Are You a Wantrepreneur? 3 Things Holding You Back From Launching a Startup
By definition, a ‘wantrepreneur’ is someone who wants to launch a startup but hasn’t yet taken the plunge. Wantrepreneurs aren’t (necessarily) slackers or are too lazy to go after their dreams; there may be perfectly valid roadblocks stopping them from doing so.
Here at EL Passion, we are devoted to helping startups become the best that they can be. To help you get into the startup world, we’ve put together this list of typical wantrepreneur obstacles and how to beat them.
1. You’re Too Tired
A lack of time/exhaustion is the most common thing holding back a wantrepreneur from launching a startup.
You can’t help it; when you get back home after a day of work you want to relax, watch some TV and eat a hot meal. You don’t particularly want to be hunched over a desk, working on wireframes. On the other hand, you may not have any time to work on your startup, due to long hours with short breaks.
That’s not your fault, by any means, but you can still help yourself by putting what little free time you do have to good use. For example, if you have a long commute, you should use that time to catch up on the latest industry news and listen to podcasts.
But remember: you do actually have to put the advice into play, learning without action will get you nowhere.
2. Lack of Creativity
Even if you have all the time in the world, you may still be a wantrepreneur because you just haven’t found that Eureka! idea yet. Admittedly, this is a much harder problem to solve.
The best way to think of a golden goose is to look for problems that people have. For example, McDonald’s fills the need of hot food that you do not have to wait for, whereas eBay helps you trade with people without such a high risk of getting ripped off.
Go and take a look at the products you love or the industries that interest you (stick to what you know) and analyze everything about them. If you were the companies behind them, what would you improve and how would you do it? If you can answer this question, then you’ve found a startup idea.
3. No Money
And here’s what it all boils down to: money. Many people are wantrepreneurs because they just can’t afford to get out of that rut. When you hear about startups like Magic Leap, Airware and AdKeeper, which raised millions before they even launched, it can be incredibly daunting.
The best way to go about launching a startup when you don’t have much money is to make sure that your business idea is rock solid. First, spend what you can (this can be done for as little as $100) on doing market research, using online surveys and talking to people in real life to find out what they think about your idea. Then, take that data and turn it into an MVP, so you can release this to make enough money and fund your startup.
Failing this — as you may not have enough coding knowledge or know anybody who can make an MVP for you — put together wireframes and prototypes instead. Fine tune your business plan (including how you plan on making money from it in the years to come) and use all of this to get investors. If your product is as brilliant as your plans and your market research suggests, I’m sure everyone would want to invest in a wantrepreneur like you.
