D
DeletedUser84644
Guest
I understand what you are going through right now and how you feel very well, I've been in that position for a year and half of my life now and have finally managed to figure out all of the answers to those frustrations and burning questions that you have that none of the forum members here in the Fastlane forum seem to be giving you an adequate enough answer to (Especially if you are plagued with analysis-paralysis and are a naturally highly analytic / must know every single step of the way kind of person). I can even relate to the depression that it can put on people. I will shatter all of the mental roadblocks that are holding you back from getting started in something once and for all! Let us begin:
(1) I'm having with trouble finding an idea, I try my best every single day to find one but for the life of me can't manage to find one, help!
The approach you are using to find an idea is misguided. The reason why you are having immense difficulty with finding one is because you are trying too hard into finding a completely, 100%, original idea. Such an approach is completely counterintuitive and is so for the following reason: If most of the richest people in the world didn't get to their position from executing 100% original ideas but through executing already existing ones better or with a spin put on how they were normally done, then we also do not need to be 100% original either. 100% original ideas rarely succeed and should only be realistically pursued by an experienced entrepreneur, otherwise, you are destined to fail. So, look at what already exists in the market and see how you can do things better, faster, cheaper, with a spin put on how it's normally done, etc. That's the fail-proof sure fire way of finding good "ideas", for already existing ideas have proven market demand (which means that you don't have to worry about product-market fit) and therefore mean that they have a good chance of working out (Which basically means the only way the business venture can fail is through mediocre execution, not failed product market fit). You could never have a single great idea in your life, but if you put your efforts and focus on executing the great ideas of others that already have proven market demand, then you will be able to succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Ideas are a dime and dozen and are useless and insufficient without proper execution, as it's the ultimate successful execution and implementation of ideas that can leave you with holding a pot of gold, not the idea itself, period. You need to look at "ideas" as business opportunities rather than ideas instead.
(2) I have a business opportunity that I would like to get feedback on but am afraid to share it with other people in fear that someone else will try to copy what I'm doing:
If it's a 100% original idea or an already existing idea that you plan on executing better, then both concerns are unfounded. Here's why: No two people will execute on an idea in the exact same way at all, nor is it guaranteed that those two people will have simultaneous success at executing the said idea (Most early-stage companies fail after all). So, Let's take the pizza industry for example: Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa Johns, etc. They all make the exact same product, pizza. So why do each of them still get customers despite the fact that pizza has never been originally invented by each of them? The answer lies in each of the pizza joint's different recipes for their pizzas. They simply do not all taste the same, and that difference in taste is what gives a different experience for the consumer. It's those differences in experiences that each of the pizza joints create that is what makes the customer go buy pizza from one place over another. Business is the same way. So, telling someone that you plan on opening up another pizza joint is fine, just don't get into the details of your specific pizza's recipe (the exact blueprint for how the pizza will be made by you.). So, it's perfectly fine to have discussions related to how to craft a recipe for a pizza in general, just don't go too much into detail over how you will try to have your recipe differentiated among the existing pizza joints, got it? (I.e Share them on a conceptual level but not on a blueprint level). And when it comes to NDAs and legal protections for ideas and stuff, know that it only protects how an idea is executed / imagined, not the idea itself (i.e You can't ban someone else from creating another anthropomorphic duck, you can only keep them from creating the exact same kind of duck as yours. Think Donald Duck for Walt Disney and Daffey Duck for Loony Toons. Further driving the point home that it's not the idea that matters the most, but the execution.)
(3) Ok so I am set on doing a certain business idea / opportunity but don't know how to execute on it / don't have any skills, where do I begin with that?
