Hello, there!
I`ve had this thought for ages and never felt comfortable expressing it because for many people it will definitely sound as trampling on their dreams. And since it comes to me almost daily from reading all the post from aspiring wantapreneurs and struggling entrepreneurs (not here, but usually in the local entrepreneurial groups), I thought for a bit and decided that I will express it here just to get it off my chest and to get some feedback. I am also completely comfortable getting some bashing from you guys, so here we go.
The thing comes to me every time I see some new guy or girl who comes to the market as a marketologist, website developer, and other "businesses" we see emerging and dying in their hundreds every year. The success rate for them is very low, as they, in my opinion, violate at least two major commandments - Entry and Need. I once sat for some half-hour with my distant aquitance who came to me with "Let me get you a website for free so I can boost my portfolio". For half an hour, I watched the guy typing prompts to some AI website builder. The result was clunky and did not publish - it worked only on my guy`s computer. After half-hour he bowed himself out with "I will send you project files - you can tune it yourself". Great service out there.
And although I know that there are better examples out there, I don`t really see this as a viable business. Mainly because I can`t really see crowds of people on the streets chanting: "We need websites!"
From MJ`s books I remember three pieces of advise about finding out what to do:
1. Check your experiences, get some via the job if needed
2. Find some problems people around you are having and you can solve
3. <a list of 13 tactical approaches to finding a business idea>
What people usually do instead is sitting in their room, tossing their competencies and "what can I learn fast" in their head and trying to conjure some elaborate idea in their heads. Like "I will learn this, do this, combine this and this and will end up with a business like this" without a single thought on who will buy this. They usually start, as I see it, with a question of "what I want to do my whole life" rather than "what clients would want me to do". They want coffee, they want respect, they want soft skin on the palms of their hands and control over their time. They did not yet get their millions but they are already building lives to make use of them.
One of the greatest insights I`ve had in my entrepreneurial journey is the realisation that whenever I am making money, I am factually a slave. Real slaves were granted life, painless existance and some food for their labor. I am granted money. But the overall picture is the same. As a salaried worker, I am obliged to cater to the needs of my Master, the Manager. Whatever he says - goes. Or I won`t get paid, end up starving, in a lot of pain, and eventually dead. When embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, I am not abolishing my slavery. I am expanding the list of my Masters. I have now surrendered my freedom to clients, employees, partners, suppliers, governments - all that multitude of people my previous Master (the Manager) was shielding me from. And I will get money when all of them are HAPPY with me.
When I realised this predicament, there were two immediate changes in me. First - I stopped ruminating in my mind on what I can do, which business can I start. Instead, I just came to the nearest square (in my case - several local Telegram channels), spread my hands and shouted: "I can do this, this, this, and this. Who wants to buy me for some cash to do some of those tasks?" I have a screenshot of that original post. One day I will print and frame it on my mansion wall.
Second, I completely abolished "I won`t do it" from my lexicon. Slaves do not choose what they do. Nowadays, slaves actually do, but if the goal is to get the most money, the idea is to get the best slave as you can be, so you can "outslave" all those guys building "work from home" businesses, or working under an AC unit. Do I need to jump into knee-deep shit? Right away! It will cost you 3000 ILS (that was my real order once). You need me to shovel dirt under direct sunlight in July in the hottest city of the Izreel Valley? Right on it! Need me to spend my weekend working on accounting? Yes, government-man, just do not hit me with fines! A party for my employees to celebrate salary day will increase coherence and morale? My introverted head is right up my a$$, barbecue is already heating up, let my finish mopping those floors for you, guys!
The main gist is that whenever I am making money, all my actions serve someone. I do not have a shekel printer. Other people must want to give me their money, labor, resources, support. That is the name of the game. And that led me to the modest success I now have and probably will expand on in the future. I am grateful to my Masters. My clients who choose and recommend me. My employees who do a great job and do not cause me too much headache. My partners and the government. I repeated the "get to the square and shout" thing enough times and with enough squares to find some niche I do not need to worry about clients. The market told me where to be and I, as a good slave, put my 6-year 3.86 GPA pharmacy diploma in the drawer, took the impact hammer in hand and dutifully went where I was pointed.
Recently, I realised one thing. I do not know what failure is. With the above-mentioned mindset, with the main guiding ritual looking like shouting "what do you want" and listening, I do not even know what a failure would look like. People always have wants. I will never run out of market. I can have bumps, I can lose my workers, or be scammed by a client for sure. Yes, sometimes I take risks. Like buying a piece of equipment and not knowing if it will pay out. But I do it carefully, always using excess profits and never committing money I will need elsewhere. I am always ready to shift industries, although right now I see that we are getting very single-focused. Not because of ego, but because market demands it. Money is an ultimate quantifiable gratitude. A sign that you`ve made your masters happy and can live another day in less pain and more well-fed
Sorry for this word salad. But I`ve been keeping this in my chest for years and seeing people fail time after time because in my opinion they can`t get from their own way is too painful.
What do you think?
