How Starting A Business, is Just Like Dating

Sounds weird, right?

So when I started writing this, I’d planned to talk about how scary it can be, to start a business. Mulling through a thousand ideas, evaluating them, hoping & praying you get things right….

And as I wrote I found.. hey that sounds uncannily like relationships and dating ………….

And so I came back and edited it..

Here goes…

We all have many talents.

We all have many skills.

We all have many passions.

The question most people struggle with when they’re starting off is.. which of those passions/talents/skills should you build a business around? Is there a way to combine them all?

Yes, you’re a great cook, artist, speaker, motivator, coder, designer, writer – but which of these skills are you going to turn into your business? Will it be profitable?

Yes, you can create an awesome ecourse, a membership program, a retreat, a VIP package, a mastermind. – but will people buy it?

Face it, you’re spoilt for choice.

What are you going to do?

Try walking down all paths at once? How far is that going to get you?

Do you dare choose ONE path and follow it through?

Committing to ONE path, one idea requires courage. The courage to follow through. The courage to get down in the trenches and do the work. The courage to make mistakes, learn, dust yourself off and keep going.

On the other path – it’s all fun and games. You can keep experimenting. Flitting from one idea to another. A bit of this, a bit of that. And when you don’t make real progress, you tell yourself, it’s ok, I’m just experimenting…

Shucks. It’s quite a bit like dating. Committing is scary. Dating can be fun – you get to meet a ton of people, some may be interesting, some may stick around a few weeks, or a few months. But then, you’re always moving on, in search of ‘better’, in search of the ‘one’.

Commitment is scary. How do you choose “The One”? When do you say that this person, or this business idea, is THE ONE, that I’m going to pursue? How do you know whether this new person is worth it? Whether the relationship will last ‘forever’? Or will you outgrow each other and move apart? Or will you find, one fine day, 7 years later.. that it was all a big fat lie and you need to bail? Or will he/she in fact turn out to be your soul mate, your ‘forever’?

Thing is.. you can never really ‘know’ for sure.

There are no guarantees.

The relationship may work out. Or it may not.

The business may work out. Or it may not.

You cannot know for sure

UNTIL YOU TRY IT OUT.

Commitment takes work – a ton of it. It means saying “No” to many other equally tempting offers.

But .. if you stick around… and work it through…..the rewards are way ‘better’.

It holds for dating and relationships. It holds for business.

Are you guilty of holding back in your business?

Have you  been afraid of committing fully to your business?