What’s stopping you from starting a business?
By: Danae Ringelmann, Co-Founder of Indiegogo
Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I cut out for entrepreneurship?”
Then what happened? Did self-doubt distract you?
“I’m not a risk taker,” you might have thought. “Why should I even try?” Or maybe you didn’t think you had a strong idea.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs who have used Indiegogo to raise over $1 billion to make their ideas a reality, it’s this: The biggest obstacle to entrepreneurship is not the money. It’s not a high risk tolerance. It’s not even having a good idea.
The biggest obstacle to entrepreneurship is our minds. It’s what we believe or don’t believe about ourselves, and what we expect or don’t expect of ourselves in this world.
At Indiegogo, we believe entrepreneurship is a right, not a privilege. Everyone and every idea is worthy of a shot at success.
So if you have been letting self-doubt stop you from taking the leap into entrepreneurship, let us help you make a mental shift. After all, you don’t need money, risk tolerance or even an idea. Just the knowledge that you are worthy of this journey, because you are. We mean it.
Here are two key lessons and a gentle nudge that might help you see yourself in a new entrepreneurial light.
Anyone can become an entrepreneur
There is no gene for entrepreneurship. Instead, entrepreneurs are driven by authentic passion for solving a problem, and they succeed through grit — two attributes anyone can access and learn, respectively, if they decide to. We see it every day on Indiegogo.
Jon Sumroy was a dad, fed up with huge car seats and shocked that half of carpooling children don’t have one. After many years of work and prototypes, toiling in his garage, Jon successfully created a small, foldable car seat. His solution must have hit a nerve for parents as he went on to raise over $2.5 million on Indiegogo. Today, Mi-fold is sold in retailers nationwide. The take-away is that Jon was not a child car seat expert, nor a seasoned entrepreneur. He was simply passionate about solving a problem, and stuck with it until he made it happen.
With similar grit, Brad Holland of Kordbot waited many years for a music production tool to be released on the market. After years of wondering why it hadn’t been created, he realized, if no one else was going to make it, why shouldn’t he? And he did, building Kordbot, a chord generator and studio production assistant. Now, he’s manufacturing them in his own garage! And a recent $25,000 cash boost from Arrow will allow him to scale his business.
No Idea? No Worries. Stop looking, and just start noticing.
I’ve recently adopted a new mantra: Stop complaining. It’s hard, but you’ll be surprised both in 1) how much energy you save from not going negative (which is always a good thing), and 2) how many solutions appear when instead of belaboring a problem you start thinking about how to prevent it. Lost your keys for the hundredth time? Don’t lose yourself to anger, instead ask “What might help prevent the 101st time?”
So many businesses start when frustration is answered by problem-solving instead of negativity. This includes Indiegogo! We were frustrated by how many ideas couldn’t get to market because they didn’t have capital — so we pioneered crowdfunding.
Take Doniece Sandoval too. She was shocked by San Francisco’s large homeless population. The lack of a shower had been keeping people on the streets, without access to jobs. Her anger-turned-problem solving landed her with an amazing solution. She decided to convert old muni buses into mobile showers for the homeless. Her Indiegogo campaign, Lava Mae, to raise $50,000 flourished. And now, other cities are using her model as a guide. It all started with Doniece turning shock and frustration into opportunity.
Sometimes, a solution might seem small, but its impact adds up over time. Father and son beekeepers Cedar and Stuart Anderson dreaded the hassle of extracting honey from a beehive. So the Andersons created Flow Hive to put honey on tap. In creating a gentler and simple approach to beekeeping, they also made accessible a hobby that could help save our bee population and our planet. Did Cedar and Stuart set out to save the world? No. But in solving a simple problem, they are.
Entrepreneurs don’t need a genius breakthrough to be successful. Many simply notice problems and then set out to solve them.
Keep a small notebook in your pocket for a week. You might be surprised by how many ideas you have.
The World Needs You
If the two lessons learned above weren’t enough to help you make the mental shift and take the leap into entrepreneurship, let me leave you with one final thought.
Do you want to leave the world a healthier place for the generations after you? If so, then it’s time to let go of that self-doubt. Why? The world needs you. Our world has a lot of problems, and no one person can fix them all. But if we all recognize and honor the entrepreneur inside of each of us, we can tackle them one by one, collectively.
As buddhist author Pema Chödrön says, when you face fear, just smile. Suddenly, fear loses its power over you. Your sense of worthiness returns and your path forward appears.
So, is entrepreneurship for you?
We say yes. You are worthy. The problems that matter to you are important, and their solutions could be just around the corner. Just let go of fear and give yourself the space to find and pursue them. It doesn’t need to happen over night. It just needs to happen as your journey in solving problems that matter to you will bring more meaning to your life and value to the world too.
Entrepreneurship is your right, and we are here to help. To learn the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, click here. And welcome aboard. Your entrepreneurial journey has begun!
