Do you want to start your own business, but haven’t got around to actually DOING it yet?
As the old saying goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” So why haven’t you gotten your butt in gear yet and joined the entrepreneur ranks?
Here are some of the most common excuses and why you need to shake them out of your head tout de suite.
I’m not an entrepreneur!
This might be the only excuse on the list that has any weight to it. Are you a lazy sloth who sits on the couch all day playing video games, with no push to get up and do something with your life? If so, you might be right!
Though honestly, anyone can become an entrepreneur and run a successful business if they’re motivated by what they’re doing. Maybe you need to spend more time looking for inspiration and less time wasting away at whatever menial crap you’re passing all your spare time with.
I can’t think of anything to do!
Can you walk a dog, mow a lawn, work a vacuum, follow instructions on how to set up a WordPress or Shopify website? These are just a few ideas obviously, but the real point is that your first business doesn’t have to be your last. Just pick something reasonable (given your skillset) and go for it.
You might not hit it big out of the gate. However, once you’ve taken the plunge, you’ll either be hit with the entrepreneurship bug or you’ll realise you’re a better “worker” than you are a business owner. If you’re truly committed to getting out of the 9 – 5, don’t spend the rest of your days “thinking”.
I’m still researching for the perfect idea!
This might seem like the same excuse as the last I mentioned, but the person making this excuse actually has a little more drive to start a business, they just can’t get out of their own way unfortunately. Worse, when you think you’re being deliberate and not just putting off your future, it’s easy to get stuck into a rut where you spend all your free time researching and getting caught up in “what ifs” and “there’s gotta be something better if I just keep looking.”
After a certain point, the constant researcher is just delusional, allowing themselves to gain comfort from this stifling task. They’re forgetting more about what they’re reading up on than they learn, information overload sets in, and depression and/or anxiety set in. Better to pick something, move forward with that idea, and spend your time researching how to tweak and improve on that idea. Again, once you take the plunge, bigger and better ideas will come!
Franchises look pretty lucrative.
This might hurt a bit for franchise owners out there to hear this (but maybe not if you’re a realist), but you’re just buying a job when you buy a franchise. I’ve worked for a bunch over my 20+ years working for other people, and can honestly say I’ve met few who are truly happy. Most spend the majority of their time complaining about how the franchise constantly gouges them and makes it hard to earn much more than a middle income.
It doesn’t matter which you choose, they all control pretty much every decision you make from where you buy your food (from them, of course), to how you market your business. This is actually the main factor in any franchises success, but aside from wearing the “owner” badge and managing your employees, being a franchise owner isn’t really full-on entrepreneurship — at least until you buy your second, third, and fourth store and potentially earn more of a say in how you run your business.
MONEY.
This is another excuse that may be viable in certain respects. If you have no savings, zero credit, and no idea, finding money can definitely be a roadblock. This is still an excuse though, because if you really wanted to start a business, you’d have already saved some cash or been smarter with your credit score.
Fact is, even if you don’t have an idea, yet want to run your own business some day, you need to start being more financially savvy. You need to get an extra job or two, build up your skills so you can provide more value to the market and thus get paid more.
Excuses are like _____.
Most of you have heard the saying I’m eluding to. Everyone’s got one and I can guarantee you this: Successful entrepreneurs would disagree with each and every one of your excuses. Time to stop talking and thinking and just DO.
Main Image Credit: Matthew Fredrickson/Flickr
