Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I think that most people will commonly respond that money is the central thing that is holding them back from living the life they want to live.  The thing is, I believe that this is a misconception people have about what money can do for them.

It`s not money that`s holding them back, but it`s the lifestlye they demand. 

Good point, Brett. It`s the "Instant gratification" mentality that`s taken hold in the US over the past half-century.

I would also say "money".  However, I`m not scared of changing my lifestyle with  the possibility of a reduced income.  My wife and I live a fairly simple lifestyle and are pretty good at budgeting and living within our means.  It`s debt that is holding me back.  Both my wife and I are burdened with a large amount of student loan debt.  We`ve been working on paying it off as quickly as we can.  At the rate we`re going it will still be quite a few years before it`s paid off.  I don`t want to have to wait 6 or 7 years to start a business.  With a reduced income it would take even longer to pay it off.  I feel stuck.  I`m mentally ready to start my business now.  I`ve done lots of research, have some good ideas, but I just don`t feel like it will ever happen.

--Dan

I agree with Brett - it`s what the money provides. That fear that if we follow our passion, the money won`t be there to support the lifestyle we want, or I believe more accurately, the lifestyle we`ve become accustomed to.

I don`t think it`s necessarily an instant gratification issue. Most of the entrepreneurs I work with are starting their own business after working for years for someone else. They have established a lifestyle that they want to maintain.  I put myself in this boat as well.  I want to earn enough in my new business ventures to support the lifestyle my family and I have attained. I also have two children to support and put through college. So it is the reality of these obligations more than wanting to go buy toys or live a lavish lifestyle.

There is this underlying fear that if I quit doing the part of my business that easily brings in money, to focus solely on my passion, the money might not be there to support me.

 

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Debbie LaChusa, 10stepmarketing, If you can answer 10 questions, you can successfully market your own business!

Brett:

I have researched this subject for over 12 years. At the heart of any major change is fear of the unknown. The statistics in business illustrate that the majority of businesses do not succeed so geniune concern is legitimate.

I believe that a business is an expression of the value that we add to others lives. So the question is what is the unique value I believe I can add to peoples` lives?

The question is what do our customer want? What do we as an entrepreneur want? Is there a match?

Research conducted by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and FirstMatters LLC with over 10,000 customers regarding the five attributes of marketing found the following as first choice in each of the attributes: 1. Access: Give me a solution;help me out in bind. 2. Experience: Estabilish intimacy with me by doing something no one else can. 3. Price: Be my agent; let me trust you to make my purchases. 4. Product: Inspire me with an assortment of great products I didn`t know about. 5. Service: Customize the product or service to fit my needs. End Quote.

We believe that a global network of entrepreneurs using information technology can more successfully provide the top five attributes of marketing to customers then any other marketing channel. Our experience has demonstrated that a network of entrepreneurs practicing a peer to peer teaching and learning environment generates the least risk and the highest succcess rates. We have seen this not only in the developed nations but in developing nations in building self sustaining villages, microlending (www.kiva.org), etc.  

We find that most people still have a 20th century/industrial age mentality around what a business is. New information age business structures are being created that allow people to minimize the risk by becoming part of a network of entrepreneurs. This provides the autonomy of being an entrepreneur with benefit of collorating with a network of brilliant minds. We believe that this will be one of the business structures for the future.

I`ll end with a quote from an article on collective wisdom that illustrates how some of the world`s greatest challenges are being addresses by some of the greatest minds through building networks of entrepreneurs and leaders.

"In keeping with the inherently cooperative emphasis of the collective wisdom movement, most of these approaches tend to be self-organizing or “bottom up,” lacking any central governing structure to steer them. And this absence of a strategic body guiding and controlling the effort is certainly an important part of the magic that is allowing it to spread so far and so rapidly. But while this grassroots collective activism no doubt has the potential to play a major role in catalyzing large-scale change, there are at least a few individuals who feel that a more centrally organized approach is also needed to grapple effectively with the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face. Inspired by the possibility of creating a unified planetwide transformative team, a small group of dynamos out of Boston are about to launch what may be the single most ambitious collective wisdom effort yet. Determined to grapple head-on with the most troubling problems facing the world today, Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, Otto Scharmer, and their team of colleagues are rolling out the Global Leadership Initiative—an effort that aims for nothing less than to “generate a `tipping point` in humanity`s ability to address its most critical global challenges.” By developing a network of leaders “from all sectors of the human community—who understand how to harness the collective power of small groups to co-create better futures,” over the next five years, they plan to “launch ten international projects that will address inherently global challenges, such as AIDS, malnutrition, water, and climate change.” And what`s more, they intend to do it with “a standard of excellence and professionalism unsurpassed by any other organization or institution.”

