Are you an entrepreneur?
Are you thinking about diving in and starting your own business, but unsure if you have what it’ll take?
Trust me when I tell you that running a business isn’t something that everyone can do. Even if you have a good idea, you might not have the personality, time management skills, and committed attitude it takes to persevere in this modern world that’s chocked full of competition.
At the end of the day, if you’re lucky enough to retire as a successful entrepreneur one day, you’ll have to avoid the following 5 extremely harmful thoughts – thoughts that often creep into the minds of every entrepreneur at some point.
1. A big loan is all it’ll take to get this business off the ground
More like, if you go out and secure a loan without understanding what your business needs most right now, you’ll have one foot in the proverbial grave!
Don’t head off to the bank until you’ve really taken stock in your idea and have your 5 year financial plan figured out for the business. A great idea is nothing without understanding the competition you’re up against, your expenses, what your product will be priced at, etc.
2. Everyone else is having success doing it this way
It’s really great that Grant Cardone has built a successful sales training and billion-dollar real estate empire by grinding it out and following his very strategic plan. He’s also brash and pushy in his approach – a take no prisoners type of guy.
Fact is, following his approach might not work for you. It might, but it might not. Personality, work ethic, knowledge, and a number of other factors including the demographic you’re business targets can all play a factor in the game plan you use to get where you’re going.
Watch one of Cardone’s actual sales calls. He pitches business owners and managers with his services. Do you actually think his uber aggressive, almost condescending approach would work trying to sell house painting or roofing services door to door in suburban Georgia?
You need to market and run your business the way YOU need to do it. Being a copycat isn’t entrepreneurship. Take cues from everyone else, but don’t assume you’ll be successful, or even skate by doing what everyone else has done/is doing.
3. It’s all about the hustle and grind
Just how far can you sprint before your body and lungs start to burn and you have to take a break? If you’re like most people, not much more than a quarter of a mile – and that’s if a pack of feral dogs is chasing you?
The point here is that it takes much more than hustle. In fact, this single word has really muddied the entrepreneur and motivation scene lately. You will have to sprint at the start, and perhaps at certain times when crunch time hits.
However, if you’ve got your time management game up to snuff, you’ll learn to work smarter not harder. Burnout is a very real concern when trying to run a small business. You’ll need to learn to hire the right people and delegate responsibility, or pretty soon you’ll be looking for the nearest window to jump out of instead of searching for new and bigger opportunities!
4. I know someone who’ll help me with _____ (fill in the blank)
Do you now? Perhaps it’s a really good friend or past coworker? Maybe it’s a friend of a friend who can help you do X, Y, and Z.
We’ve all been there and found ourselves holding the bag when a commitment from someone to help fades into a broken promise. Or worse, when we assume that just because our friend’s uncle is in the “Business” that they’ll surely help out when it comes to landing that first big contract.
Same goes for people who owe you favors – are you gonna break their legs if they don’t pay up when you need them to?
Build your network, but never forget that it’s all up to you in the end. Successful people get taken out to lunch for free all the time. As an entrepreneur getting their legs under them, the responsibility of building your business is all yours.
5. Things’ll work out – I’ll figure it out
Yes, poor Cinderella finally found a prince to take her to the ball and the glass slippers were just the cherry on the cake. This thought-trap is far too casual for someone looking to run a business successfully.
The real world is tough and despite all our progress from our days of cavemen clubbing each other on the head when we wanted something, you still can’t bank on things just coming to you. That attitude is for entitled suckers sitting at home on unemployment thinking they have a few months to figure out there next move.
If there’s a problem with your business, you need to take aggressive action (immediately) to get it solved. If a customer has a problem, it’s up to you to fix it (immediately). If you’re missing key information you need to move forward, you need to get that information (immediately).
Parting Thoughts
It’s okay to have any of these 5 thoughts now and again. The important thing is that you don’t let them fester, or creep into your sense of entrepreneurial reality.
The journey will indeed be tough, don’t make it tougher on yourself by falling into these or any other detrimental mind funks that kill the dreams of entrepreneurs around the world each and every day.
