3 Barriers Every Entrepreneur Faces and How to Combat Them
90% of startups fail and under 50% of businesses make it to their fifth year. Those are staggering numbers. As a founder of a two-year-old social enterprise, and working as a consultant and mentor to early-stage entrepreneurs, I’ve been fascinated to uncover what is happening in between the initial idea and a business sustaining itself past its fifth year. What is it that only a handful of entrepreneurs are getting right?
Over the last seven years, I’ve been part of four founding teams, most recently co-founding The Good Business Club, and have worked with more than 100 other businesses, and what I’ve discovered to be the ‘key to success’ may surprise you.
Success rates aren’t determined by how viable an idea is, or how on-trend a product or service is. It’s not even related to how experienced or well-connected founders are. The real key to a business succeeding is in the actions they do (or don’t) take.
But being in action sounds simple enough, right? Entrepreneurs are known to work night and day, pouring every moment into their work. Surely there’s more to it than that?
The reality is that building a successful business isn’t linked to the amount of time or money you pour into the idea, it’s in taking the right actions at the right time, and keeping in action even when things are tough.
So how do you know if you’re taking the right steps to be in the category of businesses that are sustainable in five years’ time?
Here are three common barriers that you might be facing as an early-stage entrepreneur and what you can do to give yourself the best chance of success in the long run.
You’re living in Founders Fog
If you’re as passionate about your business as I am, it’s likely that your head is full to the brim with ideas, to-do lists, and concerns. You feel overwhelmed even before you’ve started the day. And what is really getting in your way is deciding what to focus on each day to move your business in the direction you want. You will probably find you’re reactive rather than taking the time to think things through.
How to combat this: We, as entrepreneurs, walk around carrying the worries and pressures of every element of our business on our shoulders at every given moment of every day. That’s a weight and a half. Running your business doesn’t have to feel so daunting. A huge stress reliever that also gives you focus and confidence on where to be spending your time is in taking the time to plan.
Planning, both the big picture and the day-to-day, can relieve the stress you’re carrying each day. You’re walking around feeling the pressure of needing to do everything, immediately, when in fact you should just be focusing on the best next step.
You’re riddled with doubt
Doubting ourselves is more common than people think. There’s even a psychological term for it - ‘imposter syndrome’, and it isn’t as debilitating as it might feel. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t free of self-doubt, they have just had more practice in knowing how to deal with it.
How to combat this: Working on your own might seem like a safe way to hide the fact you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re worried you’re not good enough, but in fact, it will only heighten that concern and will breed more self-doubt.
The best way to kill it off is by being with others. You’ll quickly realise many people experience self-doubt including people you look up to. You’ll find champions who will balance out the concerns with positive reinforcement or supportive feedback on how to improve. Find your peers or supporters early on so this self-doubt doesn’t stop you from creating the business of your dreams.
You’re wasting your time on expensive distractions
Unfortunately, so many entrepreneurs focus on investing in the wrong things, at the wrong time. That might be paying someone to create a logo before you know who your customer group is, or worrying about what legal structure you should set up as before you know if what you offer is even valuable to the market. We’ve all gone down rabbit holes that have eaten up our time or money and it may be having a bigger impact on your business than you realise.
How to combat this: Starting lean isn’t just about saving money and doing things on the cheap, it’s about focusing on the key elements that will really make a difference to the success of your business right at the start, namely who your customers are, what they want, and how the business model will work.
Focus on research and testing out the market before spending money on any branding or marketing materials. Good marketing companies will tell you this too. You need to know who your customers are and get clear on the value you are offering to create powerful marketing materials.
Finding confidence, clarity, and productivity isn’t as far away as it might feel. But you won’t find it working on your own. If you focus on planning, surrounding yourself with peers and supporters, and focus on understanding and testing your market as a priority you’ll be in a much better position to set up a successful business.
So don’t waste another minute. Make a shift in the way you are approaching your business start-up and get yourself on the right track for long-term sustainability.
Lacking clarity and productivity?
If you want to set up a purpose-led business that’s thriving in 5 years’ time but you aren’t sure where to be focusing your energy each day, The Good Business Roadmap course is the answer.
With a clear focus on what actions to take and when, the course unlocks clarity and productivity that will see you build your business with a confidence you can’t even imagine yet.