The Big ¨Why?¨
In A Startup
Despite all the uncertainty, right now is a good time for a start-up. There are new opportunities and the public is more forgiving than ever, which gives you just more space for mistakes. With many people losing jobs or realizing that the job they had is not something they want to continue doing, many are probably thinking about starting their own business. Perhaps some were thinking about it for years. We love start-ups! We love new ideas and excited entrepreneurs! New business is good for our company of course, but we also just love to chat with these people. They are so inspiring and we get to be the first ones to know about a new idea, which is COOL!
There is always a BUT, however, isn’t it? No, we are not trying to bring you down. We just want to touch on a very important topic of the big “WHY?”. Before you jump into action, truly spend time thinking about “Why do I want to start a business?”
Here you need to be as honest with yourself as possible. You don’t have to provide noble reasons like “to make the world a better place”… It can be something along the lines of wanting wealth or recognition and then ask “why?” again and again. The deeper you go, the better.
Once you have done that, it is time to figure out the “HOW”. Your business model needs to bring you money, but for an entrepreneur, it has to be enjoyable. For example, you want a business, but you don’t enjoy the responsibilities of running day-to-day operations. In this case, you need to plan for hiring the right person that will do this for you.
Failure to do this exercise results in a quick exit, when people say “I tried, but it didn’t work”. Again, the working business model is as important as personal comfort. We are not saying it has to be easy, but it has to work for you in the long run.
The last step is to figure out what stops you from starting. Normally, people say things like lack of time, lack of money, lack of human resources, lack of knowledge, etc. However, they are not the real reasons. Once people dig deeper, the real reasons are normally things like fear of losing money, not actually believing in your own idea, or disappointing a partner.
Having these fears and not sorting them out can again result in a quick exit or never even starting a project. Therefore, you just need to find solutions for your fears. You could talk to your partner and prepare a contingency plan together, that will not lead to the feared consequences. If you are scared that you do not have enough knowledge, you could let your mentors guide you, etc.
Just starting is good, but knowing what your goals are and how to achieve them is even better because it is lasting. Having those will help you not to run away at the sight of a first hurdle.
