Entrepreneurship and Quest for Happiness

A person who succeeds in implementing his entrepreneurial ideas, and as a result is able to increase his income, and buy goods that he desires for his family is generally considered happier than his previous state when he owns no business, has smaller income, and either staying in his parents' home or renting a house. For if these will not make him happier than his previous state, in the first place, he would not risk his time and capital to test the marketability of his ideas. Achieving these ends is legitimate therefore for human action, and there is nothing wrong to commit oneself in achieving them as the quest for happiness is inherent in man. 

Let us clarify first what we mean by "happiness." We are not using the term the way the Bible understands it as an outcome of quest for righteousness or holiness. Our use of "happiness" here is the way people typically understand the term. As such, happiness is subjective and it depends on individuals' valuation. 

There are people who are simply satisfied and happy with their regular jobs or perhaps they may be dissatisfied but after accepting the fact that they are incapable to change their economic condition, they just choose to maintain their existing situation. They accept the fact that the path of entrepreneurship is not for them. Even though without business, with lesser income, and without owning a land and house, they treasure the things that they presently have, and based on their own assessment, they are happy. And so we are not saying that happiness is only attained by achieving the mentioned ends. Each person has to decide that for himself. 

Still other people would make ends for themselves different from the ones identified above. There are those who will make personal development as their goal. Others would set themselves to more "ideal ends" such as national welfare and healing the wounds of humanity. Achieving these ends make them happy. However, as in the case of the first group of people who make "materialistic" goals as measurement of their happiness, similar observation can be said about those who set ideal ends for themselves. They are not in the position to look down those who are determined to achieve economic ends.