Breaking Through the Wall
In the last day I have done more to start a business than I have since the school year ended. In fact, my life has probably changed more in the last 24 hours than it ever has in a single day. This follows after making less-than-minor accomplishments for the whole first half of the summer.
What’s the big deal? In the last day, I have: decided on a name for my business, chosen to start a sole-proprietorship, received an EIN, registered a D/B/A, opened a bank account, and landed a coffee shop to operate my computer lessons business out of. I have moved from concept to awaiting my first customer in the course of 24 hours. Oh, and I also applied for two jobs – one that I was nominated for at Babson and the other to learn sales skills that will help me later in life (and tomorrow).
Of course the real question is: how did this happen? Well, I realized two major things:
The first – that I need to stop constantly relying on others. Example: I briefly thought of the structure for my business. Since I have no assets, and the nature of computer training is not very risky, I chose sole proprietorship. That thought process took less time than it took to write the last two sentences. In fact, I had enough background knowledge in the different structures that I didn’t even have to utilize the wonders of the Googles. You might ask, where is the problem in this?
Well, the next thing I did was call my dad and ask him, not whether sole proprietor was a good choice, but instead “What business structure should I choose?” He led me through the options and in the end, I found myself trying to convince him that a sole proprietorship was the right choice. I hung up a little irritated that he didn’t know as much about the choices as I did. Next, I logged into Facebook and asked some friends the same thing – perhaps they would know more. One suggested an LLC and I fought him on the $500 yearly fee to protect the assets I don’t have.
Apparently I do this with almost everything. I make my decision and then look to others for approval. But yesterday was different than usual. Perhaps it was all the sleep that I had gotten from being sick, or the sun shining in my window for the first time in weeks. But yesterday, I noticed. I asked myself, why was I asking people for advice that I didn’t need? Then, the follow up question came, how much time to I waste asking people for this advice? I quickly realized that for every “important” decision I make, I probably spend 3-5x longer asking people for “advice” than I do making the decision. What a waste of time! Oh, and by the time I get the answer, my inspiration is mostly gone. If I can’t make a decision on a business structure, how can I start a business?
That leads me to the second observation. I found this great quote on twitter…
When launching a venture, it is sometimes more important to have momentum than an elaborate plan.
– http://twitter.com/jmondo
More on that soon.