Learn from the best here. . .
So, why don’t wanterpreneurs get started? Good question. . . I came up with it myself because I have had to wrestle with it for years. Business ideas have emerged, blossomed and withered before they were ever brought to fruition. I have passed numerous sleepless nights excited by the next business opportunity that I would inevitably end up not taking action on
I recall watching Mattress Mack from Houston dressed up like a ridiculous mattress on late night TV commercials hollering about how he could save me money. His story was less than impressive. He came to Houston in the 80s and started selling furniture, one of the oldest and most ubiquitous business models around. Over the next decade, he built an impressive empire that still stands today.
The moral of the story is that you don’t have to be original to build a successful business. In the world of Shark Tank, venture capital, SaaS, and disruptive technology, this is often forgotten.
Despite realizing the originality lesson in my high school years I still fell into many of the common traps of the wantrepreneur. Let’s take a closer look at these traps and how you can avoid them.
Wantrepreneur Trap 1 – Too Much Education
A little bit of Googling around in 2016 tells me that there are around 7000 business podcast on Itunes. The same article also tells me that the average length of a podcast is about 40 minutes. Even at double speed, it will take some pretty serious dedication to listen to even a fraction of these. 
I have to admit. . . I have tried. I have gotten sucked into this world of seemingly useful information consumption only to realize that it is too much. Much of the information is contradictory or flat out wrong. A lot of it is too advanced for you, right now.
When podcast listening passes the critical threshold of being counter productive it is time to pare it back. If you find yourself listening to things that are out of your league, not applicable to your market, make you feel bad, might be straight up bad advice, or just counter productive, turn it off.
I am using podcasts to illustrate a point here. The same also applies to business forums, online training, meetup groups, blogs, books, degrees, etc. Practice just in time learning for the things that you really need to know and let the rest sort itself out.
Wantrepreneur Trap 2 – Analysis Paralysis
Closely related to trap 1, analysis paralysis can last for years or forever. The more you learn the less you know. The less you know the more you think you need to learn and so on. It only stops when you realize that you really don’t need to know shit to get started.
If you have a hazy vision for what you want and a willingness to get started you can figure out one step at a time. At some point, you will need to clarify your vision but this is often easier to do once you have gotten the ball rolling and you have a trajectory. It’s physics, you can’t argue with an object in motion. Be in motion.
Wantrepreneur Trap 3 – Lack of Commitment
This is a tough one to come to terms with. Modern culture portrays entrepreneurs as rich, famous, and sexy. They drive exotic cars and have plans to launch rockets to Mars. Entrepreneurs are the new rockstars. This is all fine and dandy but the truth of an entrepreneur’s life is often not nearly as impressive.
Everyone wants to be a rockstar but not many people want to practice guitar until their fingers bleed. Many say they want to start businesses but when it comes to making cold calls every day for 2 weeks they would rather watch Netflix. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done it. My Netflix watched list is pretty impressive.
So, the truth comes out eventually. Maybe you would rather watch Netflix than do the hard work of starting a business and working on it for 10 years before you become an overnight success.
Here’s the rub. That’s ok. There isn’t anything wrong with not being an entrepreneur. Most people won’t ever end up owning their own business and most probably shouldn’t. If this is you be ok with that, there is nothing wrong with having a job and letting the owner worry about all the crap.
Wantrepreneur Trap 4 – We Listen to too Much Negative Self Talk
People are often portrayed as having an angle on one shoulder and a devil on the other. This is total Bullshit. The truth is, there is no angel or devil, there is a devious fucking monkey constantly whispering negative believable baloney.
But the monkey is us. We tell ourselves stories about why things won’t work. We crush our own self esteem. We are scared to loose and scared to try. We come up with endless lists of reasons as to why our ideas suck. We can’t, shouldn’t, won’t, not smart enough, not experienced enough, too hard, etc. . . . . It just keeps going.
If we acquiesce and listen to this negative self talk all we are doing is reinforcing it, making it harder to shake the next time around. This self talk also tends to get louder as the risk increases. It is a build in security mechanism that keeps us alive but it also keeps us from reaching our full potential.
The only way to really overcome this self talk is to recognize when you are doing it and ignore it. Some people talk back to it, some meditate, and some just ignore it. The bottom line is that you have to figure out what works for you but if you do not address it, it will forever hold you back.
