This weekend, I was having a conversation with a friend who called me with a tone of desperation in her voice. She said, “I don’t know where to start. I need help.” Of course, I hopped on a quick phone call to find out what she didn’t already know, “how to start”. I was on a mission to find out how I could help my friend start whatever it was she wanted to start. She called me, because she didn’t know how to pick the business she wanted to start.
As I began listening to her say, “I want to start something as a business but I don’t know what it is. I have to pick a niche before I can get started. It tells me to pick a passion or something I am excited about. I don’t know what I’m excited about. I don’t know how to pick what’s going to be successful.” A myriad of thoughts ran through her head as she felt stuck, frightened, helpless, and not able to move forward unless she could answer these fundamental questions.
She went on to say, “The instructions say to pick a niche first.” Sure, we could blame her and say that she had “analysis paralysis” and that’s why she couldn’t start, but that would be a lie. Here’s the truth, she had “instructions paralysis”. Online marketing gurus who tell you over and over again to “pick a niche that you’re passionate about, or a hobby you like, before you start” are hoodwinking their clients.
They want them to believe that they have to pick a niche versus have relevant skill sets they can apply to a niche. In the business development arena, I believe what Mr. Miyagi said to Daniel-san in the movie, Karate Kid, “There are no bad students, only bad teachers.”
Many online instructors don’t know how to get a smart start with a client. You will have more success with clients by helping them learn basic and foundational skill sets first, instead of a picking a niche they’re passionate about. As this helps them have more options and choices for success.
Picking something you are passionate about doesn’t mean success. For example, I’m very passionate about Mexican food, and as of yet, I haven’t found anyone who will pay me to eat it. Passion does not equal drive, and you need drive in order to start. Drive comes from know-how or a willingness to learn how to do something.
If somebody isn’t passionate, finding a niche they are passionate about will not give them more drive. If someone isn’t a passionate person, finding a niche isn’t going to make them suddenly passionate. The art of starting and gaining success in anything is “willingness”. Are you willing to suck at something and practice until you are good at it? If we learn to paint, we must be willing to start painting and suck at it as we learn a method of painting, for example, Bob Ross. Then we practice the method until we are successful at it.
The process begins with a willingness to serve by solving a problem. Solving problems are great motivators by nature, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun to do. For example, growing healthy food is a fundamental necessity on the planet. It’s solving a problem. It is a good business to have because people will always need to eat. It’s also some of the hardest work you can do. Being a farmer is hard work that is most often thankless work. We don’t line the streets to thank the farmer for supplying us with wholesome food, like we line up to thank the firefighter for saving our home.
Yet for many, farming is gratifying, but a lot of hard work, too. To be good at farming you need two things: the skill set of farming and the skill set of running a business. The foundational skill you must have is “the art of starting and gaining success”. When you know how to run a business, you can apply any skill set you want on top of that foundational skill. This is how Richard Branson grew his Virgin brand. Sir Richard said, “If you can run one business well, you can run any business well.” It doesn’t matter what business. It could be a passion, or it could be simply an opportunity you wish to take advantage of.
The art of starting a business and gaining success comes from a foundational skill, not because you find a good niche. It’s not because you find something you’re passionate about. It doesn’t come because you have a good idea and everybody thinks your idea is fabulous. It is the art of starting to gain success with anything. It is the fundamental mastery of foundational skills. It’s just like learning to paint. When you have the basic skill sets of a painter, you can paint anything you like.
When you have business skills, you begin to evaluate your business choices differently. When you know how to run a business well, you start choosing businesses that are opportunistic and fun to do. Think about Elon Musk; he picks the projects he wants to pick. You start considering what’s important to you about starting a business.
For me, although I enjoy living in a house, I would not enjoy owning real estate, or a kennel, or a farm. Why? Because I like freedom and mobility. I want to go where I want to go, when I want to go. I want a business that fits how I like to live. Now, can I invest in a kennel or real estate venture? Sure, if I want to. I just don’t want to run those kinds of businesses. I know what a well-run business looks like. I know it can help me make investment choices that are mutually beneficial.
Most businesses fail within the first year because the person starting them doesn’t actually want to own a business or become an entrepreneur. The truth is, most people don’t even want to start a business, they simply want to make more money and have heard that having a business is the way to do that. There is a big difference between wanting to learn how to run a business and wanting to simply make more money. Thus, they fail in the first year. You have to be willing to learn the skill set of starting and running a business. If you want to make more money, this will give you long-term success.
If you simply want to make more money, you most likely will continue to look for get-rich-quick schemes, side hustles, or “how to make money online” businesses in a box. All of these are marginal processes for success. If you want to master the art of starting and gaining success, you must have a willingness to learn the skill set of running a business well.
For me, bootstrapping and lean startup business skills are the best skills to move forward. It would be the same as if I was telling you to learn the “Bob Ross method of painting”. This needs your willingness to learn and it is an investment of time.
Online marketers make it sound like business is easy once you find a niche or a passion. Business, like anything else you start, has to come with foundational skill sets that you can build upon. Then you can look for opportunities that allow you to enjoy what you’re doing, and take advantage of your good ideas, opportunities, and offers.