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What Is So Hard About Entrepreneurship?

D

Deleted78083

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Hey,

I am really wondering, what is so hard about entrepreneurship?

What did you really struggle with?

Was it getting started? Getting financed? Making the product? Selling it? Administrative tasks? Finding people to hire? Marketing? Was it figuring it out?

Was it the whole process? Was it finding an idea? Was it the volume of work? Or its actual complexity? Was it believing you would make it? Was it not giving up?

Please don't say it was everything. There must have been tasks that were harder than others.

I read Bezos and Branson biographies and these guys were working a lot, sure, but it's not like they were crying everyday on their way to the office, which is the feeling I get when people like Peter Thiel say "building a company is like eating broken glass while staring into the abyss".

Is it really everyone's experience?

PS: please don't try to discourage me, call me ignorant, gullible or anything else, or tell me "you'll see" in a condescending manner. I am asking a genuine question. I obviously don't know much, and so it would be great to hear from others that did this before me. Thank you : )
 
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Digamma

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What is hard about entrepreneurship is the risk.

Most people just can't live with the uncertainty.

The actual stuff you do is not hard. What's hard is that it's a wager.

People who think that stuff like hiring and managing is hard... have never done anything that is actually "hard" physically or intellectually.

The hard part is that you bear all the risks of the consequences, nothing else.

And that's the source of all fears, mental blocks, and lies we tell ourselves.

Entrepreneurship would be easy if you were fearless.
 

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I suppose a (the?) hard part is you don’t report to anyone else. It’s all on you and whatever your limiting beliefs are. For some that’s liberating. For others it’s terrifying.
 

OverByte

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Hardest part for me was knowing when to stick with an idea and when to drop it. You don't want to have shiny object syndrome and you may just be just a few steps from gold, at the same time, you may not be. It's hard working on something through the desert of desertion and you need to be able to believe in yourself to make it through. At the same time, you have to question am I a few feet away from gold or am I on the wrong path, that's the nagging question you'll have in the desert. I've had many failures, I am starting to see some success now, one of the big differences in my approach was the way I went about evaluating ideas for potential and stopped focusing so much on the idea and more on the need it served, could I reach the market and explain it, could I test something at a small scale, what would my CAC be, my ACV, can I support paid acquisition, is someone else doing something similar so I have some validation before I get started, etc. When I first started I thought if I build this they will come, that was naive. Each "failure" is a lesson. I would say the hardest part about entrepreneurship is persisting through the lessons without losing site of your end goal. If you can learn from books, that's great save some time, but some of the best advice is to just do it, figure it out along the way and when you're knocked down, get back up again.

Now that I have a business with sales, my problems are more technical in nature, related to scaling and evaluating new opportunities, but these are funner "problems" to have and the sales keep the motivations in check and reinforce I'm heading in the right direction. When you're starting out you have no sales, just an idea (maybe several) and a belief in yourself. Don't let the belief die.
 
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What did you really struggle with?

Probably the reasoning and perceptual skills that are needed to spot opportunities. Because once you have that sorted out it becomes pretty obvious what you need to do. If you are really good, you can compete with almost anybody.

You see RISK is mostly dependent on YOU. And how good you are at executing. If you don’t use your head then of course it’s gonna be super risky. This is what makes this so much fun. Once you know how to think you can outplay the competition and execute projects almost with perfect predictions. Like when you play poker, the risk is mostly your responsibility.
 

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Hey,

I am really wondering, what is so hard about entrepreneurship?

What did you really struggle with?

Was it getting started? Getting financed? Making the product? Selling it? Administrative tasks? Finding people to hire? Marketing? Was it figuring it out?

Was it the whole process? Was it finding an idea? Was it the volume of work? Or its actual complexity? Was it believing you would make it? Was it not giving up?

Please don't say it was everything. There must have been tasks that were harder than others.

I read Bezos and Branson biographies and these guys were working a lot, sure, but it's not like they were crying everyday on their way to the office, which is the feeling I get when people like Peter Thiel say "building a company is like eating broken glass while staring into the abyss".

