MBA2463 Why You Have Not Started a Business Yet and How to Break Through

0:09Heyo! Welcome to the$100 MBA show, business lessons you can count on to build the business you want. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zinhome. And in today's episode, you will learn why you have not started a business yet and how to break through. If you haven't gotten started with your business, if you haven't made that first sale, that first dollar, this episode is for you. I have to warn you, though, this episode is going to be very honest. I'm going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. I'm going to share with you really what is stopping you. I know because I was in that state where I didn't start anything for a very long time before I did about 20 years ago.

0:52I'm going to offer you some advice that actually works. And I'm going to show you how to break through and what to do instead of what you're doing right now. But in order for this to work, you're going to need to trust me and you need to believe in what I'm about to say. Otherwise, if you don't believe in it, you're not going to do it. And if you don't do it, you're going to be in the same position you're in right now for a very long time. You're going to be stuck. So if you finally want to start your business, start that journey of creating something you've always wanted to create, have that freedom, be that creator, be the entrepreneur you know you can be, then let's get into it.

1:23Let's get down to business. I want to start by saying that there is no doubt that starting and running a business is hard. This is a difficult thing. This is why most people don't do it. This is why if you look around at your family and friends, most of them are in a job and there's nothing wrong with that. But breaking out from that mold and doing something for yourself, creating something out of thin air is not easy. And this is why entrepreneurship starts this way. It starts this way because it's preparing you for what's ahead. Meaning if you can pass that first test and get started and do something that's difficult, that's not easy, then it's like training the muscle, understanding that there's going to be other challenges ahead that you need to prepare for and you need to persevere through and get on the other side of.

2:08Creating and running a business is something significant, regardless if it's successful or not. I know that sounds strange, but regardless of the fact that the business you start is a success, that makes money, that sustain itself, that is around for years, it's a significant act. It's something that is special. And anything that's special or significant or noteworthy or important is, of course, difficult. So let's just recognize the fact that that's just how it is. When you start a business, it's going to be hard. And most of us that haven't started a business recognize the fact that it's hard and you're just kind of feeling your way through it.

2:43And the reason why it starts with difficulty is because it's preparing us for what's ahead. There's going to be more challenges and more things you have to break through in order for you to do well in business. That's why the first hurdle is difficult because there's more difficulty ahead. It's training you. And by the way, anything that's significant, anything that's hard, as we know, is difficult. Anything that's important, anything that has value is difficult. But why is it difficult? Because this is going to allow us to understand why we are not doing what we want to do and how to get through it.

3:16Why is it difficult? And believe it or not, the reason why you haven't started your business is because of your mindset. Now, I know that when I say that, you may not like that answer. You may not like that information. My mindset, what do you mean? I gotta change the way I think in order for me to start a business? No, no, no. I really wanna be an entrepreneur, but I haven't started because I'm busy, because I have a lot of my plate, because I have a lot of responsibilities, because I don't have the money. You're saying these things, but that's not really why. That's not really why. People that do things successfully, people that go ahead and start a business, they do because they're compelled, because they have no other choice.

3:52They have to do it, right? Best-selling authors, they don't write because they're good at writing. They write because they can't help but write. That's all they can do. Not in terms of that's all they're good at, but in terms of this is what allows them to have a fulfilling life. This is what gets them up in the morning. Now, if you're not there yet, that's okay. But you have to recognize the fact that all the excuses that you're telling yourself, like I mentioned, I don't have the time, I'm busy, I have commitments, I have little money, I don't have an idea. All these things that you're telling yourself, these are just excuses.

4:22I'm not saying they're invalid excuses, but they are excuses. And one of my favorite lines is you can have excuses or you can have results. You just can't have both. Now, what are the excuses for? What are you really not starting your business for? Why do you need to change your mindset? What about your mindset you have to change? Well, here it is. At the end of the day, you're scared. There's fear. You're worried. You have anxiety. This is what's stopping you. And I'm going to tell you right now, it's normal to feel that what if I fail? What if I don't make it? What if I disappoint my family?

4:49What if I disappoint myself? What if I really try hard and I waste a lot of money and fear just stops you in your tracks? And here's the thing about the mind. It's very sophisticated. It's very slick. It's not going to just say, hey, this is scary. Don't do it. It's going to come up with another excuse. It's going to say, you know what? You're just not ready yet. You need to read another book. You need to save a few hundred thousand dollars or a few thousand dollars or a few hundred dollars or whatever it might be. You'll be ready next year. That's the voice you hear. You don't hear, whoa, that's scary.

