[Reading time: 3 minutes.]
You may want to start your own business and escape the corporation. Being an entrepreneur seems like a cool job these days. Plus, you get the freedom of what to do everyday and as a bonus, you may get rich. Maybe you did your resolution to start your business some time ago. Years passed but you got nowhere closer to your goal. I was lucky that back in 2013: I switched from corporate warrior to an entrepreneur. Since I started, lot of people asked me for advice on how they should start themselves. After all these talks, a pattern emerged. There are several typical excuses why people claim they can’t start their business Looking back, I had them all.
Excuse no.1: „I will think it through over the weekend.“
Thinking something through or creating fancy business plan is often just procrastination. These may be good things but it is not what moves you forward. It is actions that count.
„Being productive means actually producing something.
-Ryan Holiday“
Give a phone call or organize a meeting with a potential partner. Ask a potential supplier for a quote. Sign up for training. Write an article. Ask your friends for review. As I covered in one of my previous articles, „There are dreamers who dream and dreamers who do“.
The second issue is timing. We like to postpone the first steps to the coming weekend. Then we postpone it to the next weekend, then to the Easter holiday, then to next year … you know the drill.
„Tommorow means never.
-Tim Ferris“
This is a strong, but valid statement by my favorite author described in Four Hour Workweek. Every business idea can be started today. You do not need to spend 5 hours of it, a simple task of 15 minutes that leads to a tangible output, is enough. If you spend 15 minutes producing something every day, you gain momentum..
I know what I am talking about, I fell to this trap as well. It took me 3 years to start this blog, from initial idea to the first article. “I will think through possible article ideas or research graphic templates over the weekend.”
Excuse no.2: „I am waiting for an idea.“
There is a common misperception about starting a business. “A founder waited years in his corporate cubicle, waiting for great idea. Then got the idea, made a plan, pitched to investors, raised millions, earned billions.” This is not how it works. For example, AirBnB founders started by renting an air mattress in their apartment. They failed constantly for two years, until they got it.
You do not have to wait for brilliant idea. Start doing something, learn your „business skills“ on easy tasks, try many things and the idea will come up. If you want to publish a book, start a blog. If you want to start an eshop, start selling things through ebay. If you want to create a global transaction app, start with a simple „flashlight“ app. Doing simple things will help you understand how an industry works and will highly increase the chance in finding a way how to improve it.
Excuse no.3: „I can’t afford sacrificing my salary.“
Been there. Your corporation gives you a nice salary. You get gradual rises. The company wants you to build an expensive lifestyle that is not easy to escape.
The monthly salary is a drug. What if you become an entrepreneur and one month, the money doesn’t come? What if you will have to sacrifice both ski weekends this month and all the fancy lattes?
After few years, infrequent income still scares me. All I can say, looking back: The leap is much easier than it seems. And the good news is: You do not need to quit immediately after starting your own business.
Excuse no.4: „I don’t have enough [put your own resource here].“
You do not need money to start a business. If you have a business idea that needs a lot of money to start, re-think it, it is always possible with less money. Want to open a pastry shop? Start with on-demand delivery and make the cakes in your home oven. Kickstarter helped starting an amazing businesses with almost no resources.
There are tons of stories of people who started their own business with no money while having a day job. Read „$100 dollar startup“ (“Startup za pakatel” in Czech) for the best stories. This is my favorite book on startups. I recommend it to everyone.
As I said, I fell to these traps myself. Many things can only be learnt the hard way, but avoiding these excuses is something you can do. I hope you liked the article, please let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section bellow.
Article editor: Vojtěch Benedikt 😉 (thanks)
Líbilo?
Jestli se vám články líbí, rád vám každý čtvrtek pošlu přehled těch nových za předchozí týden:
Good post, keep