Should you start a business? Probably. If you are asking the question that proves a couple of things to me. The first is that you have the pioneer’s spirit, that you are at least vaguely interested in getting out on your own and making something of yourself gosh darn it. The second thing it tells me is that you’re sick enough of whatever it is that you are doing now that you are willing to give up a life of regular paychecks and health insurance to blaze your own trail.
These are good signs, very good signs, in fact.
That being said, there are still quite a few people who think that they should start a business who really, really shouldn’t. It’s not their fault, it’s just that their temperament or their goals don’t align with what you need to be successful on your own. This post is a quick guide to who those people are and why they should put away the LLC before they hurt themselves.
1. Anyone who doesn’t like being annoying.
Being in business is almost exclusively about being annoying, whether you are annoying clients who owe you money, or annoying potential customers who don’t yet know you exist. Your job as an entrepreneur is to poke, prod and weasel your way into the lives of as many people as you can find without getting a restraining order placed against you. If you are a little on the shy side, you would do well to hire someone quickly who can do the annoying for you because you’ll need them.
2. Anyone who believes that it is critically important to get 8 hours of sleep every night.
Entrepreneurs don’t sleep. Yes, I know, a part of it is a weird badge of honor thing and you have to take that for what it is, but a lot of it is simple pragmatism. People who start businesses are prone to fits of inspiration and sadly inspiration doesn’t have a circadian rhythm. If you are going to make it in business you need to take sleep where you can get it, and understand that there are going to be periods of time when you are not going to be able to get it anywhere.
3. Anyone who fears rejection.
If you cringe every time you hear No, business is not for you. People will say No to you constantly. No, in fact, will be the most common word you will hear early in your tenure as an entrepreneur. No is not your enemy young Padawan, in fact, for quite sometime it might be the only friend that you have.
4. Anyone who wants to get rich quick.
There is this thing called gambling that you may have heard of. Rumor has it that some small set of people do manage to get quite wealthy doing it in a short period of time. While some people would say that business is a form a gambling, those people are wrong. Business is about accepting risk but it is primarily about mitigating that risk down to the lowest level you can manage. Gambling is simply about accepting risk (if you are an honest gambler). If you want to get rich quick, gamble and hope for the best. If you want to build wealth, be independent and enjoy yourself, start a business.
5. Anyone who hates being wrong.
This goes without saying but I will say it anyway. If you are in business for yourself you are going to be wrong a lot. You will be wrong about simple things like what color business cards you should have (paisley was a bad choice), and you are going to be wrong about big things like how much of your non-existent budget you should have really put towards kitschy promotional teeshirts. While you should do your best to avoid being wrong, you need to accept the fact that it is going to happen — often.
6. Anyone who doesn’t like people.
People are your customers; people are your clients; people are your employees, interns and investors. If you don’t absolutely adore people you are going to have a hard time in business. There is a time and place in this world to be Gordon Gecko but most of the time it’s just going to get you in trouble and make you lose opportunities.
7. Anyone who is not at least a tiny bit compulsive.
Good entrepreneurs are always a little bit obsessed. If you are going to spend thousands of hours staring at a product or service you are going to need to marshal every ounce of your obsession to keep from throwing yourself off of the nearest bridge. If you have a hard time caring about anything bigger than a Goldfish for more than a half-dozen seconds, then starting a business might not be the right path for you.
8. Anyone who thinks that work isn’t supposed to be fun.
Let’s face it, some people just don’t think they should be paid to have fun. If the rest of these points have taught you anything it’s that business is hard, but if after reading these you are chomping at the bit to start one, then you have passed the first test. You have come to the conclusion that most great entrepreneurs do and that is the fact that challenge is sexy, challenge is fun and that nothing is worth doing if it’s not a little bit hard.
If you happen to fall into any of these categories, don’t give up quite yet. Sometimes simply knowing what is standing in your way can be enough to overcome it. If you really want to get out there on your own you’ll find away, and when it boils down to it — that is the entire point after all.
Steve — i actually like your list. a minimum of half your things ar confidence-oriented, that is what lots of entrepreneurship boils right down to. If you’re not assured in what you awaken the table, win or lose, then you’re washed-up.
Steve, I really like the vast majority of what you have to say and concur, but I have to say I’m not at all convinced on 3.
Firstly, I actually know and have worked with several successful entrepreneurs that do get 8 hours of sleep per night and do finish work at reasonable hours.