I`ve had this thought for ages and never felt comfortable expressing it because for many people it will definitely sound as trampling on their dreams. And since it comes to me almost daily from reading all the post from aspiring wantapreneurs and struggling entrepreneurs (not here, but usually in the local entrepreneurial groups), I thought for a bit and decided that I will express it here just to get it off my chest and to get some feedback. I am also completely comfortable getting some bashing from you guys, so here we go.
Free websites, anyone?
The thing comes to me every time I see some new guy or girl who comes to the market as a marketologist, website developer, and other "businesses" we see emerging and dying in their hundreds every year. The success rate for them is very low, as they, in my opinion, violate at least two major commandments - Entry and Need. I once sat for some half-hour with my distant aquitance who came to me with "Let me get you a website for free so I can boost my portfolio". For half an hour, I watched the guy typing prompts to some AI website builder. The result was clunky and did not publish - it worked only on my guy`s computer. After half-hour he bowed himself out with "I will send you project files - you can tune it yourself". Great service out there.
And although I know that there are better examples out there, I don`t really see this as a viable business. Mainly because I can`t really see crowds of people on the streets chanting: "We need websites!"
From MJ`s books I remember three pieces of advise about finding out what to do:
1. Check your experiences, get some via the job if needed
2. Find some problems people around you are having and you can solve
3. <a list of 13 tactical approaches to finding a business idea>
What people usually do instead is sitting in their room, tossing their competencies and "what can I learn fast" in their head and trying to conjure some elaborate idea in their heads. Like "I will learn this, do this, combine this and this and will end up with a business like this" without a single thought on who will buy this. They usually start, as I see it, with a question of "what I want to do my whole life" rather than "what clients would want me to do". They want coffee, they want respect, they want soft skin on the palms of their hands and control over their time. They did not yet get their millions but they are already building lives to make use of them.
It is NOT your time
One of the greatest insights I`ve had in my entrepreneurial journey is the realisation that whenever I am making money, I am factually a slave. Real slaves were granted life, painless existance and some food for their labor. I am granted money. But the overall picture is the same. As a salaried worker, I am obliged to cater to the needs of my Master, the Manager. Whatever he says - goes. Or I won`t get paid, end up starving, in a lot of pain, and eventually dead. When embarking on an entrepreneurial journey, I am not abolishing my slavery. I am expanding the list of my Masters. I have now surrendered my freedom to clients, employees, partners, suppliers, governments - all that multitude of people my previous Master (the Manager) was shielding me from. And I will get money when all of them are HAPPY with me.
When I realised this predicament, there were two immediate changes in me. First - I stopped ruminating in my mind on what I can do, which business can I start. Instead, I just came to the nearest square (in my case - several local Telegram channels), spread my hands and shouted: "I can do this, this, this, and this. Who wants to buy me for some cash to do some of those tasks?" I have a screenshot of that original post. One day I will print and frame it on my mansion wall.
Second, I completely abolished "I won`t do it" from my lexicon. Slaves do not choose what they do. Nowadays, slaves actually do, but if the goal is to get the most money, the idea is to get the best slave as you can be, so you can "outslave" all those guys building "work from home" businesses, or working under an AC unit. Do I need to jump into knee-deep shit? Right away! It will cost you 3000 ILS (that was my real order once). You need me to shovel dirt under direct sunlight in July in the hottest city of the Izreel Valley? Right on it! Need me to spend my weekend working on accounting? Yes, government-man, just do not hit me with fines! A party for my employees to celebrate salary day will increase coherence and morale? My introverted head is right up my a$$, barbecue is already heating up, let my finish mopping those floors for you, guys!
The main gist is that whenever I am making money, all my actions serve someone. I do not have a shekel printer. Other people must want to give me their money, labor, resources, support. That is the name of the game. And that led me to the modest success I now have and probably will expand on in the future. I am grateful to my Masters. My clients who choose and recommend me. My employees who do a great job and do not cause me too much headache. My partners and the government. I repeated the "get to the square and shout" thing enough times and with enough squares to find some niche I do not need to worry about clients. The market told me where to be and I, as a good slave, put my 6-year 3.86 GPA pharmacy diploma in the drawer, took the impact hammer in hand and dutifully went where I was pointed.
Continuous success
Recently, I realised one thing. I do not know what failure is. With the above-mentioned mindset, with the main guiding ritual looking like shouting "what do you want" and listening, I do not even know what a failure would look like. People always have wants. I will never run out of market. I can have bumps, I can lose my workers, or be scammed by a client for sure. Yes, sometimes I take risks. Like buying a piece of equipment and not knowing if it will pay out. But I do it carefully, always using excess profits and never committing money I will need elsewhere. I am always ready to shift industries, although right now I see that we are getting very single-focused. Not because of ego, but because market demands it. Money is an ultimate quantifiable gratitude. A sign that you`ve made your masters happy and can live another day in less pain and more well-fed
Sorry for this word salad. But I`ve been keeping this in my chest for years and seeing people fail time after time because in my opinion they can`t get from their own way is too painful.
What do you think?
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