Starting a business and how to simply get on with it
Deciding to start a business and taking the actions to actually be in business are two distinct mental processes.
In fact, there is a big difference between wanting, dreaming or even having to set up a business and living the life of being in business.
If you have been delaying that leap into the unknown and becoming frustrated with yourself then the ideas and tips below might help.
Using the thought of setting up a business as a sedative to your life
Many people like only the thought of running their own business. It promises a better tomorrow. It enables an element of control. The thought of one day running a business can provide a sedative in order to cope with life or a bad job. Be aware of this thought process. If you need a sedative for your life then change your life and stop thinking about setting up a business.
There is always tomorrow when tomorrow never comes
Apathy can be a habit. Produce a list of activities for each day that are designed to move you closer to your goal. Discipline yourself to complete those tasks and tick them off. Be sure to be realistic, otherwise you will simply become despondent and that fuels apathy. Keep up your activity list and you will evolve into a doer rather than a thinker.
Do not use activities as an instrument of delay
You have to be aware of not falling into the trap of being like a child not wanting to go to school and finding any excuse or activity to delay walking through the front door.
The most valuable scarce resource when setting up a business or embarking on a new project while running a business is time. Each activity you choose to complete in preparation for your new business is going to cost you in time. The opportunity cost (in this case, the lost opportunity of spending that time in business) is lost profit or turnover working towards profit.
Choose preparation carefully. You must prepare properly for a business venture but don’t let anything become your excuse for not moving forward.
Sit in your discomfort zone
It is said there is correlation between being outside your comfort zone and success. In a way this is true in that your comfort zone is your current state.
To evolve that state into something that has yet to be achieved is by definition a discomfort zone. It is the instinct of many people to resist leaving the comfort zone. One way around this is to train yourself using small and measured activities and circumstances that are uncomfortable.
First ask yourself – do you really want this. If the answer if yes then keeping telling your brain to let you have it.
Fear and excitement can be the same thing
Fear and excitement are very similar emotions: one is negative and the other is positive. Taking a roller coaster ride or climbing a mountain can mean fear or excitement or both depending on the individual.
If you feel fear when thinking about setting up a business and frustrated with yourself by thinking this way then you can turn this negative emotion into a positive energy by telling yourself this fear is actually excitement.
Make the risk manageable
Write a list of what would happen if your business venture was a complete failure. Consider wasted time, lost funds, stress on you and your family, hurt pride. Study this list. Get to comprehend these potential problems and circumstances.
Then make to plan on how you would deal with this situation.
In other words, you will have two navigation plans. The first is your business plan with the objective of making the business a success and now you have this flop plan to navigate your way back to where you started if things go south. Risk assessment from the perspective of the business should be part of your business plan. But the Flop plan is a form of risk assessment purely from your personal perspective.
This exercise will enable you to be personally ready and able if things go wrong and enable you to be better equipped to cope with issues should they arise.
The Flop Plan therefore has several objectives
- To quantify personal risk and consequences should your project fail.
- Enable you to comprehend a perspective.
- To allow the unknown to become manageable – this means you now have better control over all eventualities.
- To equip yourself with sensible precautionary measures.
When you are confident with your Flop Plan then you should now have more confidence to embark on your business.
At the very least you will have that most valuable of commodities: experience.