There’s a fair bit of research out there suggesting 6 hours or less can be chronically debilitating and lead to long-term health issues. Lack of sleep is also linked to reduced cognitive function and issues like Alzheimers.
Of course everybody is different within certain parameters and it does depend heavily on the quality of our sleep.
Lack of sleep and working insane hours used to be a badge of pride, but I think (hope) things are shifting somewhat even within the ranks for the super-successful (whatever that means!).
In the name of better prose I don’t think I put a fine enough point on the whole “don’t sleep” thing.
I truth is that in order to be effective you need to be aware of how much sleep you need. Everyone is different and as we age we continue to change (younger people tend to need more sleep). You need to make certain that you get as much sleep as you need to properly function whether that’s 10 hours, 8 hours or 6 hours.
Entrepreneurs often need to manage sleep schedules that are extreme, especially early in their venture cycle. Things come up and those things occasionally force even the most disciplined among us to step outside of our comfort zones and really push ourselves. I think if you recognize this, you will be willing to lose a nights rest to do what needs to be done.
That being said, being busy for the sake of being busy is a mark of inefficiency not pride. Your goal should always be to -reduce- the number of days you need to burn the candle at both ends, not luxuriate in them.
Thanks so much for the comment.
I’m not sure that paying too much attention to being told why you CAN’T do what you really want to do in life is a particulalry good quality either. We all have shortcomings – it’s just a case of working around them rather than letting them hold you back. If anyone recognizes themselves in this article my advice would be ignore it and keep going – there’s no monopoly on truth and if you really want it you’ll work it out – even it takes a little longer than someone ‘naturally blessed’ with all of these supposed ‘essential qualities’.
Nice post for a debate though. Thanks.
First I’d like to thank you for taking the time to comment.
Second, I would like to point you to the final paragraph of my screed. If you really -want- to do anything in this wild and crazy world of ours, you should. That means that you have the wherewithal to overcome whatever it is that is standing in your way.
However, I think that it is irresponsible not to be aware of those parts of your personality that might make things more difficult for you. If you hate people, lack passion and want to get rich quick that severely shapes the types of businesses you will be able to successfully run (I’d avoid daycares). If you choose to start these businesses despite all of this, it shapes the types of people that you -need- to hire in order to make up for those things that you aren’t necessarily great at.
If we don’t ever look at our weaknesses we can never see our strengths, and if nothing else business is about using those strengths that we do have to their highest capacity.
Thanks again!
Howdy Steve-
These are brilliant!
“Anyone who believes that it is critically important to get 8 hours of sleep every night” rings to me of working harder. I agree – that’s a must. But I believe working ‘smarter’ is equally important. It’s a balance. Being ‘busy’ and running around without a strategy/plan is a dangerous recipe.
Cheers!
Matt
Why thank you sir, I appreciate the time you took to comment.
Everybody should start a business, whether full time or on the side. We’ll learn so much, and test our wits to wits end.
Who knows, we might even strike it rich!
Point on, although I would like to add that if you’re bad with money, and if you aren’t willing to work obsessively now for an uncertain and future award, you should never start a business.
This list is spot on. #4 is probably the quickest way to weed out those who aren’t dedicated to the demands that starting a business require.
I don’t generally like people. But I do manage to over come this but attempting to care about every person I work with.
I don’t know about the last part though Steven, Work = Fun, there are plenty of folks with broke mentality that just want to be having a fun time all the time and be goof offs. Work is suppose to be HARD. I enjoy my work, and it’s fun, but it’s also hard work. Sometimes it’s easy.
I don’t know how to better explain my thoughts on the difference between, I have fun at work because I’m a goof off and talk with all my friends, but hate my job, vs, my job is hard and demanding but I enjoy it and it brings sanctification and fulfillment to my life.
Make sense?
The best way I can explain it is like this —
You should enjoy what you do.
You can hate your workplace, you can hate the details, you can hate the grind but if you love what you do and you’re having “fun” getting from point a to point b then you’ll be alright.
I think the two problems you can end up with are exactly what you describe. Either you love your workplace instead of your work (you love goofing off but could care less about what you’re actually doing) or you hate both (you dislike your workplace and whatever it is that you do).
In the best case scenario you enjoy your workplace, the people you work with and the details AND you love your work (what it is that you do and where all that “doing” leads).