Every single business in existence has a product / service maker component and a selling & marketing component. You must be able to be at least one of those and have the other of which you are not, filled in somehow. If you can't figure out how to get both roles filled in, then you do not have a business. The hard part of business is almost always the product / service maker part, because in a lot of business ventures (Or perhaps all of them), it starts with the product / service first, and then the formal business organizational structure with all of the bells and whistles later, not the other way around (I.e there's no point in having an office space rented out and everything when you don't even have proof of market demand yet for your product / service.) The learning curve is usually a lot higher and way more steep when it comes to figuring out how to make a product / service, versus selling & marketing said product or service. It's usually almost always easier to be in the seller / marketer role than the product / service maker role. So, the ultimate question when it comes to picking out a business venture in terms of Founder market fit comes down to this: Can I build X product or service? If yes then you have the hard part already figured out, if not, see if you can afford to somehow hire / rent someone else's expertise to do so for you, if not, then you don't have a business. If you start out as a builder rather than a seller, then that's ok, you can improve upon the selling / marketing of it with time, but not so much if all you know how to do is sell & market products / services in general, but do not know how to create said product / service yourself or get some other person or company to do so that can (This is what Bill Gates meant when he said he would rather teach a builder how to market / sell than a market / seller how to build.) And as for figuring out the formal business organizational structure part (Office space, hiring employees, HR, accounting, business cards, customer support, etc.) That can all be learned fairly quickly and easily compared to trying to learn how to make a product / service from scratch. The product / service making and selling / marketing part of your aspiring business venture is what you need to have decently figured out from the start, the rest you can just learn as you go as you build up your company. Also have a good idea as to where to get business consultation and legal advice when you need it. The place to get business advice / consultation would be your local small business development center. If you cannot afford to get legal consultation via a physical in-person law firm, then see if you afford to do so online (It's usually cheaper). Same thing goes for getting tax advice. If you want to put yourself at an advantage compared to most people that go out to start a company and subsequently reduce your odds of failure, then the approach would be to Learn all of the basic generic stuff that applies to every single business under the sun in the world. Stuff such as accounting, how to raise capital, how to sell, how to market, how to negotiate, what the different business models are, etc. As well as avoid being 100% original (But you know this already of course). Also avoid slow burn success kinds of businesses (If it's not something that can make you profit within months of starting up, then it's an idea you should consider avoiding to pursue like the plaque as a first-time entrepreneur. That's a camp best reserved and suited for the experienced entrepreneurs.). When deciding on whether to pursue a business venture or not that you currently don't have the product / service maker skills for, determine how long it will take you to learn the product / service marker skills that are specific to the business venture you're trying to pursue (If it's something that will take you years to learn as well as lot of money that may require you to break the bank, then it's not worth it.) If you're someone with no skills, formal education, etc that is itching to get something started with entrepreneurship, then my advice would be to get into a kind of business venture where you're being some kind of reseller / retailer. As a way to gain experience with entrepreneurship in general without having to go through the steep heavy learning curve that is required of being the maker of a product / service in order for you to be able make said product / service with decent competency. So that way all you have to do is a be a seller / marketer and not the product / service maker.
(4) I hear that you don't need much money to start a business, is it true?
A better way to rephrase that question would be: Will I need to use a lot of my own money to start a business? The answer is no, if your business venture is worth its salt, you should be able get funding for seed capital via one of two ways: Either through an angel investor (A rich individual) or a venture capital firm that specifically invests in companies that are either in the seed or just the idea stage. This is something that a business consultant can help you out with the most. The amount of money you will need to start a business varies from business to business (Some can be started in a garage or college campus, while others require a huge lump sum.) The more money a business venture demands, the harder it will be to adjust it to your personal circumstances timewise. But once you have the funding set in motion for you to start your business, you should be prepared to drop whatever priorities that you may have at the moment that's preventing you from giving the full-time dedication that the venture you're pursuing requires (If you explain your personal circumstances well to your prospective investors, they will understand and should be able to help you out with that financially.).
(5) Will I need a fastlane-minded mentor in order for me to succeed?
