Stop saying ‘my startup’, start saying ‘my business’
Give yourself credits
The moment you write down the first words of your idea you have a business. I hate to break it to you but you are now operating a company that you dream of. You are behind the wheel of the life you want.
Maybe you don’t have clients yet. You might not even have a logo, website or even a company name. But your mind started believing it and so your business is born.
Your time is valuable, so call it a real business
Don’t be humble. You are spending precious time you could’ve spent with your loved ones or your favourite activities. Stop calling that thing you spend so much energy on ‘a startup’. It deserves a better name: a business.
Start standing more straight. Be proud. You have a business to run. You got this. Okay, maybe you don’t got this yet. But you will figure it out along the way. Don’t let fear of failing call it ‘just a startup’ or ‘just an idea you have’. It’s your business.
Baby steps but still a real business
The first thing you are going to do is probably think about your product or service. Maybe about your logo or a website. No matter how slow you go or how much time you take orientating, these baby steps may not feel like running a business.
But please treat them as something important. A friend of mine is going real slow with his business and I love it. He has a day job and takes so much time sculpting a logo and polishing his idea for his own business. I love seeing his progress and dedication and that’s why I believe he will succeed.
Slow & grateful
Instead of calling his progress slow, let’s call it deliberate and joyful. I remember the first time I made a little money designing a website. I used that money to tank gas for my car.
The rush and enjoyment I got from spending that hard earned money was so great. It almost felt as if I pulled the oil out of the ground with my bare hands and put it in my car. Even when I made more money, that feeling was legendary and keeps me grateful for every euro I earn.
Startups are excuses
One of the businesses I worked with called themselves a ‘startup’ in every meeting. I asked them why they did that. I came to the conclusion they felt they were searching for investments and thus weren’t a ‘real’ company yet.
This felt like an excuse to underperform and not have a clear business goal. They used the term startup to justify why they shouldn’t figure out the details that every business has to figure out: what do I offer and how am I making money.
Figuring out the details of your business is fun
Your big idea or concept is fun. Figuring out the details can seem trivial or like a lot of work. But try to see those activities as fun too. If those details are not fun to you, your business will not be fun to you. Because those details are exactly what you will be doing. So they better be something you love.
Try to bring your personality into those details. How can you make all those activities (like selling, making a product, building relationships, etc) feel natural to yourself? When you find the exact ways of selling, building and keeping relationships that energise you, your business will give you more energy.
A business is only sustainable if you have the energy to keep it going. If you find a way to make selling fun for yourself, you will have the energy to keep on selling. It takes time to figure this out, but please spend that time.
Conclusion
Call your idea what it deserves: a business. You will spend a lot of time building and keeping your dream business so please call it that.
By making this little switch in your mind you will give your ‘startup’ much more energy and you will treat it better. I wish you good luck.
Did this inspire you?
If so, read more articles like this: https://medium.com/moiin
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