Wantrepreneur Trap 5 – Afraid to Take Risks
No surprise here. Risk sucks and uncertainty can be terrifying. It is however, part of business.
The key to taming this beast is to manage your risk and realize that life is much more full of risk than we give it credit for.
If you work a job, don’t kid yourself, it could easily go away tomorrow. If you are solely invested in the stock market for retirement let’s hope you don’t want to retire during a 50% downturn, it’s not that uncommon.
Drive much? Good luck with that.
When evaluating a potential business risk really ask yourself, what is the worst that could happen? And, what is the opportunity cost of not taking this risk or taking the risk?
It is usually the anticipation of the worst case scenario that is the most painful aspect of risk. There goes that devious monkey again.
The real risk is in not taking advantage of opportunities and leaving your future to chance. If you don’t make things happen you might not like what happens. Also commonly referred to as, creating your own luck.
Wantrepreneur Trap 6 – You are Scared to Sell
I am a big believer in the idea that if you don’t like exercise you haven’t found the right exercise. If you don’t like to read you just haven’t found the right book. And, if you don’t think you can sell you are probably selling the wrong thing.
Selling sucks if you know all you are doing is blowing smoke. The stereotypical used car salesman comes to mind. He is trying to sell you an overpriced, quickly depreciating piece of outdated and soon to be obsolete machinery. He is most likely working on some sort commission structure that has been gamified amongst employees and is incentivised to sell, not the best vehicle but the one with the highest margins. This kind of selling sucks, I’ve done it.
I have also sold things that I was truly excited about and knew they had the potential to make a positive impact in the world. This is an entirely different type of selling.
Only sell what you believe in.
Being a business owner requires selling in some capacity. Maybe not the used car salesman hard selling, but copywriting, cold calls, and building sales funnels are also selling. Get used to it.
If you say you want a business but you don’t want to sell you will forever be a wantrepreneur.
Wantrepreneur Trap 7 – You are Addicted to Having a Job
I speak from experience. Jobs are easy, paychecks are nice, they are predictable. They are the devil you know.
I have also been a smoker and had my fun with other addictive substances. I know what addiction feels like and I know how powerful it can be. It is terrifying and it is mentally pervasive. Addiction also has a funny way of convincing you of thinking you are making a decision because you want to make that decision.
You won’t make it through AA unless you admit that you have a problem. You like me may need to admit that you have a problem with being dependent on a job. Once you recognize this you can start to take steps to fix years of defeatist thinking. You can start to take your power back.
Wantrepreneur Trap 8 – You Don’t Know How to Self Direct
The first year dropout rate at many large colleges is above 30%. It’s not because the kids or stupid or they decide they don’t want to go to college. Many new students simply don’t know how to manage their time or their new found freedom. They are living on their own for the first time and there are keg parties every night. This makes it hard to get to 8oclock class.
New entrepreneurs are the same way. When you have gotten used to having a job you very well may have gotten used to a certain amount of direction. You have gotten used to having someone else do much of the difficult thinking for you. As much as it sucks to obey, it is easy.
If you are trying to make the jump from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur you may need to build in some sort of accountability. You can join a mastermind, find a business partner or hire a coach. You may also need to educate yourself on time management strategies and try a couple approaches before you land on one that works.
Don’t be a Freshman burnout.
Wantrepreneur Trap 9 – You Have Developed Bad Habits
To be more clear you have developed habits that do not support your desire to become an entrepreneur. We are really nothing more than the sum of our habits. We are also, what we think about.
If your habits consist of driving to work listening to entrepreneurial podcast and spending the day thinking about how unhappy you are at your job. Maybe broken by a meal of fast food followed by another commute home with the game on the radio, then dinner, then a beer or two, followed by a couple of hours of Netflix you might need to re-evaluate some things.
Sure we all have responsibilities and it can be difficult to develop good habits on top of an already demanding schedule but the alternative is pretty bleak.
Take a look at my daily habits here. I don’t always successfully maintain them but when I do I always see an uptick in my overall well being and performance.
A quick side note about habits. If you are into habit tracking like I am it is often just as beneficial to have a “don’t do” list of habits as well. Optimization is also a process of removal.