Shanerogerson Business Blog: March 2017

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

5 Lies the World Tells Entrepreneurs About How to Succeed

It's common knowledge that 90 percent of startups die. So what do the 10 percent have that the 90 percent don’t?

We are taught that succeeding as an entrepreneur is all about working ridiculously harder than anyone else and persisting beyond the challenges. Then, and only then, will you “make it.” That is a big bunch of hooey.

I believe there is one factor above the others that allows for great success: brutal honesty. Unfortunately, we are fed lies in the form of inspirational quotes and fairytale stories about entrepreneurship, which tempt us not to engage in brutal honesty.

What is brutal honesty? Brutal honesty is about being excruciatingly self-aware so that you can hear the real feedback the market is telling you, and correct course before it is too late. This is the true test of entrepreneurship, since tearing down the walls you built with your blood, sweat, tears (and limited funds) is not for the faint of heart.

Here are the top five lies they feed you as an entrepreneur and how to combat them with the right mindset:

6 Top Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Business Advice and Tips for Success

1. Richard Branson. “The best businesses come from people’s bad personal experiences. If you just keep your eyes open, you’re going to find something that frustrates you, and then you think, ‘well I could maybe do it better than it’s being done,’ and there you have a business.”
2. Arianna Huffington. "If you're going to start a business, you need to really love it, because not everybody is going to love it. When The Huffington Post was first launched in 2005, there were so many detractors. I remember a critic who wrote that The Huffington Post was an unsurvivable failure."
3. Mark Cuban. "Then, taking that first step is always the hardest. It's terrifying, but really, it’s about preparation. We all go through this process where you’ve got the business idea, you get that feeling in your stomach and you get all excited. Then you talk to a friend, and your friend says, ‘oh wow that’s pretty cool, I’ve never heard of anything like that. I’d buy that.’ And then you do the Google search.” “The first thing I’ll tell you, is that just because you don’t see it on Google, doesn’t mean one hundred companies haven’t gone out of business doing the same thing. It hasn’t been done for a reason, because every company that’s tried it, has gone out of business.”
Sophia Amoruso. "Don't give up, don't take anything personally, and don't take no for an answer; you never know what you're going to learn along the way."
5. Tony Robbins. "The most painful mistake I see in first-time entrepreneurs is thinking that just having a business plan or a great concept is enough to guarantee success. It’s not. Business success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics. And, frankly, most people’s psychology is not meant for building a business."
6. Tim Ferriss. "I’ve actually heard this from more than one person, including bestselling authors, Drew Houston of Dropbox, and many others who are icons of Silicon Valley. It’s something I re-read every morning. It’s also said that ‘your network is your net worth.’ These two work well together.”