Ways to avoid negativity when starting up

[Farley93]

Hi guys,

I'm 20 years old and I think I'm finally ready to start my own business. I feel I have plenty of positive attributes necessary to be a business owner and feel confident about my abilities. However, I have an issue with my confidence. I've always wanted to start up with someone else, even just to be able to have someone to say the ideas are good and build up my confidence. I've been searching for those of a similar age who are entrepreneurs but, outside of university, they're very hard to find. For this reason I've decided I have to start up on my own but I need to work on my negativity first. I feel I could be a fantastic businessman if I get passed this but at the moment it's holding me back.

What ways do you stay positive, or stay away from negativity, with your businesses? I often get an idea for a business and I'm scared to google it in case there's someone else already doing it because the chances are that they are doing it far better than me and I feel it would take everything to go right for me to even get close to them. This is a terrible attitude I know but it's something I find hard to avoid. I'm a very realistic thinker, which is good in certain scenarios but awful in others. I procrastinate too much and feel I can't proceed without the reassurance of someone else saying it's a good idea.

There's obviously a fine line between being confident and delusional. Some business owners, as you can find on episodes of Dragon's Den, are convinced their product is fantastic and everyone else can see it's not. But there are some people who have the same enthusiasm and same response yet their ideas turn out to be fantastic. I'm struggling to be confident in my ideas because I'm very pessimistic.

Any advice on being more positive when starting up and learning to make decisions and being more decisive are greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Farley.

 

[MOIC]

One of the most important attributes required when running a business is the ability to make decisions.

To make decisions, you must have confidence, in as much as the decision you are making is the correct one.

Knowledge of your product is vital, as well as your competitors and where you stand in your field as you try to gain market share. Very rarely will you be on your own, selling a particular product.

Experience is also required and you will learn as you go along and probably make mistakes along the way, which you will learn from.

My advice is to frst work in the industry of your chosen product and gain the experience and knowledge of the product as well as seeing first hand how a business is run.

Best of luck.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

It's quite common for business owners to feel doubt about making decisions and a lot have this feeling that they are going to get caught out one day, even those who have run successful firms for a number of years.

Confidence comes with experience and don't be scared of making the wrong choice as all business owners do at times, accept that a choice will simply produce an outcome and if it's not what you expected/wanted then you can learn from it and try again.

Most importantly is to do something you enjoy, if you don't then you won't give it your full attention.

What sort of things are you thinking of doing?

 

[MOIC]

There is a difference between making a decision and making the right decision.

You must have the ability to see the choices clearly and decide which is best at that moment in time.

With hindsight we would all be somewhere else predicting the future.

I have met many people who will get confused about making a decision and simply refuse to do so and pass the buck to someone else to make.

A business person, ideally should have the confidence to make a decision.

Many times there are decisions to make, where there is more than one right choice.

Experience is paramount and it's normal to make mistakes along the way.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I would add that understanding your personal values is also very important to making decisions as if you always stick to your values then you will never make a bad one.

The decisions you will regret are the ones which you made knowing it was going to violate one (or more) of your values, regardless of the outcome.

 

[DazRave]

I am in the exact same boat as Farley93 and completely understand where he/she is coming from.

Although i differ in the sense that i'll happily make a decision.. i'll see current 'market sharers' doing really well and when i research into their companies i get cold feet. Partly because i see they took x amount of years to get where they are and i feel it will take me just as long, and they will improve even more in the meantime. I create a catch 22 in my head i guess.

 

[tony84]

I often get an idea for a business and I'm scared to google it in case there's someone else already doing it because the chances are that they are doing it far better than me

Forget that, google them and learn from them.

Im a Mortgage Broker - put that in google and see how many pop up. Im in competition with about 10-20 companies in a 5 mile radius.... but im busy.

I dont know im the best broker out there im probably not. But i know im good. I put in the effort do the research and because of that i have been able to place mortgages other brokers have not. I do things differently to others and i have picked up things from other brokers i have worked for.

-------

If you believe in your idea, put together a plan on how you will achieve it. The plan will be wrong (mine was way off the mark) but the one thing it does have is where i want to be. It helps you to focus.

Have a target. If your behind, think of ways to help you catch up. Reflect on what has worked well and what hasnt - if you can repeat the good things.

My biggest thing though is joining a gym. This time 2 years ago i was struggling for clients, i was getting up later and later and doing less work. I joined the gym, it got me up it got me active and i came out full of energy and ready to take on the world.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

I am in the exact same boat as Farley93 and completely understand where he/she is coming from.

I was in the same position 50 years ago. I too would recommend working for a few years first. It helped me hugely because when ordered to do a difficult task by a boss I would just get on and do it but if left to myself I would procrastinate.

A good piece of advise is to write all your good points on one side of an index card and all your bad points on the other side. As a test of honesty it is invaluable. Try and reduce the bad points to manageable levels.

 

[DazRave]

Proving to be a great little topic this.

It's inspired me a bit to look into taking the plunge.