5:16I'm too scared to do that. I don't want to do it. No, it's a lot more subtle than that. And by the way, I'm quoting these things because these are the things that were in my mind when I wanted to get started. These are the excuses that came up. This is what fear told me. These are the little whispers that were in my head. And tell me I'm wrong. And you can't because you know I'm right. You know that the reason why you're not doing these things, you haven't started your business, is because there's some fear there somewhere along the line. They're afraid of something going wrong. I know people that don't want to change their career, their life, or become an entrepreneur because they're afraid they're going to lose their friends.

5:49They're afraid they're going to lose their family. And it's just easier to just do the status quo, to do the same thing. This is why you haven't started. Plain and simple. There's nothing complicated about this. We're not that different as human beings. This is how it is. Fear is a very powerful force. You have to understand that fear can stop you from doing a lot of things, but it can also get you to do a lot of things. It can also push you to do a lot of things. Some people are afraid that they'll grow old and will have mobility problems, can't get around, will be a burden on their children and will have to go into a nursing home.

6:23People are afraid of this. And because of that, it forces them to take action and to get healthy, to eat right, to exercise and to plan for the future. Some people grow up very poor. They don't have a lot of money. Their parents didn't have a lot of money. They're a lower income family. So when they actually get a job and they work, they're afraid of going back to that poverty. So they save money and they don't spend their money on things that are wasteful. Fear can push you to do things, can push you to take action. So we're going to do the same. This is how we turn it around. We use fear to our advantage.

6:56And this is what worked for me. I found a way to be afraid not to start. I found reasons that caused me to be afraid to not start my business. One big one for me was regret. I started to really focus on what would happen if I don't do this now and I keep procrastinating. What if I procrastinate six months from now or a year or two years or a decade? Will I still be able to do it health-wise, age-wise, financially? Am I putting myself in a position where I make it harder for myself to start a business? What else can I fear by not taking action? What bad things could happen? Number one, this might sound strange, but I'm delaying my ideal life.

7:38I'm delaying the outcome I want out of this whole thing. So for example, if I started six months earlier with my business and my entrepreneurial journey, could have enjoyed six months more of a great life and a great business. Six months, I can never get back. So usually when you ask entrepreneurs what your biggest regret is, they say, I wish I started earlier. Okay. So that's a very strong why. Having enough reason to take action. being afraid of not taking action. So this is what I want you to do. I want you to get a paper and pen or a note-taking app or a Google Doc or whatever you want to do and list all the reasons why you must take action.

8:19What are some of the negative things, the bad things that could happen or will happen if you delay any more? Delay one day, one week, one month, one year, whatever it might be. What is delaying going to cost you? It's the cost of not starting your business. List them. And I'm going to force you to list at least 20 reasons, 20 things. Why? Because I want you to read 20 to 30 to 40 things in a row so that it cements in your brain and in your heart. Wow, that's devastating. I do not want that to happen. And the reason why I want you to make a long list is because it has to be a real strong fear. It has to be stronger than the fear of doing it.

9:01The fear of doing it is still worse, still stronger than the fear of not doing it. Then you're not going to do it. Plain and simple. I want to give you a gift. I'm going to give you my reasons that I gave myself. The list I gave myself of why I have to do this. What I was afraid of if I didn't start a business. The list starts with myself. It starts with disappointing myself. I was really afraid that I would continue to live my life going through the motions in my teaching job and never do what I think I could have done. Underachieve. Disappoint myself. I don't know if I would be able to live with myself.

9:36I would feel so depressed, so angry. What kind of life would I want to live if I'm not even happy with who I am? That was a biggie. I was really fighting against myself and what could happen in the future or how I perceive myself in the future if I didn't start a business. Number two, the feeling of regretting the opportunity to do so many things. There's so many things that you can do when you're successful in business and in life and successful financially, to be honest with you. People that say, you know, money doesn't buy happiness. You know, I understand the sentiment of that, but there's a lot of things that you can purchase and do and explore.

10:12And that includes charity, that includes travel, that includes learning, that includes being around the right people. All that kind of stuff is possible with success, with financial success, with professional success, with building something significant. I felt like there would be a huge loss if I couldn't experience these things because I'm just stuck in my job, stuck in my day-to-day, in my steady income that doesn't change very much. I had no upward mobility. I just felt like there's so much opportunity I would not have because I just stayed where I was. The third thing that was on my list was fear of disappointing the people around me.

