If many people dream of starting a business, why do so few actually start one? I was curious about this fact so I started asking around. Sure I got some typical answers like “I don’t have enough capital” or “I’m not sure what business to start” but one of the biggest objections I heard was: “I don’t have the time.”
Let me call that “BS” right now. Yes, that’s a little blunt but I have to say it. I think, for most people, that’s just not as true as they think it is.
Consider 2 people. At the beginning of the year, both want to start a business. Here’s what they do during a typical day:
In the morning…
- The first person woke up at 7am, got the kids off to school, then drove to work and listened to the radio.
- The second person woke up at 5am, worked for 2 hours, then got the kids off to school, then took the bus to work in the morning so she could listen to business podcasts.
At coffee break…
- The first person went on a coffee break at work with his coworkers.
- The second person called prospective clients for her new business.
At lunch…
- The first person went on lunch with his coworkers.
- The second person went to the library to research her new business.
That evening…
- The first person drove the kids to soccer and then got home and watched TV until bed.
- The second person drove the kids to soccer then got home and worked on their business until bed.
Who do you think had a business by the end of the year?
- The first person, who dreamed about their business but did NOTHING about it?
- Or the second person, who made small changes and was able to spend a total of about 4-5 hours every day on their business without making a lot of sacrifices (and still being there for their family)?
See the difference? By the end of the year…
- The first person is still wishing that they had a business; they feel trapped in their job and now they’re one year older.
- The second person has been running their business and although they’re not quite ready to quit their job yet, they know that they’re just months away.
I presented these two people to you as simplified “case studies” but they are real people.
Here’s Why It Matters To You
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start and grow a business, what’s holding you back? If you feel that your time is simply too constricted to allow you to start your business, I’d like to encourage you to rethink that. Most people think they’re busy but if they did an honest audit of their time, they’d discover that they had more time than they thought they did.
Even if you truly are as busy as you think you are, here’s what I would do: I would make a big list of things I could do to start and grow a business that will take less than 15 minutes. Then I would get up 15 minutes early every day and do one thing on my list. It’s not going to add up to a lot and you’re not missing much of your beauty sleep… but if you do this every day for 1 year, you’ll have worked over 91 hours on your business. Do you think you could get some significant advancement on your business with 91 focused hours of work? I think so!
