How Most Aspiring Entrepreneurs Fail

Don't make this mistake!

Author

Brendan Ryan
April 17, 2023

We all know the statistics.

9/10 new businesses fail or whatever right?

And yet there are STILL plenty of us with inspiring enough dreams that we’ll try to do it anyway.

But WHY do so many fail? Why do so many not make it if they are so passionate?

Well…there are a lot of reasons.

But in this edition of the newsletter I want to take a special look at the first major hurdle in particular.

The “Hustle Hurdle”

It goes like this: you are passionate about something and you notice a “gap” in the market. Something that’s not quite right. Something that can be improved…

And you can do it.

So you do. For example, maybe you’re a gamer who knows how to code.

And you notice that a particular piece of software that you use as an accessory to your gaming is missing features that would be helpful. Or maybe it’s slow. Or maybe it just sucks completely.

So you make a better version of it. And this is great because YOU are the target market. You know exactly what’s needed.

AND you know exactly where to find your target market - fellow gamers.

This is called the “scratch your own itch” startup model. It’s very common and a great way to get started.

Soon you find yourself selling the software to other gamers, getting feedback and improving it. Then you find yourself doing some other custom software as a service.

Eventually you have enough work on your plate that you need to bring on help in the form of virtual assistants or maybe even expensive American talent.

And this is where the struggle begins. Now you have significant bills. Margins are not great because there’s too much overhead.

Meaning you want to grow your business but you can’t afford to pay for more help. You have to keep working in the trenches yourself.

This, my friends, is the Hustle Hurdle.

A Great Read

You have successfully hustled yourself into a corner and now you’re stuck.

There is a great book that touches on this idea quite well. It’s called the E Myth Revisited.

Read it!

Gerber talks about how there are 3 people in every business. The technician, the manager and the entrepreneur.

The technician is the person actually doing the work in the trenches. This would be the coder.

The manager is who he sounds like. This is the person overseeing the coders.

And the entrepreneur is the visionary. He is the boss of the managers.

A Quick Analogy

A great analogy I like to use with entrepreneurship is the following; Entrepreneurs are like movie directors.

Directors don’t use their own money for the movie. They raise money from other people.

They don’t do the acting themselves. They hire actors.

They don’t shoot the movie themselves. They hire a professional film crew.

You get the idea right? They are not executing each step themselves. They are orchestrating a master plan.

They hire people who are BETTER than them for each step.

And they (hopefully) produce a masterpiece.

The problem is so many entrepreneurs get started as the technician and they struggle to remove themselves from that role.

When the time is right, when you’ve found something that works you MUST remove yourself from the technician role and even the manager role.

Please?

You must put intense effort into finding and hiring high quality talent.

And yes it is possible to find this talent in cheaper overseas places btw.

But you will most likely have to pay yourself nothing until you get over this hump. A lucky few may get by it without having to do that or even going into the red.

The Answer

In the online moneyverse (I made that up) you’ll hear a LOT about investing in yourself and stacking skills.

And there’s a ton of truth to that. I still do it quite a bit.

BUT

You know what’s even better than having high value skills?

It may surprise you. It’s systems. SYSTEMS are better than skills.

When it comes to entrepreneurship in its truest sense (I.E. not self-employed) this is 100% true.

Invest in SYSTEMS. Become obsessed with them. Get your SOPs in place.

Automate everything you can. Eliminate anything unnecessary and delegate the rest so that you can steer the ship.

Then and only then will you get over the Hustle Hurdle.

🚨🚨🚨This Week’s Spotlight 🚨🚨🚨

Angel Investing and getting 1000x your investment is no longer for the silicon valley elites. Learn how to do it yourself and discover opportunities in the fast-growing Indian startup ecosystem.

If you know anything about private equity or angel investing in the U.S. you know that it’s reserved for the rich.

You have to be an “accredited investor” which has certain requirements including but not limited to a networth of $1M not including your home. (btw no one checks this. There is no overseeing body. The burden of proof rests with those invested in)

ANYWAY in India the requirements are significantly lower to be an accredited investor.

AND India is a booming market. Many think it’s a sleeper for the next world superpower.

So there’s a huge opportunity. But how do you know what to invest in over there?

That’s where the Rustic Flute newsletter comes in. Get in on it quick before this guy makes it a paid newsletter. (You’re welcome)

In The Internet News

Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086011735800

A fantastic community of budding entrepreneurs that I endorse: Leveraged Lifestyle

Start your own podcast! I use Riverside.fm for my videos.

That’s a wrap! Thanks for reading!

The future belongs to entrepreneurs.