant, exciting alcoholic drinks industry, meeting and getting to know as many people as possible.

These simple tenets could be met by several career options; in fact they could potentially have been met by continuing my career with my last employer. But they are resoundingly met by my new business, and I get the satisfaction of building something myself.

And that is the essence of being selfish as an entrepreneur. Starting and building a business that works to meet your life goals, first and foremost. To succeed in the long run you need to stick to them, and not be swayed by the demands and requests of others, be they potential partners in your business or investors or even customers.

Work toward their goals by all means, but put your own goals first.