START WITH YOURSELF. [? Included] I know most of the advice you will receive will be around the customer, how to set up the business, the processes etc. That is important, but not your starting point. You are.

Think like a child

Build your business as a child does, and you will have a higher chance of success.

When a child wants something, and they have no cash, they will start a business to get that cash. Look at kids, and you see they have a high rate of success.

For an adult, they want more money, more time, more freedom or hate their job, and they start a business to solve that. 9 out of 10 adults will fail at this.

Here is the difference between how adults and kids start/run businesses

#1. Adults have an idea. Children are specific. 

The adult wants more time or hate their job or want to make more money. It sounds specific, but it is not very specific. The child knows they need $100 for the new game or $1000 for the new phone. They are very specific, and it is expressed in a number, cash, now they shape the business around that, their needs.

#2. Adults use hope. Children track it precisely. 

Hope is not a strategy, never was, never will be. Most adults start a business as follows, and I will use a relationship to explain: They go into a relationship knowing what the other person wants, what the other person’s needs are, and what makes them happy. But they never tell the other person what they want.

Then they spend their time, money and attention at giving the other person all they want and need. This is a onesided relationship. Some would say abusive.

Most entrepreneurs start with a product or market in mind, and they start the business, not bringing their needs into the planning or running of the company. It is a onesided relationship, abusive some might say. Look at the life and working conditions of a business owner, and you see it is true.

The kid is as aware of the needs of the customer as they are aware of their own needs. If the business does not deliver on their needs, they do not pursue it.

#3. Adults stick to the business. Children stick to the plan.

Adults tend to stick to a business, and you have to pry a loss-making company from their hands. I mentor and advise business owners, and they say things like “this is my dream”, “this is my baby”. It is all about the business and not them. This leads to significant failures because you are blinded, emotional.

The kid sticks to their plan, the plan aligned with their needs. They might start selling cupcakes, and if they are not successful at that they will pivot, drop it likes it hot and start washing cars, mow lawns whatever the case may be. For them, the business is the vehicle. For them, failure is not the business; failure is not achieving what they want, fulfilling their needs.

Kids are pivot KINGS!

How do you start then if you start with yourself?

Simple, think like a kid. What are your needs and boil it down into a number? If you want more time, let’s say only working half day, then you will have to budget for someone to work when you are not at the business.

If you want more money, then how much? Get specific on everything. For me, I have my needs, my wife, my son and then the needs of the whole family.

Please do not make the same mistake, so many others make. The business is there to serve you as much as the customer. You are a customer too.

That is why I created The Human Entrepreneur. We aim to keep entrepreneurs in the game. Build successful entrepreneurs, and great businesses will follow.

See my LinkedIn feed for more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willemgous/