No, absolutely not. Those so called "mentors" even if they were legitimate, are just there to take advantage of your ignorance / inexperience. As long as you are equipped with the right mindset, knowledge, principles, and philosophy surrounding entrepreneurship, then you won't need to hire a mentor, at all. If such "mentors" really wanted to help people, they would simply do those people a favor and actually explain what they exclusively seem to know to people in-depth via a book or some kind of other communication medium as clearly as possible in the most noob and slowlaner friendly way possible (Like how I'm doing it right now). The people that also say "You're just making excuses!" without actually explaining how someone's misconception of something is leading them to "making an excuse" in an empathetic and a "I've been there" manner are also not helpful either, those people are saying that in a position of arrogance and privilege. Not doing something that's driven out of misconception is a very different thing compared to not doing something out of pure laziness (Where you actually know what you need to do to get something done, but are just not mustering enough of the will / hustle mindset to actually get the ball rolling with things). So, if someone advertises themselves as a mentor, then you'd best avoid handing your money over to them. Real mentors are people who don't adopt such a label, they give out such mentor like advice, for free. Of course, there are some limited exceptions to this (Like in sports for example) but in the case of the making of money, you are better off not handing your money to them (B/c most of the time, they just ask for a fortune to get their advice. So, remember what MJ said: Learning how to make a fortune shouldn't cost a fortune.) Infact, now that I think about, it makes perfect sense for this reason as to why MJ doesn't give out any personal mentorship like that. It's one of the ways in how he adds to his credibility. So be glad that MJ doesn't do any personal mentoring.
(6) But what if I'm a really young person (Mid to late teens, early twenties) and don't have a slowlane to drive on to begin with? Should I create my slowlane first before I work on creating my Fastlane?
Yes. Learn as much as you can about everything that you are exposed to as much as possible. Now is the time to build up your skill set as much as possible so that way you can build up your circle of competence (Warren Buffet reference) as to what kind of product / service you can build in which you will later on figure out how to structure delivering said product / service as a business. Unless you are perfectly ok with living with your parents throughout your entire young adulthood, work on making yourself self-sufficient first. But be sure that you take the fastest route that you can competently take that's possible as to how you will go about making yourself sufficient as cheaply as possible.
(7) What if I have a mental roadblock or some other personal circumstance / roadblock that isn't listed over here?
Then just post it here and I'll see if I can help lift that roadblock for you. Do know that there are very few roadblocks that can permanently prevent you from getting started in entrepreneurship. All roadblocks make the process harder, yes, but they can't get lifted without effort. So, if you can't figure out how to lift it yourself, then try to see if you can get other people whom you trust to help you out with that.
I wish you all good luck and hope this has been a million times more helpful than how 99% people on this forum have unhelpingly explained it (this includes MJ as well btw.) If I end up coming up with other things that may be helpful to share in helping people lift some of their roadblocks, then I will edit the post with "EDIT" as well as put the date aside to it. If I make such an edit like that, I will make a post to the thread saying "UPDATED" I hope that this thread gets pinned or get some kind of easy access for aspiring entrepreneurs to get access to. If not, then that's ok. At least it will have had enough exposure to the point where there will be enough forum members out there to remember this thread as a good, helpful, empathetic, and compassionate guide for the aspiring entrepreneur that's screaming in pain and misery of not know how to get the F*ck started for once and for all.
EDIT (1/2/2022):
(8) I have some decent cash saved up and I'm not sure if I should use it to buy a business or start a company, what should I do?
If you are a first-time entrepreneur, then you should use it to start a company. But try to use as little of that money as possible. Buying a business is best served for the experienced champs, otherwise you will lose it to someone or some other company that does have the experience. To paraphrase what Brian Will said from the book, The dropout multi-millionaire "The one with the experience takes the money, while the one without the money takes the experience." that is the exchange scenario that could happen to you if you try do such a thing as a first-time entrepreneur.
P.S:
Just when I thought I'd never post something again on the Fastlane forum, I felt compelled to do this because I know that I am not the only one out there who was dying in desperation for answers to these kinds of questions but could never manage to find someone to help explain to me the answers to them with so much clarity as I hopefully have had in this thread. I was lucky to have after a lot of time, thought, and research, have managed to figure them out all on my own. I can totally relate to the feeling that this forum feels like it's only helpful to the experienced people and that it seems like all they want to do is throw you under the bus for the way you think (B/c most of the time, the experienced people do a bad job at explaining the answers to those misconceptions with complete crystal-clear clarity and lack sensitivity in how they chose to convey themselves with doing so.)
