After two years of running my e-commerce business, I finally have the lifestyle I want. I'm completely my own boss, in charge of my own schedule, and I've structured my day to suit exactly how I like it.
Don't get me wrong -- it was a struggle in the beginning, balancing two freelance gigs with bootstrapping an e-commerce business.
However, when I meet would-be entrepreneurs, most haven't even begun the struggle; most haven't even gotten started.
When I ask why, I get one of three standard excuses:
- I'm not ready
- I don't know how to do it
- This or that needs to happen first.
These excuses are a cover for fear. There are three types of fear we face when starting a new business:
- Fear of the unknown. If you've never started a business, you probably have no idea what you're getting into. This big question mark freaks people out.
- Fear of failure. Nobody wants to give it 100% and fail -- that feels terrible.
- Fear of success. <--- I don't see this one discussed very much. In order to succeed with my business, I had to become a different person. I think many of us are afraid of stepping into a life that is bigger, more expansive, and with more responsibility than we're accustomed to. The higher we climb, the more painful the fall if we can't keep up.
So, when your scumbag brain tosses up these excuses -- which are true and valid! -- it is attempting to protect you from that fear. If you give into the excuses, if you take them at face value, it can paralyze you.
The spiral staircase analogy
One metaphor that really helped me out, was to think of entrepreneurship as a spiral staircase.
- With a normal staircase, you can see to the top -- you know exactly how many steps remain, and you can see them.
- With a spiral staircase, you cannot see to the top, you don't know how many steps remain, and you can only see the next 2-3 steps.
The challenge for many analytical types, is they want to plan for every possible contingency, as a way of handling anxiety. With a business, you can't do that -- because you don't know what you don't know.
However, in climbing those next 2-3 steps, the 2-3 after are revealed. So, it takes an element of faith to climb that staircase, faith that whatever the next steps are, you will be able to figure it out.
The main challenge in starting a new business in emotional; it's the courage to stand up every day and face down the uncertainty of not knowing 1) how do to the new tasks, and 2) what's on the horizon.
One way to neutralize the fear is with good information and coaching. Towards that end, in the coming weeks and months, I'll be providing content that walks you through the steps to starting a business:
- Coming up with the right idea,
- Validating that people want to pay for it,
- Prototyping,
- Customer feedback,
- Getting the thing made,
- Marketing it, selling it, making money,
- And everything past that.
For two years, I've produced physical products and sold them over the internet. I'll share with you everything I've learned along the way.
I invite you to join the club of asskickers who've started their own businesses. The only price of admission, is courage.
If you'd prefer to see me/hear me say it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msRP9ki5xCo
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