Is it really everyone's experience?

PS: please don't try to discourage me, call me ignorant, gullible or anything else, or tell me "you'll see" in a condescending manner. I am asking a genuine question. I obviously don't know much, and so it would be great to hear from others that did this before me. Thank you : )
Fear of never making it. Its that nagging self doubt that constantly asks if all this hard work is ever going to be worth it? It reared it's ugly head in the beginning when I didn't have any idea what kind of business I'd be in. Then once I had businesses, it reared its ugly head until I felt like I had made it.
 

biophase

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I read Bezos and Branson biographies and these guys were working a lot, sure, but it's not like they were crying everyday on their way to the office, which is the feeling I get when people like Peter Thiel say "building a company is like eating broken glass while staring into the abyss".

Is it really everyone's experience?
Just because it wasn’t in the book didn’t mean it didn’t happen.

Do you actually think Bezos and Branson and Musk are doing any physical work when they work long hours each day?

No, they are using their brains and thinking. They are solving problems and doing strategic work.

The work you think is easy is easy. But how do you know it’s the right work to be doing? That’s the hard work.
 
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sparechange

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I think the most difficult thing is sales, in theory having a business is easy, you have a website or physical store.. technically anyone can own a business, but having a successful and profitable business is the hard part.

Like Mark Cuban says, nothing else really matters, sales cures all.
 

Bekit

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Hey,

I am really wondering, what is so hard about entrepreneurship?

What did you really struggle with?

Was it getting started? Getting financed? Making the product? Selling it? Administrative tasks? Finding people to hire? Marketing? Was it figuring it out?

Was it the whole process? Was it finding an idea? Was it the volume of work? Or its actual complexity? Was it believing you would make it? Was it not giving up?

Please don't say it was everything. There must have been tasks that were harder than others.

I read Bezos and Branson biographies and these guys were working a lot, sure, but it's not like they were crying everyday on their way to the office, which is the feeling I get when people like Peter Thiel say "building a company is like eating broken glass while staring into the abyss".

Is it really everyone's experience?

PS: please don't try to discourage me, call me ignorant, gullible or anything else, or tell me "you'll see" in a condescending manner. I am asking a genuine question. I obviously don't know much, and so it would be great to hear from others that did this before me. Thank you : )
I think the answer can be summed up as "whatever obstacle you're currently facing."

Entrepreneurship is a series of challenges. A series of problems to solve.

It's like when you're in school. When you're learning how to read, that's the hard thing for you at that moment.

Later on, reading is easy! But now you're struggling with long division.

And when you're learning long division, you haven't yet run into algebra.

It keeps going. Later there's trigonometry. After that, there's calculus. Etc.

I also think there's only limited value in finding out "what's the hardest part about entrepreneurship?"

If a second-grader asks a high-school graduate, "What's the hardest part about school," the answers could be all over the map. The high schooler could easily terrify the second grader's mind with all sorts of stories about "how hard it gets," from chemistry to foreign language grammar to relationships. And the second-grader could easily conclude, "Oh brother. I'd better quit school now. I know I'm not cut out for all that." So when Peter Thiel says, "building a company is like eating broken glass while staring into the abyss," it's kind of like he's the high-schooler enjoying the process of explaining biology dissection class and watching the little kids faint.

But this ignores an important fact.

In entrepreneurship, it's not really worth comparing the difficulty level of someone else's year 10 (or year 30!) challenges with the difficulty level of your year 1 challenges.

The only thing that matters is, how hard is it for YOU right then?

That little first-grade kid learning to read? It's really hard for him.
When that kid reaches third grade and is trying to learn long division, is it really any harder for him to learn long division than it was for him to learn to read?

Both things require growth. But both times, it's a reachable level of growth.

When that kid starts learning algebra, sure, algebra is objectively harder. He can probably do long division on autopilot now. And of course he can probably read without even trying. But still, the amount of NEW effort and growth that it requires is reachable. It's still hard to learn algebra. But it was hard to learn to read back when you were 5 or 6. Who can tell if this is any harder for you now than that was for you then?