If you don't believe me that I was once mentally in your exact same shoes, then please, do go look at some of the most embarrassing threads / posts I've made on this forum (Which has only reinforced and magnified my insecurities even more and put me in a brief period of depression). I understand the pain and misery of not knowing those answers very well, you can have it rest assured that I do. I have cried the tears you have cried and felt the pain you have felt.
(1) I'm having with trouble finding an idea, I try my best every single day to find one but for the life of me can't manage to find one, help!
The approach you are using to find an idea is misguided. The reason why you are having immense difficulty with finding one is because you are trying too hard into finding a completely, 100%, original idea. Such an approach is completely counterintuitive and is so for the following reason: If most of the richest people in the world didn't get to their position from executing 100% original ideas but through executing already existing ones better or with a spin put on how they were normally done, then we also do not need to be 100% original either. 100% original ideas rarely succeed and should only be realistically pursued by an experienced entrepreneur, otherwise, you are destined to fail. So, look at what already exists in the market and see how you can do things better, faster, cheaper, with a spin put on how it's normally done, etc. That's the fail-proof sure fire way of finding good "ideas", for already existing ideas have proven market demand (which means that you don't have to worry about product-market fit) and therefore mean that they have a good chance of working out (Which basically means the only way the business venture can fail is through mediocre execution, not failed product market fit). You could never have a single great idea in your life, but if you put your efforts and focus on executing the great ideas of others that already have proven market demand, then you will be able to succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Ideas are a dime and dozen and are useless and insufficient without proper execution, as it's the ultimate successful execution and implementation of ideas that can leave you with holding a pot of gold, not the idea itself, period. You need to look at "ideas" as business opportunities rather than ideas instead.
(2) I have a business opportunity that I would like to get feedback on but am afraid to share it with other people in fear that someone else will try to copy what I'm doing:
If it's a 100% original idea or an already existing idea that you plan on executing better, then both concerns are unfounded. Here's why: No two people will execute on an idea in the exact same way at all, nor is it guaranteed that those two people will have simultaneous success at executing the said idea (Most early-stage companies fail after all). So, Let's take the pizza industry for example: Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Papa Johns, etc. They all make the exact same product, pizza. So why do each of them still get customers despite the fact that pizza has never been originally invented by each of them? The answer lies in each of the pizza joint's different recipes for their pizzas. They simply do not all taste the same, and that difference in taste is what gives a different experience for the consumer. It's those differences in experiences that each of the pizza joints create that is what makes the customer go buy pizza from one place over another. Business is the same way. So, telling someone that you plan on opening up another pizza joint is fine, just don't get into the details of your specific pizza's recipe (the exact blueprint for how the pizza will be made by you.). So, it's perfectly fine to have discussions related to how to craft a recipe for a pizza in general, just don't go too much into detail over how you will try to have your recipe differentiated among the existing pizza joints, got it? (I.e Share them on a conceptual level but not on a blueprint level). And when it comes to NDAs and legal protections for ideas and stuff, know that it only protects how an idea is executed / imagined, not the idea itself (i.e You can't ban someone else from creating another anthropomorphic duck, you can only keep them from creating the exact same kind of duck as yours. Think Donald Duck for Walt Disney and Daffey Duck for Loony Toons. Further driving the point home that it's not the idea that matters the most, but the execution.)
(3) Ok so I am set on doing a certain business idea / opportunity but don't know how to execute on it / don't have any skills, where do I begin with that?
