I’ve been trying to start a business all summer, to no avail. All I was trying to undertake was a computer training service. My intent was just to make some money on the weekends to make my way through college.
What did I have to do? Step 1 (and probably the only step for quite a while) – create a flyer and post it around town. Total time: probably about 2 hours. 1 to create, 1 to post. If I applied some sort of strategy, I could up that to 3 hours.
How many hours did it take me? Weeks. I registered the company on 7/7. I didn’t create the flyer until yesterday, 7/21. That’s a solid two weeks of not doing one of the simplest things I’ve ever attempted in my life. Why? I didn’t know. And that, right there, was the root of the problem.
Uncertainty is dangerous. It freezes people in their tracks. Questions ran through my mind constantly: how do I even write a flyer? Will people want to call me if they read it? Will I even make enough money? Is there another way to find customers?
Now that I think about it, this wasn’t what I was asking myself. Asking any of these questions actually would have been beneficial. They all have direct answers: No, but I can figure out how to write a flyer. Someone’s bound to call. I won’t make any money unless I try. Yes, there are other ways to make money. If I get started, maybe I can try more than one (instead of NONE).
What I was really asking myself was this: Am I going to be successful doing this? Try answering that question!
My problem, I found, is that I have an issue dealing with uncertainty. This occurs throughout my life. Where it holds me back the most, though, is in business. It’s not tangible uncertainty that’s the problem, though. If I know that there is uncertainty involved, that eliminates a whole level of uncertainty right there. I’m certain that I don’t know. Any of those specific questions would have been good for me. The correct answers are not certain, but there is certainly are answers.
Will I be successful? Where do I even begin. Maybe if I market well, but maybe I should run it better. But what if this idea isn’t the one I want. Am I even cut out to be a business person? Am I too young?
Yes, all this over a freakin’ flyer. I thought about this question without a path in mind, a plan in place, or any intention of getting out of bed in the morning to continue toward the goal of being successful. That’s what this general question was – a goal. I should have treated it as one.
Once I realized what the problem was – broad, un-actionable questions – I simply narrowed my questions. The flyer took me about 2 hours to design. It looked fabulous. It’s too bad about the plan, though.
I had a great slogan “Free Lessons at the Free Library” (yes, the library nearby is called the “Free Library” – kind of redundant, I know). Too bad the library didn’t have any place to post the flyer! Maybe if I hadn’t clouded my mind with excuses, I would have spent day 1 checking to see if I should make a flyer, and day 2 making it. Instead, of course, of wasting 3 weeks on the two tasks.
And that flyer taught me a business and life lesson. Be more specific, reduce uncertainty, and you can hinder procrastination. Always know the next actionable action, and understand it’s risks. Then go for it! Oh, and you can make a mean flyer if you just put your mind (and google) to it.