10:48And a lot of that had to do with my parents. I wanted to make them proud. Yeah, I was a teacher and I was good at my job and they're okay with that. And I'm sure they would love me regardless. But something in my mind just told me I really want to make them proud. I want to make them say that, hey, Omar really did something with his life, did something with, you know, the sacrifice that we had. My parents were immigrants that moved from Egypt to the States and had to start their whole life over. And I wanted to make sure that wasn't in vain. I want to make sure that was for something. So I wanted to make the people around me proud.

11:16Four, I always thought and saw people that were doing great things and thought, hey, they're not so much better than me. I can probably do something similar. I can have a similar success. And I used to always say that, like, oh, I could do that. Oh, you know, that person is not that special. And the truth is, I was jealous. That's the truth. I was jealous that I was not taking action. And I wanted to stop that feeling of jealousy. I wanted to stop that feeling and say, you know what? I'm not against them. I'm with them. They're my friends now, you know, those people. and I don't want to be in that state anymore, wishing and pointing and saying, you know, I could be like that when really I'm jealous.

11:52Next time I left my parents, we're middle-class, we were not wealthy, very frugal, immigrants, the whole story, you know how it is. I've heard it many times on the show. We didn't have a lot of disposable income. We didn't have a lot of money. And I grew up very conscious of that. And a big reason why I wanted to be an entrepreneur was that upward mobility in financial freedom. The truth is that I wanted to be able to say yes to the things I was told no to when I was younger. Not because my parents were mean, just because they did their best. That's what they could do. They're being fiscally responsible.

12:24Now, the funny thing is that I'm not a big spender, but I want to be able to have the ability to spend if I want to. Freedom. I want to be able to help somebody out when they need to help. To invest in a business and an idea. be able to give back to a charity or to an organization that needs financial support. It feels almost shameful when you're in that situation where you see somebody need something, you just financially can't. It feels like, man, I should be doing better so I can help. That feeling was always inside me. And I wrote that down because I'm afraid of experiencing that for the rest of my life.

12:55So I had to get started. Those were kind of my top few on my list. Your top reasons to take action might be different, but I encourage you to list them. Try to get down to 20 and make sure the combination of all of them is a whole lot stronger than the fear of doing it itself. Now, in the moment, you're going to be fired up. You're going to love it. You're going to be like, OK, I'm going to do it. But you're going to need this list handy. You need to review it every morning for the next six months or so until your business is off the ground. You're making sales. You're getting through the rough patch.

13:27You're getting through the bumpy start. Have some consistency. And that's really it. That is it, guys. This is why you haven't started. You're afraid and it's okay. But you gotta use fear to your advantage. Gotta find reasons to be afraid not to do it and use that feeling to push yourself to the next step, to the next step, to the next step. Make that first sale. Build that website that you need to build. Create that product. Cultivate that email list. If you're not sure where to start, head on over to the$100 MBA. We can help you out, 100mba.net. Or just continue to listen to this podcast and implement what we teach.

14:01Thanks so much for listening. I hope this lesson has helped you for those who haven't started yet. Thank you for understanding that everything I'm saying is from the heart because you're my people. You're somebody that is trying and trying and trying to achieve what I wanted to achieve when I was in your place 20 years ago. So this is coming out of love. This is coming out of wanting you to just succeed and be happy. If you found this episode helpful or any of our episodes, the best way to say thank you is just to hit that follow button on any podcast app, whatever podcast app you're listening to right now.

14:31By doing so, you tell the algorithm, hey, the show's okay. It allows us to reach more people, to grow our audience, and to reinvest in this podcast so we can continue to deliver great business lessons. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. If you want to fast track your time to getting started and building something, you need to spend time with people who have done it, who have already taken those steps, who are maybe a year or two ahead of you. Go to conferences, go to meetups, go to a co-working space. You got to make the effort to find a person or two or three and spend time with them.

15:03Why? They're going to make it normal for you to be successful. You're going to see it every day. You're going to see them in action. You're going to be like, okay, this is just something I have to do now. It's going to inspire you. It's going to move you. It's going to push you. But also, they're going to support you. It's not going to be easy, but you're going to do it because you have your will. You have them. You have friendships. You have connections. And you have the business. The business is what's going to keep you going. It's going to want more of you and want more effort. And as you see it grow, you're going to get even more and more motivated.

15:32Thanks so much for listening. And I'll check you in the next episode. I'll see you then. Take care.