Dear Sir/Madam Almost But Never Quite There,
This is an open letter to the hustlers. The beginners with dreams. The five-year-in-experience grinders. The happy-but-stuck-in-a-rut office rats.
If you can’t help but daydream about having your own kickass startup one day, this is for you.
This is also for you, the person with multiple side projects because you either need more money or you caught the entrepreneurial bug. It can be frustrating to treat a dream half-heartedly, like a not-so-enthusiastic date.
This is for you, who check domain names regularly just in case someone else might already launch the idea. You know that there are no new things under the sun, but you also know that offering something different is needed in this cruel, cruel startup world.
You’ve lost count at how many ideas you scribbled on your Google Keep as they piled up and got lost in daily life.
You are a grown-up with real responsibilities and betting it all to prove just one optimistic idea might work sounds a little too gutsy, borderline insane.
Maybe you are an active participant in the zoo of, “almost but never quite there”. You get to meet inspiring entrepreneurial people, but when it comes to fulfilling this one crazy idea that keeps you awake at night, you chicken out.
You find dozens of reasons to delay the business until it’s a little too late to actually start. Funny, it’s called startup because you have to start somewhere, but you just won’t.
You hope that no one else will think of the idea because you feel in your heart it will be the next big thing. You have a recurring vision of the company being successful, but then again it’s just a dream.
You have online documents detailing of what sorts of business it would be, what market it would serve, you do know which competitors have started carving out share in your intended market, and you’re even going so far as conducting a mock survey to see people’s reaction to your ideas.
But even after doing these tasks, you’ve gone only so far because you always find a flaw and have to start over.
The thing is, you know all too well that you gotta start somewhere. All that do your homework blah blah blah…
But the thought of it might get big or might be crushed, along with the capital you dug out from your own pocket are too overwhelming. “That money can be used for something else that is yours to take care of, if only you’re not so stubbornly selfish,” says the nagging voice in your head.
The thought of leaving the safety of a safe, well-paying job for something so uncertain is another enemy. Comfort is our enemy, but comfort is also this killing creature that has provided a safe home for us (I’m looking at you, Stockholm Syndrome).
This is for you: You’re not a freak overachiever for desiring more.
Also Read: Founding a startup: You think you’re ready, but are you really ready?
You’re not a selfish dreamer, just a fearful one. Your fears are legitimate and your grownup responsibilities are not a joke, especially if you have a family to manage.
I won’t get started on regrets, because I believe you understand the cause and effect in this matter. The ’cause’ is not doing anything, and the effect is not getting anything (duh). You know it well and don’t need preaching.
This is for you, with dreams you can’t afford just yet.
Be patient.
I won’t say keep dreaming because it’s vague (and low-key mean). I will say this: hang on.
When ideas come at you like a whiplash, contain them. Write them down.
If you must wait for your time, wait patiently and diligently. Do your homework (prepare, save money for bootstrapping, network, and all that startup 101). You never know where it might get you.
As corny as it sounds, I believe in “doing your part will yield good outcomes”. Maybe not right away, maybe not in the way we might imagine, but we will reap.
In the meantime, if you love your job and it helps you keep your grown-up responsibilities, please stay at it. Not all of us are meant to be a dropout success story. It is an unwise bet.
Also Read: AI-powered NeuroTags helps businesses eliminate counterfeits of their products from the market
If you haven’t noticed, I’m trying to tell you that if you don’t have the guts, then it is impossible to start up.
That’s it, that’s the essence of this writeup.
Thanks for staying along with this far in this post, you fantastic beast.
Sincerely,
Your fellow ideas hoarder who haven’t got the balls and take her time while simultaneously being anxious about running out of time, me.
–
Photo by Trent Szmolnik on Unsplash
The post An open letter to the almost but never quite there appeared first on e27.