My point is, there are challenges at every level. By the time you reach your year 10 challenges, you'll be doing your year 1 challenges on autopilot. Your year 10 challenges will be hard. Probably harder than you expect. But your year 1-9 challenges will have prepared you to tackle your year 10 challenges, thanks to the maturity and experience you will have built up.

In my opinion, it's not really worth your time to rank entrepreneurial challenges by difficulty or gawk at the hard stuff that's way down the road. Just be faithful in the stuff you're doing now. Face those challenges. Solve today's problems to the best of your ability. Keep learning. The nature of growth is that it's hard. Face it, own it, and make progress as fast as you can.

"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."
 

Andy Black

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What is hard about entrepreneurship is the risk.

Most people just can't live with the uncertainty.

The actual stuff you do is not hard. What's hard is that it's a wager.

People who think that stuff like hiring and managing is hard... have never done anything that is actually "hard" physically or intellectually.

The hard part is that you bear all the risks of the consequences, nothing else.

And that's the source of all fears, mental blocks, and lies we tell ourselves.

Entrepreneurship would be easy if you were fearless.
"The certainty of misery is preferable to the misery of uncertainty" (Virginia Satire)
 
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D

Deleted78083

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Fear of never making it.

I had that before, but then I realized that whatever I started eventually taught me something, so even it it didn't work, it wasn't for nothing.

I also thought that if I do something and it works, great. If I do it and it fails, then I'll write a book about my failure and its lessons, and it will also be great. In a way, I am a winner whatever happens.
 
D

Deleted78083

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But how do you know it’s the right work to be doing? That’s the hard work.

Yes, I definitely agree. I have list of things to do for my projects, but I have no idea which one should be done first, which is the most important or will yield the most results in the short-term. It's not so much about doing, nor about what to do. It's about what to do first.

I also think there's only limited value in finding out "what's the hardest part about entrepreneurship?"


I understand your point, and I agree. I guess what I really meant was "how can I best prepare myself?"

All of these answers have pinpointed to interesting challenges. Sales, facing the current problem, knowing what to do first, persevering even though we're not sure whether it will work or not.

I think the reason I have asked this question for is so that if/when I start experiencing these challenges, I can recognize them, accept that it is part of the bargain, and keep on working.
 
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ElleMg

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Interesting question. I've heard that what you're meant to do, your special skills and talents, are connected to what you loved to do from age 7-14. This could suggest how we're brought up has something to do with becoming an entrepreneur. I think there's more to it though.

I started making money through entrepreneurship age 12, loved every moment of it, and decided it'd be what I do forever. I made money every single month from 2010-2019 (when I sold my business), people called me lucky but I knew my skills were strong and my ideas were good. Creativity is definitely part of it.

When I went through two traumatic events (one was long-term exposure lasting over a year and a half) within the space of a couple of weeks, right after selling my business, my brain changed. It's given me a different perspective on entrepreneurship. I think belief is majorly important.

We have seen the things Kanye West comes up with and makes a success of even when there are millions of critics. He's stayed true to the beliefs he was raised with: that he can do anything. I always had a strong sense of self and confidence that I can achieve. I only experienced failure in a negative way when this changed.

It's essential you nurture the ability to bounce back from failure with self-belief. I had belief that I would be successful, so even though I only experienced success 70-80% of the time, I didn't let it affect me and was quick to move onto the next thing that was always a success.

The final thing as some other people have mentioned is risk-taking. However you become an entrepreneur, at some point you have to risk something, your time, your reputation, your money. I don't think you need to be as much of a risk-taker as you have to believe in yourself though.

I tried to avoid taking risk whilst experiencing trauma but it's counterintuitive (especially with low self-esteem) and ironically I lost more than if I'd just focused on what I wanted to do. If you're creative and smart about it, risk is naturally part of business and pays off more than if you worry.

The good news is the brain is malleable and you can work on changing your thoughts. I have a lot of money and time so I've been taking risk more, such as betting and doing other tasks I'd have normally avoided due to the risk involved. Hopefully I can start to approach business in the same way again.

