“To succeed, we must first believe that we can.”

– Michael Korda

Maybe you’re just starting your business, or maybe you’re trying to make it more successful. At this juncture, it’s important to recognize the limiting beliefs that will hold you back from achieving your goals. 

Obliterate All the Excuses, Except for One

“Excuses are like (insert expletive here). Everyone has one, and they all stink.” 

I don’t know who came up with this quote, but I have a feeling I would really like the guy. Excuses are a great mechanism to apply logic to our fears. They are simply the systems we go through to defend our inner fears. I have heard and experienced them all. And they are all B.S. All, that is, except one, but I’ll save that one for last.

Tips from The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur

Everyone is experiencing the same economy as you are, so you are on equal footing. If the economy is in a recession, buyers may slow down their activity, but competitors will also fall by the wayside. A weak economy is like a forest fire; it kills off many of the plants, but the seeds that take hold now have the most room to grow as the forest comes back to life. A weak economy is often the best time to start.

Entrepreneurship is very risky – Anything that you go into without preparation and knowledge is risky. So go in prepared! The funny thing is, you are already mostly prepared and don’t even know it. If you listen to your inner emotion and your calling, you will naturally be led down a path where you already have strengths. You probably have mastered many of the critical learning steps, and you’ll pick up all the new stuff like a sponge.

The only limit to your success is you.

But here are some excuses I’ve heard (and have had).

1. I’m too old to start a company – So what are you going to do about it? Wait until you are younger? There is no time like the present. Life has yet to offer a rewind or a redo. Don’t live with regrets. Get started now, regardless of your age. The self-discovery process you will go through creating your new company is well worth it. Plus, you can leave a little inheritance to the next generation.
2. I am too young to start a company – What? Did you know that you could legally start and incorporate your own business at any age? You can start your own company before you can legally work for someone else. One of my friends, Cameron Johnson, started his first business at age seven and incorporated his first company by age twelve. Why don’t you be the first to start a business at age six? No matter how old or how young you are, start today!
3. I don’t have enough money to start – That’s great! If you had enough money to “properly” launch your company, I would fear you might go bankrupt. The fact that you have no money (or very little) simply means you need to apply your head right from the get-go. There is a reason they say necessity is the mother of invention. Money covers up problems and weaknesses. Without money, you’ve got to bring your A-game every day. Lack of funds forces you to optimize everywhere and grow the right way.
4. The competition is too strong – My mother always told me that no two people are alike. She was right. If you think the competition can do a better job than you ever can, then you aren’t properly positioned to exploit your strengths. Find an angle to apply your strengths, your innate talents, and your passion in a way that no one else is doing, or no one else is doing well.
5. No one will buy my product or service – Good thing you caught that now, but it’s not an excuse not to launch a company. It simply means you need to reinvestigate what you want to do and determine a new way of delivering it so that you can build a customer base.
6. I am not ready – I agree; you’re not. You never will be. This excuse is simply a combination of all the others. When I ask people why they think they’re not ready, they resort to some semblance of one of the other excuses listed. They are all nonsense. 

Go time is now! I am sure you can think of many other creative excuses not to start a business. You need to put these rationalizations (AKA EXCUSES) aside, look ahead, and take action now. We rarely regret the things we did in life when we have followed our passion and taken risks. Too often, though, we regret the things we didn’t do. If your heart is calling you to take action, don’t use any one of these excuses to squash your desire.

There is one reason not to start a business. 

Don’t start a business if your reason is simply to get rich quickly. Greed is not becoming and does not have lasting results. No matter when you are presented

with barrels full of money, you DO pay for them. Even if you collect your money prior to any effort, like a lottery winner, for example, nature still has an uncanny way of making you earn it. If you’re lucky, your windfall may be earned through the rapid mastery of a new financial discipline. But all too often the earning comes in the

Remember, your mindset impacts your life before anything else.  You may even have heard Tony Robins say that success is achieved through a plan that is 80 percent psychological and 20 percent strategic.

From my experience and seeing the success of others, I believe it. Next up – ways to shift some of those mindsets and break down those walls holding you back.

You’ve got this – I believe it!

-Mike

PS – Grab your copy of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur HERE for more steps on building a new business or scaling what you have, with what you have.