My Advice for Starting a Business

My Advice(ədˈvīs) for Starting a Business(ˈbiznəs)

By Leo Babauta

Recently I encouraged my 13-year-old daughter Maia(ˈmīə) to start a vegan(ˈvejən,ˈvēgən) cupcake(ˈkəpˌkāk) business, and it’s so exciting to watch her get started.

As I talked to her about starting, she had some worries(ˈwərē):

She didn’t know how.
She didn’t know what kind of business to create.
She was worried she’d fail(fāl).

Do any of those sound familiar(fəˈmilyər)? Those were my worries too, when I had a day job and thought about building something of my own.

Worry about not knowing what to do, how to do it, and whether you’ll fail … these stop so many people from starting.

I’ve launched numerous(ˈn(y)o͞om(ə)rəs) ventures(ˈvenCHər), from ebooks to courses(kôrs) to my Sea Change membership program and more. Next week, I’m launching a new video interview(ˈin(t)ərˌvyo͞o) series(ˈsi(ə)rēz) called The Habits of Entrepreneurs(-ˈnər,ˌäntrəprəˈno͝or), and can barely(ˈbe(ə)rlē) wait to show it to you.

Today, I’d like to share the lessons I’ve learned about starting a business, in hopes of encouraging you to get started making something you love.

  1. Look for opportunities.
  2. If you can’t wait to get started, you’re onto something.
  3. Start small.
  4. Not starting is the biggest mistake.
  5. Start a blog.
  6. Don’t do SEO or social media marketing(ˈmärkədiNG) or viral(ˈvīrəl) marketing.
  7. Instead, be super valuable(ˈvaly(o͞o)əbəl).
  8. Start lean(lēn).
  9. Advertising(ˈadvərˌtīziNG) is a bad business model(ˈmädl).
  10. Forget about the numbers.
  11. The joy doesn’t come later.
  12. Forget perfection.
  13. Screw(skro͞o) the business plan.
  14. Start from home, and start with friends.
  15. Focus on important things.
  16. Surround yourself with interesting people.
  17. Learn to be OK with not knowing.

Get started, my friends! You’ll love it.

https://zenhabits.net/startup/