Entrepreneurs are a strange lot, we work odd hours, we fear regret more than failure, and our desire to build a legacy supersedes job security. Skating on the edge of homelessness and prosperity many founders don’t know how to make sure they’re on the right path.
Groundbreaking studies on human achievement have revealed that family, social standing, even money doesn’t predict success. Grit — the ability to push on passionately pursuing goals regardless of obstacles, predicts academic and business success. Grit is a type of force, but it doesn’t feel forced. It inspires you to take action.
Massive action is such a buzz word it loses meaning when repeated in so many entrepreneur articles about startup advice. But when you combine taking massive action, with resiliency and consistency that’s when the needle starts to move, and things improve.
Getting even a little better every day moves businesses forward. You’ll have to get outside the comfort zone, take a walk on the wild side of grinding like there’s no tomorrow. If you plan is to hope to be discovered, that’s about as strategic is planning on winning the lottery — you won’t succeed. There are strategies for overcoming obstacles that need to be in play.
Challenge yourself to overcome obstacles to success by first developing the honesty to self-evaluate where you could do better and making specific plans to bridge those gaps. And a Plan B, and Plan C if things don’t go according to Plan A.
If you read the news today you know that being able to pivot, change, and adapt your business to the current times is vital to staying in business.
Here’s a pro tip: Actually care about what you’re doing not just the recognition and revenue when you on the cover of Forbes. If what you’re doing doesn’t match what you’re passionate about and feels forced, motivation to continue will suffer. The element of force, leaves a bad taste.
If you force yourself to do something make sure that force is tempered with purpose such as: I’m forcing myself to think up 100 new ideas for how my business can scale to new markets after securing future cash flow projections.
That kind of force is ok. Forcing yourself to overcome laziness to work on your dream project, something you lose track of time working on? Yes — that kind of force will yield great results.
TLDR: Switch from force to passion, do what you believe in.
Trust yourself and Take risks
Bravery means something completely different
Even thinking about starting a business is a risky thought. There’s the fear of failure, fear of rejection from your family if they don’t believe in you, and the fear that you may not be good enough to actually launch a business.
Yet every great founder had to overcome these fears in order to start companies we rely on every day. When I started a business advising companies on Facebook policies and how to make sure their ads were approved I didn’t know if I would succeed. I quit the best job I ever had in my life, working in back end tech supporting Facebook’s servers.
We had free catered gourmet meals 3 times a day, I was given a Macbook and iPhone Facebook paid for. I was troubleshooting remote access tools while sitting on a bench at the park, watching the ducks swim in a pond. It was crazy to quit a job like this to run a consulting firm as a Facebook policy expert. I had so many doubts.
It is such a small niche that no one else occupies and yet, there is a demand because social media agencies often don’t get clear answers from Facebook on why ad accounts are shut down or Facebook ads are disapproved.
I took the leap, without a concrete plan, just the desire to be an entrepreneur and knowing the market was desperate for answers I had. Almost a year later it dawned on me:
There is this fear that maybe it’s a dumb idea, but when you look at the smart phone apps that exist right now, even dumb ideas can make people millions of dollars with the right deployment strategy.
Turns out, I didn’t fail and have run point on ad policy analyses for recent launches by Tony Robbins (to learn more or get me to write for your publication feel free to schedule a chat here).
TLDR: Bravery isn’t a lack of fear it’s a willingness to act.
Risks Are an Illusion — There Are Only Opportunities
A new way to turn weaknesses into strengths
Dr. Seuss’s first story, On Mulberry Street got rejected 27 times before it was published. If Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) gave up after the 20th rejection (which would be understandable) millions of children would have never read his stories that brought so much joy.
Can you imagine a world without Dr. Seuss? He had to take a risk of being rejected to start his business as a children’s book author. When wantrapreneurs make up reasons why they can’t do the work needed to launch, they should take a page from Dr. Seuss’s book and find the cat for their hat.