In our cynical age, it`s not often that you find a group of people so confidently optimistic about their capacity to bring about significant global change. But before you write off this activism-on-steroids as the product of naïveté, hubris, or hyperbolic idealism, consider that the individuals at the helm are some of the most influential organizational minds in the world. In their work at MIT, Generon Consulting, and the Society for Organizational Learning, these management moguls have been pushing the envelope of collective learning and innovation for two decades. At the vanguard of large-scale systems change and leadership development, they`ve worked closely with multinational corporations, government agencies, and NGOs throughout the world.

At the heart of this initiative is a deep conviction in the potential for small groups to generate breakthrough thinking. Over years of “action research,” they`ve developed what they feel is a “rigorous” state-of-the-art methodology for “creating unified learning fields in which teams made up of highly diverse individuals become capable of operating as a single intelligence.” Using collective wisdom to actually solve our most pressing global problems, it turns out, is a dream that may not be as outlandish as it seems. Even a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine such an idea being taken seriously by business and government leaders. But these are indeed rapidly changing times. And given the receptivity these pioneers are finding to their vision, there is at least the possibility that a lot more positive change may be in store for us all."

End Quote.

Thanks, great topic with a lot of complexities

Rick  

 

For me, I am 42 and all I can think of is making my passion a living.  Money seems to be the factor that stops me and also maybe a fear of failure, which I hate to admit.  I know that I am very talented and can think of nothing else that I would love to do with my life.  Where are the angel investors?  If I do nothing, nothing will ever happen and I understand that.  For me, I am making a list of things that I have to do to get this ball rolling. 

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Shay By Design

I would certainly agree with CraigL.  Finances are the number one issue.  I find it hard to succeed to a point of frustration.  No one understands the word opportunity in the land of opportunity.

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Yolonda R Wilson
CEO /President
Y and A Magpower Inc

From a different angle, I think it`s fear of knowledge and the unknown.  I have been a flight attendant for the past 16 years and have had many ideas but never pursued them do to lack of confidence and know how.  I have no knowledge in the marketing field, the production field, the legal field or the business field for that matter.  So in the past I have not listened to my instincts.  I am the type of person that thinks up a new idea monthly.  My husband normally chuckles and says "here we go".

Until now!!!!  I saw one of my ideas, that I had actually gone to a patent lawyer about  in 2000, on Oprah.  The women had the same product that I had been making since I was little and had made $10 million... I doubted my ability to invent and produce this item so I let go of my vision...  Biggest Mistake Of My Life... THAT`S MOTIVATION....

I have taken my newest idea that I am passionate about and just created a prototype.  Hope to launch in the next week or two. 

It took someone else`s success with one of my product ideas to push me over the fear factor.   It`s amazing how things fall into place once you get the wheels turning...  The Secret....  Brilliant advice.....Absolute truth...Follow your passion and the doors will open... It`s scary but rewarding...

Excellent thread.....I will do my best to keep up ;)

I fall in the "not" fear of money category more than anything else. I earn a fairly comfortable living now (I didn`t until fairly recently) and I can afford to sink money into a worthwhile business idea. I have toyed with the idea of financing, but I am hesitant to lose other people`s money. If I put my hard-earned pazoozahs on the line and I am wrong, then I lose with no excuses. If I borrowed the money to start my folly in the first place, then I have to pay the money back :(

Having a fairly lucrative job is a blessing and a curse. The more lucrative my "day" job, the harder it is to work my business idea to a place where I can leave my employer. This is not to say that I can plunk down $30,000. A LACK of funding is a good thing. It has encouraged me to be more careful with my spending and more creative when I do crack open my checkbook.

In an attempt to conquer my fear (of the unknown and the memory of past business ideas that failed), I started an action item list. The list has helped me break down things that need to be done so that I can do them one at a time. I try to do them in the order that will remove the fear the fastest.

Excellent responses.  From my research in quizzing family, friends, and a few forums, I`ve tried to group the responses into key categories.  I am then taking the challenge to dissect them further on my Journey blog, feel free to check it out if you`d like.

The categories, and tell me if I`m missing any:

1) The Money Rut

2) Motivation

3) The Responsibilities that hold individuals back

4) Fear.  Uncertainty.  Confidence.

5) Networking, and the lack of knowing people in certain industries.

6) Knowledge

7) Lack of Time, not enough focus.