by Jeanne Dasaro
Over the past few months many friends have come to me with business ideas, asking how, like me, they might start their own business. What I find is that instead of wanting to discuss steps they could take toward self-employment, they seem more interested in delving into an endless list of reasons why it can’t be done. The list of reasons ranges from cats to car issues, but mainly seem to come from genuine concerns about their own capabilities.
On my own path to self-employment—something I’m still in the process of figuring out—I quickly realized there were three things I’d have to accept. First, starting a business is not about being an expert. No one expects you to know the ins and outs of every aspect of your company from the very beginning. However, you’ll inevitably learn bits and pieces of web development, marketing, fundraising, project planning, and many other things you never dreamed you’d know about along the way. Still, that lack of initial understanding shouldn’t keep you from pursuing your idea. It’s your curiosity, hard-work, and willingness to take risks that is most important.
Second, it’s better to focus on maximizing the skills you already have and improving upon those skills rather than worrying about what you don’t know. I am lucky to have a business partner with complementary skills. We’ve been able to divide up tasks according to skill sets and then ask each other (and sometimes other people outside the organization) for help with all the rest.
Don’t have a business partner? Well, who amongst your friends, family, and professional contacts have the skills you need? Give them a call, send them an email, ask them to a cup of coffee sometime. You’d be surprised at the amount and quality of information that comes from that cup of joe.
Finally—something that is a bit of an overlap between the first two—you must not feel intimidated by what you don’t know. Or rather, let that intimidation get the best of you. If I were to let the fact that I didn’t know how to create videos or podcasts stop me from starting a media organization, we may have never gotten off the ground at all. If you have a clear vision for what you want to see built and are willing to work for it and learn as you go, the rest will eventually fall into place. There are countless people and resources out there to fill in the gaps and help you with what you don’t know. Stop merely thinking about your idea, and instead go do it!