I know that’s about as clear as mud, but I think it’s a good elaboration of what I meant.
Really good tips – especially about the 8 hours/night component. I think that many people get very set in their routines, and have a rough time adjusting to that aspect, should entrepreneurship be something they pursue. I think that you’re pretty accurate in terms of what people should think about – while staying positive at the same time! 🙂
I’ve had the good fortune of never really needing that much sleep to function like a human being, but I know people who can’t do anything without 8-10 hours under their belt. You can still be an entrepreneur, even if you need your sleep, you just need to make sure you have the people in place who are passionate enough about the idea to pick up the slack while you’re snoozing. It’s rare thing to actually find these people.
Steve — I really like your list. At least half of your items are confidence-oriented, which is what a lot of entrepreneurship boils down to. If you’re not confident in what you bring to the table, win or lose, then you’re sunk.
Thanks for writing a “How NOT to” post without being totally condescending. So many like these end up down the wrong road with nothing but negativity. Thanks for balancing reality with optimism. It’s proven to be a tough line to walk for many.
Thanks, I really appreciate that. It’s hard to be “candid” without devolving into cynicism. I’m glad I got this across in a way that balanced the two.
Thanks again.
Reading through that one I came to the simple conclusion that a business is for me. 🙂
1. I can be a total pain in the ass
2. 6 hours or less is more like it
3. If you didn’t hear no often enough you didn’t ask often enough
4. getting rich quick would be nice, but let’s face it, it’s damn hard work
5. I’m almost always wrong, it’s when I might be right that it’s scary. So just assume I’m wrong (even I do at times) and things will turn out right.
6. If you can’t talk to people, you’re in trouble…. that’s just plain obvious
7. Compulsiveness. How about spending months tracking down a particular keyboard, just because I wanted one. (IBM model m) If I set my mind to it, you’d better get out of the way between me and my target.
8. Work != fun. At least, if you define work as such. But who said that hard work isn’t fun? Getting things done is so fulfilling.
Now all I need is a target 🙂 so I can apply these 8 great tactics (well, you CAN interpret them that way)
Ha! That’s true. A lot of times the hardest thing for an entrepreneur to figure out is which idea is really worth their valuable time.
Thanks for the comment mate.
I’m not convinced that shy people can’t be entrepreneurs–I think it depends a lot on the type of business you get into. A lot of bloggers, for example, are great writers but strong introverts and may even dislike being around other people. But they use the power of their writing to compensate…
I think your other points are spot on–all in all, it comes down to managing expectations and not getting too ahead of yourself without being flexible to take things as they come.
I believe shy people can be entrepreneurs, especially if we are talking about creative entrepreneurs (writers, artists) but I think that if you are shy and you want to grow your business you need to recognize that you’ll need someone who can act as your “voice.”
Looking at it a bit differently, I also wouldn’t define a strong writer who just happens to be a social introvert as “shy” per se. They just communicate best through their writing, and thanks to the Internet, these days that can be more than enough to get yourself out there.
Great thoughts and great comments. Thanks!
Steve,
This post conveys very important considerations, with inimitable style.
A few of the most successful entrepreneurs I know are shy and very private individuals, but slip into the role of being out-there because that’s what their public & business role demands. Interlinked, they also make excellent listeners.
I’d suggest: ‘Anyone who isn’t willing to stand-up to authority figures’: There are many who will raise questions/ express disagreement in private. The key differentiator is the willingness to work hard and create undeniable proof that helps you stand-up for what you believe in.
Cheers,
Anita Lobo
That’s such a great point.
Entrepreneurs need to be able to stand up for what they believe in, which can be the hardest thing in the world for some people.
GREAT post! I work for a start-up where it is basically just me and the founder and I can tell you, she works 18 hour days, most of the week. It’s constant, around the clock, but it’s the only way to get off the ground. I think the pre-requisite for starting a business is passion above everything else. If you don’t actually believe enough in what you’re doing, it will fail – you will lose interest, burn out and throw in the towel without maximizing its potential.
Without passion almost all the rest falls apart. Starting a business of any kind can be gut-wrenching work and you need to be able to stare it down with a smile if you are going to get anywhere.
I think the biggest thing that separates entrepreneurs from sane people is the lengths entrepreneurs are willing to go through not to have to quit.
Thanks so much for the insights.