Tips to Avoid the Common Business Roadblocks
Have you always wanted to start your own business? Do you have a desire to create something in this world that is your own, and make a living creating it?
Does life seem to get in the way of you living your best life?
There are many reasons why we find ourselves feeling stuck.
After years as an entrepreneur and small business consultant, I have encountered just about every excuse you can think of for why someone hasn’t taken that first step toward business ownership. And while there are legitimate reasons why some things just aren’t feasible at any given time, more often than not, the excuses are psychological. Here are some of the most common excuses for why people haven’t started. And if you can relate to any of these, then I have solutions for how to break through those excuses and make things happen!
Not Enough Money
Money is probably the biggest reason why people are afraid to take the first step toward creating their business. It is a common misconception that you need large amounts of money to start a business. If you watch Shark Tank, you will see every person who walks through those doors has a dream and has the drive, but what they don’t have is money. It can scare a lot of people away. You see on tv all of these people who look like they really have their stuff together, yet they still don’t have enough money?
As much as I love watching Shark Tank, I’m not a fan of the bar that this has set for people who are looking to own a business. The truth is that not all businesses need large amounts of capital to get started, and most don’t need investors at all. If your goal is to create a multi-million-dollar brand, then yes, you will probably need investors at some point.
If money is the thing that is holding you back, then you shouldn’t even be thinking about money yet. If you have a good plan, then gaining access to that capital will be a part of that plan.
Often the “money” excuse is more an excuse of fear than an actual lack of resources. If you need capital, and you have a strong enough plan, then there are ways to get that capital.
Not Enough Time
The excuse of “time” is one as old as time itself. There is a constant battle going on between all of the possible things we could spend our time on. Many of the things we spend time on are completely necessary for our survival and wellbeing, but many are not. And if you find that you don’t have enough time in your schedule for the things that matter most to you, then it’s time to take a long, hard look at how you spend your time.
If you consider yourself a busy person, what are you busy doing? Busy does not equal productive. And even if you are being productive, are you doing so in the right direction?
Personally, I have used the “time” excuse more times than I am proud to admit. I never seem to have enough time in the day to accomplish all that I set out to do. But the problem was not that I didn’t have enough time. The problem was that I didn’t have a reasonable plan for how to manage my time. I would tell myself that I just had to edit and post one blog that day. I could go about my normal routine, but at some point I would have to carve out just 20 minutes to achieve this goal.
How long do you think it took me to edit and post that one blog article?? The answer is about 4 months. And my excuse was that I just couldn’t find the time to do it. But deep down I knew that there was more going on than a lack of time. After all, I wasn’t running around like a crazy person 24/7 accomplishing tasks one after the other with no breaks for 4 months straight. I had down time. I had managed to find the time to go to the gym, to watch tv, paint the basement floor, go to karaoke, and work on my hobbies. So why couldn’t I manage to carve out 20 minutes for a single blog post?
The answer, as you might imagine, is that it wasn’t about having enough time. Time was just my excuse. What I really needed was to be a little bit kinder to myself, and understanding of the magnitude of what I was asking of myself. Posting a single blog might seem like a simple task, especially when it’s already 90% written. But what I was dealing with was much deeper than that. I was dealing with my own fear, and my own insecurity. The first blog post on my new website was, mentally, a huge step for me. I was scared of putting myself out there. I was afraid to fail at something that really meant something to me.
When I realized that time wasn’t my problem, I cut myself a break. I took a step backwards, and allowed myself to reset and re-focus on what I was truly trying to accomplish. Instead of pressuring myself to get this task done in 20 minutes, I allowed myself an entire day to accomplish it. I sat down and allowed myself to re-imagine the plan. Although I had already decided months ago the path that I needed to follow, I allowed myself to decide, again, that I would follow it. I focused on the bigger goal instead of the single task, and with that, the words began to flow out of me once again, and I was able to complete that first post.
Too often, we are our own worst enemies.
There are always 24 hours in a calendar day. And in each calendar day I have certain things that must be done, no matter what.