Every single business in existence has a product / service maker component and a selling & marketing component. You must be able to be at least one of those and have the other of which you are not, filled in somehow. If you can't figure out how to get both roles filled in, then you do not have a business. The hard part of business is almost always the product / service maker part, because in a lot of business ventures (Or perhaps all of them), it starts with the product / service first, and then the formal business organizational structure with all of the bells and whistles later, not the other way around (I.e there's no point in having an office space rented out and everything when you don't even have proof of market demand yet for your product / service.) The learning curve is usually a lot higher and way more steep when it comes to figuring out how to make a product / service, versus selling & marketing said product or service. It's usually almost always easier to be in the seller / marketer role than the product / service maker role. So, the ultimate question when it comes to picking out a business venture in terms of Founder market fit comes down to this: Can I build X product or service? If yes then you have the hard part already figured out, if not, see if you can afford to somehow hire / rent someone else's expertise to do so for you, if not, then you don't have a business. If you start out as a builder rather than a seller, then that's ok, you can improve upon the selling / marketing of it with time, but not so much if all you know how to do is sell & market products / services in general, but do not know how to create said product / service yourself or get some other person or company to do so that can (This is what Bill Gates meant when he said he would rather teach a builder how to market / sell than a market / seller how to build.) And as for figuring out the formal business organizational structure part (Office space, hiring employees, HR, accounting, business cards, customer support, etc.) That can all be learned fairly quickly and easily compared to trying to learn how to make a product / service from scratch. The product / service making and selling / marketing part of your aspiring business venture is what you need to have decently figured out from the start, the rest you can just learn as you go as you build up your company. Also have a good idea as to where to get business consultation and legal advice when you need it. The place to get business advice / consultation would be your local small business development center. If you cannot afford to get legal consultation via a physical in-person law firm, then see if you afford to do so online (It's usually cheaper). Same thing goes for getting tax advice. If you want to put yourself at an advantage compared to most people that go out to start a company and subsequently reduce your odds of failure, then the approach would be to Learn all of the basic generic stuff that applies to every single business under the sun in the world. Stuff such as accounting, how to raise capital, how to sell, how to market, how to negotiate, what the different business models are, etc. As well as avoid being 100% original (But you know this already of course). Also avoid slow burn success kinds of businesses (If it's not something that can make you profit within months of starting up, then it's an idea you should consider avoiding to pursue like the plaque as a first-time entrepreneur. That's a camp best reserved and suited for the experienced entrepreneurs.). When deciding on whether to pursue a business venture or not that you currently don't have the product / service maker skills for, determine how long it will take you to learn the product / service marker skills that are specific to the business venture you're trying to pursue (If it's something that will take you years to learn as well as lot of money that may require you to break the bank, then it's not worth it.) If you're someone with no skills, formal education, etc that is itching to get something started with entrepreneurship, then my advice would be to get into a kind of business venture where you're being some kind of reseller / retailer. As a way to gain experience with entrepreneurship in general without having to go through the steep heavy learning curve that is required of being the maker of a product / service in order for you to be able make said product / service with decent competency. So that way all you have to do is a be a seller / marketer and not the product / service maker.
(4) I hear that you don't need much money to start a business, is it true?
A better way to rephrase that question would be: Will I need to use a lot of my own money to start a business? The answer is no, if your business venture is worth its salt, you should be able get funding for seed capital via one of two ways: Either through an angel investor (A rich individual) or a venture capital firm that specifically invests in companies that are either in the seed or just the idea stage. This is something that a business consultant can help you out with the most. The amount of money you will need to start a business varies from business to business (Some can be started in a garage or college campus, while others require a huge lump sum.) The more money a business venture demands, the harder it will be to adjust it to your personal circumstances timewise. But once you have the funding set in motion for you to start your business, you should be prepared to drop whatever priorities that you may have at the moment that's preventing you from giving the full-time dedication that the venture you're pursuing requires (If you explain your personal circumstances well to your prospective investors, they will understand and should be able to help you out with that financially.).
(5) Will I need a fastlane-minded mentor in order for me to succeed?
No, absolutely not. Those so called "mentors" even if they were legitimate, are just there to take advantage of your ignorance / inexperience. As long as you are equipped with the right mindset, knowledge, principles, and philosophy surrounding entrepreneurship, then you won't need to hire a mentor, at all. If such "mentors" really wanted to help people, they would simply do those people a favor and actually explain what they exclusively seem to know to people in-depth via a book or some kind of other communication medium as clearly as possible in the most noob and slowlaner friendly way possible (Like how I'm doing it right now). The people that also say "You're just making excuses!" without actually explaining how someone's misconception of something is leading them to "making an excuse" in an empathetic and a "I've been there" manner are also not helpful either, those people are saying that in a position of arrogance and privilege. Not doing something that's driven out of misconception is a very different thing compared to not doing something out of pure laziness (Where you actually know what you need to do to get something done, but are just not mustering enough of the will / hustle mindset to actually get the ball rolling with things). So, if someone advertises themselves as a mentor, then you'd best avoid handing your money over to them. Real mentors are people who don't adopt such a label, they give out such mentor like advice, for free. Of course, there are some limited exceptions to this (Like in sports for example) but in the case of the making of money, you are better off not handing your money to them (B/c most of the time, they just ask for a fortune to get their advice. So, remember what MJ said: Learning how to make a fortune shouldn't cost a fortune.) Infact, now that I think about, it makes perfect sense for this reason as to why MJ doesn't give out any personal mentorship like that. It's one of the ways in how he adds to his credibility. So be glad that MJ doesn't do any personal mentoring.
