Why I Might Try to Talk You Out of Your Dream
As a neurodivergent entrepreneur, two things are true: I’m a kinesthetic learner, and I’ve learned a lot about owning a business after having three of them. Hopefully this means that my clients don’t have to learn every lesson the hard way because they can learn from my experience. Throughout my career, I’ve talked to scores of aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs, many of whom never operationalize their businesses. This is a population that I’ve always loved working with, but it comes with the very real risk that I’ll care more about someone’s business than they do. I used to find myself saying “I can’t care about your business more than you do,” until I learned what this really means - you have no business owning a business.
At my last full-time job, I managed a business accelerator and interviewed dozens of entrepreneurs who applied to be part of an intensive six-month program. I knew how many entrepreneurs had to move through each part of our business development and evaluation process so that I could fill a cohort, and one of my metrics of success was about how many applicants I actually talked out of trying to own a business. I wouldn’t be an effective entrepreneurship advocate if I thought entrepreneurship was for everyone, and I’m committed to giving people a realistic understanding of what’s involved so they can make informed decisions and set themselves up for success. I should also stress here that I strongly believe in better societal and nonprofit supports to make entrepreneurship accessible to more people.
As much as I might like to think it is, how much I care isn’t a real metric - sometimes I care too much (the struggle is real), but here are some more useful signs that entrepreneurship might not be for you:
You’re committed to your “not a numbers person” identity. Yes, financial services providers exist and are extremely helpful. No, hiring one (or more than one) doesn’t mean that you can be a successful entrepreneur and “not a numbers person” simultaneously. The math just doesn’t math.
You don’t want to delegate because no one can do ____ as well as you. A business devoid of delegation is a business that cannot scale, plain and simple. Yes, even your “secret sauce” can be taught and cultivated in others. Whether it’s something essential to your value proposition, answering emails, or posting on social media, you can’t grow if you can’t let go.
You have no interest in being a lead generator, salesperson, marketer, storyteller, networker, partnership builder, proposal writer, or brand ambassador for your business. I’ve met many entrepreneurs who “don’t like” sales, marketing, or relationship building, and the fact of business ownership is that you either get good at it (liking not required) , or you don’t really have a business.
You’re not comfortable being uncomfortable. A lot of business ownership is learning new things and growing in new ways, and the key ingredient in learning is frustration tolerance. If you can’t hang in the learning zone, you won’t enjoy entrepreneurship for long.
You want traditional hours and work-life balance. In many, if not most, businesses, this isn’t a thing. For many of my clients, it is why entrepreneurship works them. They don’t want or can’t work within our culture’s “standard” systems and schedules. But work-life balance isn’t a good goal, in my experience, so I aim for a good work-life blend.
You “just want to do the thing you love.” If you do the thing you love all the time, you’re a technician. Businesses and organizations hire technicians all the time. If you build an organization that supports your ability to do the thing that you love some of the time, you’re an entrepreneur.
What do you think about this list? Do you feel attacked, or are you doubling down on entrepreneurship now? If it’s the latter and you’d like to up your game, check out the LEAP Coaching Club - a group coaching program designed to help you build a business that supports your life — not one that takes it over.