Not Qualified Enough
“If I just have a little bit more work experience, then I can start my consulting business.”
“Nobody will take me seriously as a business owner if I don’t have a degree.”
“I don’t know enough about running a business to be able to start one.”
If you have ever said anything like this, then you’re probably feeling like you don’t have the qualifications it takes to be a business owner. But if you are using this excuse, then you are looking at business ownership from the wrong lens.
Our own insecurities can come from many different places. Perhaps you didn’t get good grades in math when you were in school, and so you grew up feeling like you’re just not good at numbers. So when it comes to making a business plan, creating pricing models, and building projections of income statements, you are overwhelmed by the feeling of inadequacy.
Sometimes we find that we have played a certain role in life for so long, that it is hard to break out of the behaviors that go along with that role. I started my first business when I was working as a server in a restaurant. I was used to the hustle of restaurant life, and I was good at it. I liked that the money I made was almost always directly correlated with how hard I was willing to work and how much I was willing to run myself. There were nights where I would get off of work after hustling a straight-through 14-hour double, where I would be exhausted and sweaty and my feet hurt and I really needed a drink, but I would be happy with the wad of bills in my pocket that I was walking out with because the exhaustion made me feel like I had really earned it.
That '“hustle” mentality is what ultimately drove me to be successful in school and then in business, but it is also what set me up to de-value my own products and services. After so many years of being “just a server,” I now wanted to move on to other things in life. My first business was as an organizing consultant. I would help people within their homes and businesses to create organization systems that would improve efficiency and reduce clutter. Being that I was living a pretty minimalist life at the time (mostly out of my car and on friends’ couches), I was good at this. I could see a process as an outsider and help my clients get to the root of their clutter.
But even though I knew that I was good at what I was doing, I greatly undervalued my services. I couldn’t rationalize the idea of “selling my time” or “selling my expertise" because I didn’t truly believe that those things would be valuable to anyone else. I really wanted to be able to help people who needed my help, and if I did it for cheap, I felt like I was doing something good.
But there is a huge problem with that. One of the most important characteristics of a good business model is that it is sustainable. Meaning that it can take care of itself and its stakeholders in a responsible manner. My business was not sustainable because there is no way that I could have continued to charge what I was charging and actually make that a full-time gig. I wouldn’t be able to survive on that income, even if I did it full time.
In retrospect, I know that I was qualified to run my own business. I know that I had a good product and the drive to build it into something bigger. But my personal feelings of not being good enough, or not being qualified enough, set me up for failure right from the beginning.
I did, however, do one thing right when establishing that first business. And that is, that even with the insecurities, and the lack of capital, and a bad pricing model, I took the first step. I started with an idea, I created a service, I advertised that service, I got clients, and I showed up.
The most powerful thing you can do is take that first step. Then keep moving forward, because I promise you, you will learn as you go.
So if you are feeling like you don’t have the qualifications to start your own business, perhaps take a step back and reflect on the reasons why you are feeling this way. If there is a real thing that you need to have in order to start the business you want, (like you want to start a law practice, but you’re not a lawyer) then make a plan to go out and get that thing that you need (like a law degree). But if your lack of “qualifications” are just in your head, then I challenge you to give yourself the permission to begin, even though this may be outside of your comfort zone. After all, as a new business owner you will be forced out of your comfort zone quite a lot, and this is a good thing. It is what allows you to keep learning and growing.
If every person who ever started a business waited until they felt like they were perfectly “qualified",” there would be a lot less business owners out there. The only thing that has helped me gain the confidence that I needed to build a successful business, was simply the act of doing it. I started an organizing business even when I felt like I wasn’t qualified. And although my insecurities ultimately got the best of me, I was able to learn from that experience and use it when it came time to start my next venture.
Remember that we are on a journey. And owning a business is about creating the life you want to live. So next time you find yourself making excuses about why you haven’t done something, take a step back and allow yourself permission to really consider what is going on. With a little bit of reflection, patience, and kindness toward yourself, you can break through the excuses and continue to grow!
