Venture Kid

6 Reasons for Not Starting a Business that You Should Overcome

October 1, 2009 – 7:13 pm | by Matt Ackerson

At one time or another we’ve all dreamed of striking out on our own and starting a business. However for most of us, those dreams get postponed indefinitely for a few key reasons. After reading this post you’ll understand better why this is the case and why most individuals, perhaps yourself included, are apprehensive about the idea.

Here are the most frequently cited reasons:

1. It’s too risky.
2. I have no experience.
3. I’m afraid of failing.
4. I don’t have a good idea.
5. I have no money.
6. I have no time.

The first thing to recognize is that all of these are natural reactions to the thought of actually going out and actively investing yourself in starting a new enterprise. In fact, many of the entrepreneurs I know, including myself, would likely have agree or may have actively held the sentiments above when they first started out.

Let’s break down each of the above reasons.

It’s too risky.

It’s important to recognize what one means by this. Are you risking money? Or are you risking public embarrassment as the result of your business failing?

Risk is an undeniable fact of entrepreneurship. Some entrepreneurs relish the idea of it, others not as much. If you are worried about the financial or social risk, there are a few simple ways to mitigate it.

• Meet and talk with entrepreneurs who have started a business (or businesses) before. By building a support network you will be able to draw on the guidance and social resources of others, which can help you to overcome the growing pains that start-ups are bound to go through.
• If you are still truly worried about public embarrassment, then just keep it a secret until you’re comfortable with telling everyone in your social circle. I would not recommend this though. You have much more to gain than to lose by telling others of your new venture.
• As for financial risk, you can mitigate this substantially by substituting your labor for monetary capital. In other words you learn to hustle and work hard. In addition, the internet provides a host of opportunities for would-be start-up entrepreneurs with little capital. Finally, designing your business model with a “bias” for immediate positive cash flow can also help to mitigate financial risk (I will talk more about this in future posts).

Bottom-line: There are several ways to become more comfortable with and to mitigate the inherent risk involved with start-up businesses.

I have no experience.

And neither did I, nor did many of the greatest entrepreneurs when they first started out. You tend to learn as you go. Entrepreneurship is about on the job training. There are plenty of books and blog posts on the subject, but developing your expertise comes from taking initiative and starting-up. Even if it is the smallest of steps at first, what’s important is that you learn directly from your experience and inch closer to realizing your vision.

Bottom-line: Like many careers, you learn as you go. You just have to get comfortable with the increased ambiguity.

I’m afraid of failing.

There are two types of people in this world: those have failed, and those who are afraid of failure. Which group do you think the world’s most successful people fall typically fall into?

If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, you must understand that you are making an implicit decision that the odds are against you and you are more likely than not to fail.

It’s also important to note the relationship between this concern and the first, “It’s too risky.”

Bottom-line: We all fail to achieve our goals at sometime or another. Accept it and then take action!

I don’t have a good idea.

I remember reading from the signature line of a friend’s email. It said, “Ideas are like belly buttons, everyone’s got one.”

Even if you don’t have an idea right now, it’s relatively easy to come up with one.

For example, take anything you see around you or that you use in your daily life, say a calculator (which happens to be sitting next to me on my desk). How could we possibly improve it, make it more unique and marketable? We could make it super small, or super big, or maybe add a graphing screen to it. But these ideas have already been successfully done… How else could it be improved?

Well, how about making it into a remote control of some sort to allow for group participation in the classroom on certain math problems? This is just one example, and there may or may not be a business opportunity there.

The point is, thinking of that idea took less than a minute. If you aren’t the most creative person, then start even simpler. Learn by copying another successful product or service and then work hard at differentiating it and making your’s better, faster, cheaper (as the saying goes).

Bottom-line: You don’t need a great idea to start a business.

I have no money.

Neither do I, but I’ve accomplished more with my latest coupon advertising start-up business in the last 4 months of working with nothing but enough money for food, rent, and an internet connection (not to mention my awesome business partner) than I accomplished in two and a half years while in college and $10,000 in funding.

The beauty of the internet is that you can literally start a business with $0. Why? For one, the internet is extremely scalable with regard to the communication of ideas and content. How would you do it? Let’s say I wanted to start a local web development consulting firm aimed at helping retail stores build websites.

Assume that I am dirt broke, I don’t even have a damn computer, and I am completely ignorant of anything related to web programming or design.

I would start by going to the local library (where they give free computer access). I would learn everything I could about web development and design from free online tutorials. I would recall what I learned with blog posts that could help others who are also trying to learn by signing up for a free website blogging account on Blogger.com.

Over time the blog’s design would be improved based on my growing web development skills, and traffic would improve based on my growing knowledge of what the local retail market wanted from a blog on web design and development. I would learn to track traffic, and eventually I’d put some “open for business” sign or note on the blog telling visitors that I can build them a local retail website for a fee. You get the idea…

Bottom-line: With the advent of the internet you can start a business for free.

I have no time.

This is probably the worst excuse someone can give for not pursuing an entrepreneurial dream.

Two useful quotes come to mind:

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’ ” -Lao Tzu

“Don’t say you don’t have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” -H. Jackson Brown

Bottom-line: We have more free time today thanks to modern technology than at any other time in human history. Where you choose invest that free time is up to you.

Conclusion

The bottom line of this article is that if you have a sincere interest in starting a business, it is ultimately up to you to take the initiative toward achieving that goal.

It isn’t rocket science. Once you’ve understand why you are apprehensive you just need to find the motivation to act. The motivation to act is something I will cover in my next article.

What do YOU think of my reasoning for this article? What are some other reasons for putting off starting a business?