You can work on self-belief with self-love, critical thinking, finding and interrupting repetitive thought patterns, telling yourself good things, surrounding yourself with people who believe in you. If you're friends/in a relationship with someone who makes you feel less valuable, especially repeatedly, leave ASAP! I've been working hard for the best part of a year on increasing my self-belief and it's still a struggle. I really think self-belief is the most important factor, so even though I feel really good about myself now, I think you need to be where you feel excellent about yourself.

Entrepreneurship is so hard because so many of us let in opinions of the people who don't believe in us. Our mind takes in that negativity and adapts using the harmful information as a reference. Hearing things like you're stupid, you can't do anything right, what's wrong with you, etc. daily for over a year completely changed the makeup of my brain in a hugely detrimental way so I encourage anyone with unsupportive friends, parents, partners, to get away from those people and start loving yourself and recovering.
 

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I'm sure it's different for other people. But I will say that deciding on and committing to a pursuit is the hardest. It also could be the easiest, but not for me.
 

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Entrepreneurship is easy.

What's hard is working for someone in a job you hate for 40, 50, 60 years all the while hoping that someone will take care of you when you retire only to find out no one will.

Business is simple.

As the late and great Jim Rohn would say "have two bicycles, one to ride, and one to rent!"

Could you buy soap for $1 and sell it for $3? You're in business.

And sure, challenges are going to pop up but you just solve them.

The difficult part is overthinking.

Your question confirms that you're overthinking it.

You've got this.
 
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The difficult part is overthinking.

Yes. That is the most difficult thing for me. :D I've struggled with anxiety most of my life thanks to two major traumas in childhood, so thinking too much and overthinking things are the main problems in business for me. But normal business stuff and getting the right things done is not so hard. It's just, I can't stop thinking about it :D
 

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Yes. That is the most difficult thing for me. :D I've struggled with anxiety most of my life thanks to two major traumas in childhood, so thinking too much and overthinking things are the main problems in business for me. But normal business stuff and getting the right things done is not so hard. It's just, I can't stop thinking about it :D

I'm with you on this one, overthinking it's definitely my biggest issue as well.

I also end up not enjoying my days because I know I'm supposed to, let's say, search for a potential product or market but for some reason, I always end up procrastinating and not doing the tasks I need to. But I don't use my time to go out or to play video games or whatever I just action fake and never get out of this loop, so I don't enjoy my days and get frustrated because I have done nothing productive all day.

"Just start" I've seen this over and over on this forum. I actually saw a video a few days ago about fitness in general where the person said something like this: "When you go to the gym you don't learn all the perfect positions and perfect forms, you go and you adapt along the way, you don't wait until you know every exercise and every form, to start going to the gym" this is the equivalent of "don't waste time on your logo and on the perfect website etc.. just start selling and adapt along the way, but for some reason the gym one really hit me because I can relate to it better. I wanted to improve my body, so I just started going to the gym. But with creating a business I'm wasting time on "know everything, before starting". I guess this is fear of failure as well.
 

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I was just browsing job listings in my area and came across one that I clicked on. It turns out to be a small company that bought the same piece of land I was considering buying for a business idea I had a year ago. They have been executing and I've been procrastinating. They are hiring and I am looking for employment. So it goes.
 
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The difficult part is overthinking.
Which reminds me of one of my favourite lines:

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

... which seems somewhat appropriate for this thread I feel. (As in ... why go looking for problems you don’t have?)
 

Kung Fu Steve

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Which reminds me of one of my favourite lines:

“Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

... which seems somewhat appropriate for this thread I feel.

So good!
 

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I struggle with the "idea," what business am I going to start? What is going to get me excited? My current idea is real estate investing. I paid to become a real estate agent but now I'm second guessing myself and can probably kiss that money bye. I signed up for BiggerPockets Pro. I've watched so many webinars. I've watched so many YouTube podcasts. I have run the numbers on 40 some properties. I found a couple properties that were over 1.5hrs from me, but I just can't pull the trigger on it to put an offer in. It feels too far away right now and I think I should start somewhere closer. I have some money set aside that is not doing anything but it's almost like I like having it there just to know it's there. Plus, my wife and I have been talking about doing some home renovations so that money is sort of there for that too.