I think part of my problem was always "how will i upscale eventually". I'm thinking too far ahead and not about how to actually get started.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Thinking ahead is great as it gives you a goal, but for now just get things up and running and more importantly get some money in!!!

 

[Alan]

I often get an idea for a business and I'm scared to google it in case there's someone else already doing it because the chances are that they are doing it far better than me and I feel it would take everything to go right for me to even get close to them.

If no one is doing it or doing it well, then the chances are it is a bad business idea (there are very rare exceptions where a completely new concept creates a new business).

If there are lots of people doing it, then it can't be that hard, and trust me not everyone running their own business is a Richard Branson.

Remind yourself they are just normal human beings working hard, and if they can do it, so can you.

 

[ethical PR]

Have you been in contact with the Prince's Trust - if you are accepted onto their scheme you will get access to a mentor who you will be able to use as a sounding board and opportunities to meet other young people in a similar position to yourself. You will also receive training on how to run a business and develop your business plan and if you need it access to a small start up loan. Good luck.

 

[DavidP2P]

Farley, at 20 years of age what you lack most is experience. Fear holds back many people, especially as they get older and have more responsibilities in life. Never before in history until the last few years has it been possible to take an idea, turn it into a product/service and make it available to the whole world for so little cost!

What is of greater value will be the learning curve of going through the process, understanding how the pieces fit, and using the experience from the mistakes, or should I say learning experiences, that you will undoubtedly make. Information is accessible online (like here), in books, networking events, and many of them don't cost much either.

I know people in other countries that are hungry for success, but because of where they were born it is much more improbable that they can become financially free. At your age I used to think that anyone older than me must have had all the answers in life. When I got older I wondered how so many people had so few answers in life.

My son is 22 years old, and tells me how much his former friends procrastinate and plod along already in life. He just surrounds himself those active and enterprising people. Stop talking negatively to yourself as you are your own worst enemy if you do! YOU ARE WHAT YOU CREATE!

David

 

[Farley93]

Thanks for all the help guys! I'm definitely going to take it all on board and make changes to the way I approach business.

 

[webgeek]

Jumping into a new business as a way of boosting your confidence is not a recipe for success.

It's my belief that most people buy from people they like, they think they can trust and they think are offering them a working solution to their problem.

If you come across as not believing in yourself, you'll be hard pressed to give away products, much less sell them.

---------------------

Go for some small wins at first, then think grander scale. Set yourself daily manageable, realistic goals, track them, tick them off, congratulate yourself on the achievements, then look back at how many wins you've had. Teach yourself how to handle victory, how to believe in yourself and then apply that solid as a rock faith in yourself to a launch.

 

[Deleted member 59730]

Go for some small wins at first, then think grander scale. Set yourself daily manageable, realistic goals, track them, tick them off, congratulate yourself on the achievements, then look back at how many wins you've had.

I would give the opposite advice. Go for the big plums first. The birds (or your competition) might get to them first.

You will learn much more from big businesses than small ones. You need to get big enough to keep your bank manager happy as early as possible. You need to get your cash flow running as soon as you can.

 

[makeyourbusinessbetter]

1. Customer service - get some work experience dealing with people. Learn to deal with good, bad, difficult, awkward, angry customers. Develop your people skills. Being in business is all about communicating; with customers, clients, employees, other stakeholders. When I left school, I went to work in a department store and spent two years as a sales assistant dealing with all kinds of customers, both face to face and on telephone. If you can get this experience in the market you want to be in, then all the better.
2. Experience - gain some work experience in the market you are interested it, learn as much as you can.
3. Save some cash - you'll need it; to cover your living expenses and to start up your business.
4. Knowledge - get some training and learn the skills to run a business, prepare a business plan, find local business groups.
5. Confidence - start part-time, get some sales, build your confidence, go from there.

Good luck.

Gordon

 

[MyEventBucket]

Sarah Akwisombe - 'Emotionally desensitize yourself from what you are doing...' The only way negativity can affect you is if you are too emotionally involved which I think is bad for business. Learn to take criticism and make the relevant changes. Even complaint emails can turn right if you approach them correctly. I'd say 75% is intuition and the rest of feedback.

 

[jdluckhurst]

Experience is indeed useful, but not the be all and end all. Bit of a juxtaposition in your 'brief' - confident about your abilities, but lacking confidence!

A bit hard to comment on whether you should take the plunge without knowing the industry but if you feel like the time is right to go on your own then good luck to you. Don't be afraid to ask for advice (you already are), and as Baz Lurhmann put so well "Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth."

I agree that if you want to start your own business in order to get confidence then that is the wrong way to go about it, but I'm not sure that is right. You want to start your own business but are hesitant due to your confidence. Research, research, research. Do not be afraid to look at your competitors. They are in fact your greatest resource so take heed. A lack of confidence often stems from a lack of information > and if you are at that stage then you need to acquire more information. Experience takes time, there is no way round this. But make sure you gather as much information as is humanly possible and then come up with a strategy. Get a second opinions and if the general consensus is yes then do it. Trust me, having salaries and bills to pay will prevent any procrastination!