“I want my own business!” What you need to know about business before you start it, so that later it won't be excruciatingly painful
This is an unusual article about business. It is about why most people, without knowing it, choose a difficult and risky path in business, and only a few use almost foolproof strategies. The short answer: “Because you don't know what you really want from business. And what it will require from you.”
Why are you drawn to business?
When I talk to people who dream of starting their own business or have already launched one, they most often explain their impulse like this (quotes follow):
“I wanted there to be no ceiling on income”
“It was important for me to test my strength, it seems I can do more”
“I'm tired of feeling like a cog in a huge corporation”
“I love freedom and the ability to work when I want”
“I don’t get along with my bosses, I feel “cramped” in someone else’s company”
If you look closely, almost always the whole variety of reasons comes down to 3 motives:
money – most people believe that by starting a business they will earn more than they would by being hired
freedom – I will do what I want, when I want, with whoever I want
power – no one will command me, but I will
The desires are very clear: money, freedom and power are great, but you have to pay for everything great and that’s where the fun begins!
How much is a pound of your flesh?
What are you risking when you start a business? Most people are afraid of failure (people are afraid of success too, but it's more complicated). And there are 2 key options for failure:
I'll go broke, I won't be able to earn money, I'll die in poverty under a fence
I will feel worthless, people around me will say: “You are such a loser”, my self-esteem will be in tatters, my reputation will be destroyed
The first fear is absurd if you are not starting your first business on credit money. Yes, you can lose what you have invested, but you can always go back to hiring, so death under the fence is not a threat to anyone.
But the second fear, or rather shame, is a much more formidable obstacle. You will almost certainly encounter it, since business requires not only mastering many new and unusual things: marketing, sales, people management, finance, where you will feel insecure and make mistakes. Business requires the ability to push towards your goal despite fear and uncertainty. And this is difficult!
It is important to understand one thing. The ability to overcome fear and act in spite of fear is not something that is given by default and at birth and does not change. It can be developed. You can increase your chances of success by learning business gradually and minimizing the risk of losses.
It is possible. But almost no one does it.
Why? And here is where the most interesting part begins.
What kind of business do you like?
I have Vopreki channel (a challenge for the attentive, count how many times I used the word despite in the previous section), where I conducted a survey that shows what type of business people gravitate towards.
These results are very predictable and demonstrate a little-recognized phenomenon, which is why this article was written. The type of business you choose is a very good indicator of what really drives you.
I want to work without employees and provide services as an expert
At first glance, this seems like the safest and smartest way to start a business. And it is, if you realize that you are not creating a business at all, but taking the path of a craft with a high risk of burning out. Why is that?
Every business has 3 main functions:
Need to attract customers (marketing)
Convince them to buy (sales)
Deliver what you promised (production, provision of services)
Almost always, experts love and know how to solve the third problem, and they deal with the rest to some extent. And since they do everything themselves, this model brings money, freedom and power only in the case of large checks and high authority of the expert. Then he can afford not to work very much, but earn a lot, and clients listen to recommendations.
In other cases, the expert is constantly in a lather, forced to attract, sell, and provide services – there is never enough money, no time, clients devalue, and this is a direct path to burnout. Add to this that you earn money only while you work, and the disadvantages of the approach and the understanding that this is not a business will become obvious.
Normal business with employees: the beginning
This option is the second most popular. And it seems reasonable, but… there is a nuance.
A normal business is hard, especially if it's your first business. You need to be able to understand a lot of tasks and processes. You need to be able to delegate. You need to be able to roll up your sleeves and solve a problem if your employees can't handle it. All the responsibility falls on you, all the problems become yours until you build a system.
Why are so many people so drawn to creating a full-fledged business, and especially a startup, where all the difficulties of a regular business are multiplied by novelty and ambitions for rapid growth?
The answer will come a little later, but for now…
Network Marketing
Who shuddered at the words “network marketing”? For a very long time, the idea of doing network marketing disgusted me. And only recently, completely by accident, I realized what was going on, and this realization unpleasantly surprised me.
What do you need to do in network marketing? Three things:
Network marketing is pure marketing, sales and people management. In essence, network marketing is the quintessence of business, its very core without any other impurities
Do you know what network marketing doesn't have, but regular business does? There's no opportunity to hide in safe secondary processes. There's no opportunity to show your creativity. There's no need to build a website, come up with motivation and project management systems, invent new product features or corporate identity – all of this is invented for you. There, even the product is invented for you, so if you're an expert or a manufacturer, you'll be cringing from network marketing.
This is what scared me in network marketing and disgusted me. After all, many years ago I did not know how to sell, attract clients, or manage employees, so I hated all these purely business things, and went into business for creativity and self-realization!
Now I understand that network marketing is not just a good opportunity for a newbie to get some business training, but also an outlet for experienced entrepreneurs.
Several of my friends, having tried themselves in regular business, went into MLM projects and feel much better there, and earn normal money much easier and faster. Here is an example an IT specialist I know who failed in his own business and in six months achieved results in a network business that many entrepreneurs only dream of.
Someone else's franchise
The franchise has the same disadvantage as network marketing. In it, all the interesting things have been invented for you, plus a high entry threshold has been added. Take a look Dodo Pizza franchise: there, one step to the left, one step to the right – execution.
No scope for imagination and creativity, but a lot of control. For those who are tired of the boss controlling and strangers forcing you to play by their rules, this is a scary option.
But this is a great option if you don’t need to assert yourself, but rather understand what work processes look like, get a ready-made system, and improve your entrepreneurial skills.
But most people don't need this at all. They want creativity and the realization of their ideas, so franchises and network marketing are dismissed as boring, 5% and 2% respectively, and people start experimenting. It's funny that even understanding all this, I belong to the majority that prefers to saw their own, rather than use someone else's.
Normal business with employees: the end
I thought I was the only one who was crazy enough to look for creativity and self-realization in business, but after talking to many entrepreneurs, I found out that many are guilty of this. They often get high on new ideas and often demotivate their teams, because ideas come much faster than the team can implement them.
The drug that business gives is not money and freedom at all, but rather the opportunity to create your own eccentric world, invent new bicycles and get high from dopamine. By the way, there is nothing wrong with this. After all, all the cool things that surround us: from the iPhone to project management systems, were created by such inventors.
The main thing is to understand why you really want a business. Do you just want to make money? Then it is easier to take someone else's experience and repeat what network companies and franchises allow you to do. Or is it important for you to implement your product, your idea, etc.? Then do your own business and you will be happy.
If you liked the article, check out my channel In spite ofwhich is dedicated to how to recognize non-obvious mental traps and achieve your goals despite unfavorable circumstances. The next big post will be about what an IT specialist should do if his career has stagnated or IT work has ceased to inspire. How not to burn bridges, but try yourself in an independent project.