They say, "If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." I guess I don't want it bad enough?

So, I go back into idea mode. Write a book? I don't know. I'm not ready for that now. Code that website? I tried. It got difficult, I got stuck. I gave up. Web Design? I'm designing a site now for my brother-in-law but I don't think I'm going to receive any compensation for it. Whatever. Everyone is doing web design anyway. I like the idea of just having my own investment fund - Warren Buffett style. You're at the whim of the market, though, and always have to be hunting for new investments. Same with real estate. You're at the whim of the market going up or down.

My work ethic sucks too. I'll admit it. I'm not excited about what I'm doing so I don't feel incentive to work hard. It's too easy to sit here at home on my computer and be distracted by everything.

It would just be cool to have an idea that gets me excited, that feels like there is hope, that makes me feel like I'm on the right path without doubting or second guessing myself. It's too easy to have that job that pays well where I'm comfortable and just coasting along. I don't post much anymore because I'm out of touch. I lost my way with this whole entrepreneur thing.
 

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What is hard about entrepreneurship is the risk.

Most people just can't live with the uncertainty.

The actual stuff you do is not hard. What's hard is that it's a wager.

People who think that stuff like hiring and managing is hard... have never done anything that is actually "hard" physically or intellectually.

The hard part is that you bear all the risks of the consequences, nothing else.

And that's the source of all fears, mental blocks, and lies we tell ourselves.

Entrepreneurship would be easy if you were fearless.
Yes!

Once you have an established business or backup money, everything is much easier. The risk does not feel so great.

The risk helps work motivation though. It can be harder to start if your feet are not held to the fire.
 

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I struggle with the "idea," what business am I going to start? What is going to get me excited? My current idea is real estate investing. I paid to become a real estate agent but now I'm second guessing myself and can probably kiss that money bye. I signed up for BiggerPockets Pro. I've watched so many webinars. I've watched so many YouTube podcasts. I have run the numbers on 40 some properties. I found a couple properties that were over 1.5hrs from me, but I just can't pull the trigger on it to put an offer in. It feels too far away right now and I think I should start somewhere closer. I have some money set aside that is not doing anything but it's almost like I like having it there just to know it's there. Plus, my wife and I have been talking about doing some home renovations so that money is sort of there for that too.

They say, "If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." I guess I don't want it bad enough?

So, I go back into idea mode. Write a book? I don't know. I'm not ready for that now. Code that website? I tried. It got difficult, I got stuck. I gave up. Web Design? I'm designing a site now for my brother-in-law but I don't think I'm going to receive any compensation for it. Whatever. Everyone is doing web design anyway. I like the idea of just having my own investment fund - Warren Buffett style. You're at the whim of the market, though, and always have to be hunting for new investments. Same with real estate. You're at the whim of the market going up or down.

My work ethic sucks too. I'll admit it. I'm not excited about what I'm doing so I don't feel incentive to work hard. It's too easy to sit here at home on my computer and be distracted by everything.

It would just be cool to have an idea that gets me excited, that feels like there is hope, that makes me feel like I'm on the right path without doubting or second guessing myself. It's too easy to have that job that pays well where I'm comfortable and just coasting along. I don't post much anymore because I'm out of touch. I lost my way with this whole entrepreneur thing.
I’ve been sooooooo wonky this year and up and down about a ton of stuff but always circling back to this one business idea.. that combines my natural skill set, my desire to help others, and a bunch of things I don’t do well at all. So then I go on a spiral of venting and thinking everything is impossible, then hopeful, then focused, then accomplishing a bunch, then well and truly F*cked, I mean overwhelmed, all over again.

I think overthinking is a sign of fear which goes right back to the guy who said that it’s the risk aspect that makes entrepreneurship hard. But you sound like someone who thought too much about your own natural inclinations and not enough about others. Who do you care about.. what kind of person do you want to be?
 