It comes down to the mindset founders have when starting a business. Reframing new ventures in a different light will help motivate us to take action. Realizing it’s fear that we fear (thank you Shakespeare) more than actions we avoid empowers us to reframe our next move.
Fear of failure prevents people from success more than actual failure does. Pro tip: Treat risks as a chance to find out what you’re really capable of.
TLDR: Risks are an illusion — there are only opportunities.
Create Smaller Goals 1st That Are Easier to Achieve
Even castles are built one brick at a time
Credit: Tim Rebkavets on Unsplash
Just like exercise burn outs, taking on too much at once can lead to overwhelm. So instead of trying to recreate the light bulb in one magnificent giant shining blueprint spread out on your writing desk, see what steps you need to reach for those in-between milestones.
Once you’ve hit those benchmarks, use this momentum to carry you towards much bigger goals. Beloved Millennial author Malcolm Gladwell proposed in his book Outliers that true mastery of a craft or skill comes from practicing the right way to for either 10,000 hours or 10 years. Gladwell sites the success of the Beatles and Bill Gates as proof of this theory.
However, fear not, intrepid entrepreneur, a new study reported in Business Insider states this is only true for fields that have a super stable structure such as music chess or sports. In professions it only makes a 1% difference. Business Insider quotes Frans Johansson’s book “The Click Moment,”
“But in less stable fields, like entrepreneurship and rock and roll, rules can go out the window:
Richard Branson started in the record business but quickly branched out into fields well beyond music: Virgin Group has 400 companies and is launching people into space.”
You don’t have to wait 10 years to feel like you’ve mastered something in order to launch a successful business. You just need to believe in what you’re doing and find out how to scale this to a specific audience that resonates with your vision.
Show don’t Tell
Selling is only one aspect of client acquisition
The biggest inspiration to buy isn’t a clever sales pitch, it’s presenting your product or service in a relatable way. When we watch movies, it’s irresistible to put ourselves in the main character’s shoes and wonder what we would have done in that situation. Your brand needs to inspire this kind of feeling in your target audience.
Ever heard the express seeing is believing? When the usefulness of an idea is made real through testimonials, case studies, and free trials it’s much easier to get to those first 1000 die-hard fans that build your business.
Ever been at a networking event and got cornered by someone with a sales pitch? Or perhaps at a family event, a relative offered their unasked-for advice on your life? That doesn’t exactly translate into sales or marketable strategy.
Yet many entrepreneurs are so convinced they have the best idea they ignore the strategy part of launching. There’s a better way to do this.
Focus on helping more than selling. Make everything you do centered around a single simple result that solves a problem your audience has. Be open to feedback, especially negative feedback as a way to close gaps. Yes, yes, this is your baby, how dare anyone criticize it! But, feedback helps you transition a product from ‘just good enough’ to great.
Keep your ear to the ground as you develop your idea into real life business, and it will evolve into something even better than what you started with.
TLDR: Build brands with purpose this attracts ideal clients.
Your Net Worth is in Your Network
Find what works and do it better
Find someone to mentor you who is successful in your field. Buy them lunch. Go to the same Meetup groups for entrepreneurs. A simple shift in perspective is what created Gmail from Google during the legendary FedEx days where engineers were allowed to work on any project that peaked their interest.
Your perspective is going to continue to change as your business and the world changes. Adopt a strategy of building your network before you need it, and surround yourself with people smarter than you. This can pay off in literally millions of dollars in the long run through successful partnerships and product launches.
Above all else, don’t be afraid to fail — the best way to fail is to never try at all. Be brave, and don’t chase your dreams — strategically plan on their achievement. To quote Smashing Pumpkins: So start, start today.
TLDR: Switch from force to passion, do what you believe in.
TLDR: Bravery isn’t a lack of fear it’s a willingness to act.
TLDR: Risks are an illusion — there are only opportunities.
TLDR: Build brands with purpose this attracts ideal clients.
TLDR: Your net worth is in your network
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Is Facebook not explaining why the disapproved an ad?
I worked at FB for years and offer FB Policy Consulting here
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