(6) But what if I'm a really young person (Mid to late teens, early twenties) and don't have a slowlane to drive on to begin with? Should I create my slowlane first before I work on creating my Fastlane?
Yes. Learn as much as you can about everything that you are exposed to as much as possible. Now is the time to build up your skill set as much as possible so that way you can build up your circle of competence (Warren Buffet reference) as to what kind of product / service you can build in which you will later on figure out how to structure delivering said product / service as a business. Unless you are perfectly ok with living with your parents throughout your entire young adulthood, work on making yourself self-sufficient first. But be sure that you take the fastest route that you can competently take that's possible as to how you will go about making yourself sufficient as cheaply as possible.
(7) What if I have a mental roadblock or some other personal circumstance / roadblock that isn't listed over here?
Then just post it here and I'll see if I can help lift that roadblock for you. Do know that there are very few roadblocks that can permanently prevent you from getting started in entrepreneurship. All roadblocks make the process harder, yes, but they can't get lifted without effort. So, if you can't figure out how to lift it yourself, then try to see if you can get other people whom you trust to help you out with that.
I wish you all good luck and hope this has been a million times more helpful than how 99% people on this forum have unhelpingly explained it (this includes MJ as well btw.) If I end up coming up with other things that may be helpful to share in helping people lift some of their roadblocks, then I will edit the post with "EDIT" as well as put the date aside to it. If I make such an edit like that, I will make a post to the thread saying "UPDATED" I hope that this thread gets pinned or get some kind of easy access for aspiring entrepreneurs to get access to. If not, then that's ok. At least it will have had enough exposure to the point where there will be enough forum members out there to remember this thread as a good, helpful, empathetic, and compassionate guide for the aspiring entrepreneur that's screaming in pain and misery of not know how to get the F*ck started for once and for all.
EDIT (1/2/2022):
(8) I have some decent cash saved up and I'm not sure if I should use it to buy a business or start a company, what should I do?
If you are a first-time entrepreneur, then you should use it to start a company. But try to use as little of that money as possible. Buying a business is best served for the experienced champs, otherwise you will lose it to someone or some other company that does have the experience. To paraphrase what Brian Will said from the book, The dropout multi-millionaire "The one with the experience takes the money, while the one without the money takes the experience." that is the exchange scenario that could happen to you if you try do such a thing as a first-time entrepreneur.
P.S:
Just when I thought I'd never post something again on the Fastlane forum, I felt compelled to do this because I know that I am not the only one out there who was dying in desperation for answers to these kinds of questions but could never manage to find someone to help explain to me the answers to them with so much clarity as I hopefully have had in this thread. I was lucky to have after a lot of time, thought, and research, have managed to figure them out all on my own. I can totally relate to the feeling that this forum feels like it's only helpful to the experienced people and that it seems like all they want to do is throw you under the bus for the way you think (B/c most of the time, the experienced people do a bad job at explaining the answers to those misconceptions with complete crystal-clear clarity and lack sensitivity in how they chose to convey themselves with doing so.)
If you don't believe me that I was once mentally in your exact same shoes, then please, do go look at some of the most embarrassing threads / posts I've made on this forum (Which has only reinforced and magnified my insecurities even more and put me in a brief period of depression). I understand the pain and misery of not knowing those answers very well, you can have it rest assured that I do. I have cried the tears you have cried and felt the pain you have felt.
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