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Deleted78083

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If you're creative and smart about it, risk is naturally part of business and pays off more than if you worry.

Duly noted!!!!


Entrepreneurship is so hard because so many of us let in opinions of the people who don't believe in us. Our mind takes in that negativity and adapts using the harmful information as a reference. Hearing things like you're stupid, you can't do anything right, what's wrong with you, etc. daily for over a year completely changed the makeup of my brain in a hugely detrimental way so I encourage anyone with unsupportive friends, parents, partners, to get away from those people and start loving yourself and recovering.


Couldn't agree more!!

What's hard is working for someone in a job you hate for 40, 50, 60 years all the while hoping that someone will take care of you when you retire only to find out no one will.


Yes. I am currently working my first job now. It has been 6 weeks and I feel like throwing myself out the window. And it is not even that hard, I work from home, the team is nice, they cant really check that i am productive....but it is horrible. I feel like a kid at school.

The difficult part is overthinking.


You mean the difficult part is to stop overthinking? haha

Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have.”

Hahahah i have added it to my list of quotes!!!

It would just be cool to have an idea that gets me excited, that feels like there is hope, that makes me feel like I'm on the right path without doubting or second guessing myself. It's too easy to have that job that pays well where I'm comfortable and just coasting along. I don't post much anymore because I'm out of touch. I lost my way with this whole entrepreneur thing.


I think it is easy to get excited by reading books and watching YT videos. It is something else to start hustling and grinding.

I quit two interview processes for very good jobs in Belgium when i read Unscripted . That's the effect the book had on me. I DECIDED NOT TO HAVE A JOB. Then of course, reality hit, and i had to expatriate myself to Poland to get a job (which is not so bad actually, my life here is comfortable to such an extent that I need to get out if I hope doing anything out of my life).

A lot of people speak of beliefs. To be honest, I am not so sure beliefs are important. I am still a strong believer in action - believing that the phone call will get you clients and not making the call VS not believing anything and making the call will most likely see option 2 yielding results than option 1.
We take action when we want to do something, when we need to do something, or when we are taught to do something.

Entrepreneurship fit, for most of us, in neither of these categories.

So, we don't take action.

I am a certain that if we lived in a world where jobs didn't exist - where everyone would be a freelancer - this entrepreneurship thing would be much easier.

The best results happen in the most dramatic situations.

I think overthinking is a sign of fear which goes right back to the guy who said that it’s the risk aspect that makes entrepreneurship hard. But you sound like someone who thought too much about your own natural inclinations and not enough about others. Who do you care about.. what kind of person do you want to be?

"Wealthy people see the world in terms of the value they can produce for others.
The poor look at the world for what they can consume." - mon_fi, November 2020 : D
 

GatsbyMag

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The hardest thing for me is validating need.

Genuine need.

Everything else is just mechanics.

Limiting beliefs, fear of not making it, not knowing if you should find a new idea etc. are all thrown out the window when you have a product/service that people genuinely want to spend money to acquire.

I know MJ said the world isn't perfect, but I never knew it would be this difficult to find an imperfection that people are willing to pay to get rid off.
 

InspireHD

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I’ve been sooooooo wonky this year and up and down about a ton of stuff but always circling back to this one business idea.. that combines my natural skill set, my desire to help others, and a bunch of things I don’t do well at all. So then I go on a spiral of venting and thinking everything is impossible, then hopeful, then focused, then accomplishing a bunch, then well and truly f*cked, I mean overwhelmed, all over again.

I think overthinking is a sign of fear which goes right back to the guy who said that it’s the risk aspect that makes entrepreneurship hard. But you sound like someone who thought too much about your own natural inclinations and not enough about others. Who do you care about.. what kind of person do you want to be?

I find I'm fairly risk-averse. I also find that I don't have very strong opinions about anything. I think this leads me to spinning my wheels because no matter what I do, I always consider that there is another option. I jump from thing to thing and give up when I either run into an obstacle or I get to the point where I have to take the next big step that commits me to the process.

