Getting Unstuck #17 – Owning or Starting a Business

Many people and organizations tell me, “I know what I want to do, but I can’t determine how to do it.” Watch this 1:57 clip https://youtu.be/aTbhVTJcXDA. If you are stuck on, “How am I going to do this?” – then you are asking the wrong question. It would help if you asked, “WHO can help me reach my goal?” Remember this: Replace how with who. ~ Frank Zaccari, CEO/ Author/Speaker

As you read in my book Business Secrets for Walking on Water, Inc Magazine, reported that it is the goal of one in five Americans to own their own business. It is second only to home ownership as part of the American dream. However, more times than not, this dream of owning a business or company becomes a nightmare. Forbes Magazine reported:

• 50% to 60% of small businesses fail within three years.
• 80% fail within five years.
• 70% of SBA loan applications are rejected.?

What is going on here? Obviously, something is seriously wrong with the process of preparing entrepreneurs. But how can that be when dozens and dozens of organizations, be they government, nonprofit, or for-profit, have hundreds of classes or seminars or webinars whose intent is to assist business owners through this very process.

You would think that with all these programs and organizations designed to help, the odds of success would be better. They’re not.?I met with many people who attended these programs and left less than satisfied. The three statements we hear most often are:

1. Most of the presenters have never started or owned a business.
2. They present theory, not reality.
3. They provide fundamental information on WHAT to do, but little to nothing about HOW and WHY to do it.

The bottom line is - Far too many small business owners are unprepared to navigate the swamp of becoming a business owner. Watch the short talk 4:17 clip Sometimes the Alligators Win https://youtu.be/QRaEsbFg4es

I believe Simon Sinek said it best in his book Start With Why. “Why you are starting or expanding an organization is far more important than what and how.”? Here is the first set of questions my team asks:

1. Why do you want to start or expand your operation?
2. What is your strategy/plan?
3. How are you going to reach your customers?
4. How much money do you need, when do you need it, what will it be used for, when is profitability expected?

The majority of aspiring entrepreneurs do not have the answers to these questions. In those cases, our advice is don’t start or try to expand your organization.

So, let’s take a step back. Many small and midsize business/organization owners or aspiring owners are stuck because they over-extend. Most start an organization because they are very good at one thing and believe they will figure out the rest as they go. They quickly learn that there is more that they don’t know than what they know.

As you read in my book Business Secrets for Walking on Water, Inc Magazine, reported that it is the goal of one in five Americans to own their own business. It is second only to home ownership as part of the American dream. However, more times than not, this dream of owning a business or company becomes a nightmare. Forbes Magazine reported:

• 50% to 60% of small businesses fail within three years.
• 80% fail within five years.
• 70% of SBA loan applications are rejected.?

What is going on here? Obviously, something is seriously wrong with the process of preparing entrepreneurs. But how can that be when dozens and dozens of organizations, be they government, nonprofit, or for-profit, have hundreds of classes or seminars or webinars whose intent is to assist business owners through this very process.

You would think that with all these programs and organizations designed to help, the odds of success would be better. They’re not.?I met with many people who attended these programs and left less than satisfied. The three statements we hear most often are:

1. Most of the presenters have never started or owned a business.
2. They present theory, not reality.
3. They provide fundamental information on WHAT to do, but little to nothing about HOW and WHY to do it.

The bottom line is - Far too many small business owners are unprepared to navigate the swamp of becoming a business owner. Watch the short talk 4:17 clip Sometimes the Alligators Win https://youtu.be/QRaEsbFg4es

I believe Simon Sinek said it best in his book Start With Why. “Why you are starting or expanding an organization is far more important than what and how.”? Here is the first set of questions my team asks:

1. Why do you want to start or expand your operation?
2. What is your strategy/plan?
3. How are you going to reach your customers?
4. How much money do you need, when do you need it, what will it be used for, when is profitability expected?

The majority of aspiring entrepreneurs do not have the answers to these questions. In those cases, our advice is don’t start or try to expand your organization.

So, let’s take a step back. Many small and midsize business/organization owners or aspiring owners are stuck because they over-extend. Most start an organization because they are very good at one thing and believe they will figure out the rest as they go. They quickly learn that there is more that they don’t know than what they know. Two statements I made in all three books in this series and in every talk I give are:

1. What you know is not as important as what you don’t know.
2. What you know is not as important as who you know.

Starting a business or endeavor is not an exact science. You will never have all the knowledge and experience. The first challenge is to ask for and accept help for what you don’t know, and the second and more important challenge is to ask for and accept help from an organization that has both the skills and the network to fill in what you don’t know or what you don’t like doing.

Here is what I see more times than I can count. An organization leader selects people they know to be mentors, advisors, or first employees.? People like a friend from college, a family member, a college professor, or someone who “knows a guy.” These are good people but have not built, sustained, or scaled an organization. More times than not, this first group of people does not stay very long. Why?

The job outgrows them, or they become unhappy with you, or you become dissatisfied with them. When that first crisis, that first significant thing that you didn’t expect or never experienced or don’t know, arrives, the odds are they don’t know either. The leader becomes a juggler as they try to juggle twenty balls simultaneously, including addressing the crisis and finding new employees/advisors. It is about as successful as putting out a house fire with a squirt gun. Unfortunately, most balls hit the ground, and the house burns down.

Before you say, “Hey Frank, we are intelligent people. We will figure it out.” here is something you need to consider. The University of California system, considered by many to be the best research organization globally, had 19,224 patents/licenses or pending patents/licenses in 2019. Pretty smart people, right? Yet sixty percent of their revenue comes from five patents. Not five percent, five total patents. So, why aren’t the best and brightest in the world having more success? They determined five reasons, or maybe we can call them excuses:

1. No Market Need- (this is a kind way to say, “The solution fails the Who Cares Test.” Nice science or technology, but who cares)
2. Not Enough Money
3. Not The Right Team
4. Poor Execution
5. Lost To Competition

I suggest a sixth reason - They don’t know what they don’t know. Clearly, intelligence alone is not enough to launch an organization or get it unstuck. The intellectual mind required to research, create, design, invent, develop, and test differs from the innovative mindset needed to start, scale, and sustain a business.

Very few people can do both. I will ask the audience to shout out some names of people who excelled at intellectual and innovative mindsets in my talks. So far, the name that comes up every time is Steve Jobs. It is a good answer, but a quick look at his life shows he failed during his first time at Apple. In fact, he was fired from his own company. He learned how to combine the two skills from his time at Next and Pixar, which was like The Second Coming of Christ when he returned to Apple.

Remember, replace how am I going to do this with who can help me do this! BEFORE trying to start a business.