Who do I care about? Do you mean in a family sort of way? Well, I'm married with two little kids. I care about providing for them and showing them an amazing way of life so they never have to worry about the future. I want to be the kind of person who is full of energy, can wake up ready to take on the day. Someone who can get up and get to work with a definiteness of purpose - whatever that may be.

I've fallen into a comfort zone where I'm just flowing through the day with whatever comes my way. I severely lack energy and I'm not super motivated to do anything. I stopped drinking/eating any caffeine nearly 3 weeks ago so that probably has something to do with it. I also got sick last week and have been dealing with that.

So yeah, I'm just in a rut. I make entrepreneurship harder than it has to be because I always look for the path of least resistance. How can I stop spinning my wheels without really having to do hard things? How can I succeed without having to put myself out there? That is part of my problem.
 
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Primeperiwinkle

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I find I'm fairly risk-averse. I also find that I don't have very strong opinions about anything. I think this leads me to spinning my wheels because no matter what I do, I always consider that there is another option. I jump from thing to thing and give up when I either run into an obstacle or I get to the point where I have to take the next big step that commits me to the process.

Who do I care about? Do you mean in a family sort of way? Well, I'm married with two little kids. I care about providing for them and showing them an amazing way of life so they never have to worry about the future. I want to be the kind of person who is full of energy, can wake up ready to take on the day. Someone who can get up and get to work with a definiteness of purpose - whatever that may be.

I've fallen into a comfort zone where I'm just flowing through the day with whatever comes my way. I severely lack energy and I'm not super motivated to do anything. I stopped drinking/eating any caffeine nearly 3 weeks ago so that probably has something to do with it. I also got sick last week and have been dealing with that.

So yeah, I'm just in a rut. I make entrepreneurship harder than it has to be because I always look for the path of least resistance. How can I stop spinning my wheels without really having to do hard things? How can I succeed without having to put myself out there? That is part of my problem.
I’m tempted to troubleshoot this with you.. My next questions are all about attachment. You sound like someone I know.. pretty much chill all the time, analytical, strategic. But surely there’s something that fires up your blood, pisses you off.. anything? You gotta figure out what you really care enough about, enough that you’d change it if the occasion arose.. even if it took a ton of work. When’s the last time you got supremely frustrated about something and then actually attempted to change it? Your mission in life is at the corner of -what pisses you off- and -I can fix this if you’ll just listen to me-

When’s the last time you gritted your teeth and then launched into trying to convince someone of their mistake, not to prove them wrong, but because you had a tiny grain of hope that if they actually listened to you.. they would ACTUALLY be helped in a big way?

Our destiny always lies where we love, selflessly. Unselfish compassion for others, especially at the risk of our own pride is where your future lies... (and I’ve totes been having a beer and watching Star Wars so, ya know.. #yoda)

:)
 

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- Mental health
- Loneliness
- Lack of stability
- Financial troubles before success (if success ever comes)
- Choosing from an unlimited number of options while feeling like only a few of them will result for success (but not knowing which)
- Learning advertising and marketing, then getting it right, if you can get it right (before you run out of funds)
- Customer service, the entirety of it
- Minimizing expenses (death by a thousand cuts applies here - everyone in your entire business chain is going to take a small cut)
- Trying to decide when to keep pushing and when to call it quits
- How much to re-invest and how much to draw for yourself
- Handling those days where everything goes wrong, you waste or lose a ton of money, and feel like the house is going to collapse on top of you and you can't breathe
- Deciding how to allocate a limited amount of funds across an unlimited amount of services, all promising to help you achieve success and all offering alluring benefits
- When a competitor wipes out your most successful product line with an exclusivity agreement with your supplier and you wonder how the hell you'll problem solve this one (ask me how I know this one...)
- When your essential partners (like amazon) F*ck you over or cut you off when you did nothing wrong
- When you forget to collect taxes all year because of a checkbox you forgot to tick on amazon and your accountant is all "sooo... yeah.... you owe...."

I mean... it goes on. I could go on. And this is just in my very limited experience and off the top of my head.

Nothing about it is easy. It's worth it. But it's not easy.
 

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