MBA2721 Are You Cut Out For Business?

0:02Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand. It starts with our approach. Every Mazda comes standard with proactive safety features. So you're more aware of what's around you, more focused on the road ahead, and ready before problems ever start. Mazda. More of what matters most to you. Go to mazdausa.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse or promote any product. For small business, a high-speed fiber connection is only one piece of the puzzle. You need the Total Solutions Advantage from Comcast Business. It's a first-ever combination of the largest, fastest fiber-powered network, gig speeds with equipment and security included, plus a five-year price lock.

0:47Learn more, get started for$60 a month for 12 months when you add an advanced solution to a qualifying internet package. Limited time offer restrictions apply. New customers only requires 300 Mbps internet, security edge, and additional qualifying service. One year agreement, paperless billing, and auto pay with bank account required, taxes and fees extra. Are you asking yourself, are you cut out for business? Do you have what it takes? Most people get this question completely wrong. They think it's about personality, about being an extrovert or charismatic or a born entrepreneur where their parents taught them how to earn a dollar with a lemonade stand.

1:26No. Being cut out for business has nothing to do with personality and everything to do with behavior. And today, I'm going to show you exactly what it takes to make it as an entrepreneur.

1:43Welcome back to the$100 MBA show. I'm your host, Omar Zinhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to help you start, grow, and scale your business. Before we jump in, can I get 30 seconds of your time? We love guiding you on your business journey, and we want to help even more people build their dream businesses and lives. So if you could hit the follow button on this podcast app, it would be greatly appreciated. It's completely free, and it helps us out more than you know. Thanks. When someone asks, am I cut out for business, what they're actually asking is, do I have what it takes to handle uncertainty?

2:24Can I deal with pressure? Can I stay consistent when no one is watching? Can I bet on myself and follow through? And the truth is, entrepreneurship is not a personality test. It's a capacity test. Your capacity to learn, your capacity to adapt, your capacity to change, your capacity to stay in the game long enough for the game to reward you. That's the real question. People think founders are superhuman. They don't need sleep. They have no fear. They have no doubt. All the vision in the world, all the confidence, all the bravado, absolute nonsense. I've coached thousands of entrepreneurs, and I found that most of the most successful ones are pretty average people.

3:06I built a multimillion dollar SaaS company from scratch, sold it for life-changing money. I taught on this podcast for over 11 years. I've published over 2 ,700 podcast episodes. And I can tell you with full certainty, successful entrepreneurs are not special. They're just willing to do things most people don't. If you cut out six traits, six traits that separate them, I'm gonna share all six, starting with trait number one, you take responsibility for your life. If you're cut out for business, you have one trait above all other traits, and that's you take responsibility. You don't blame the market.

3:46You don't blame your boss. You don't blame the algorithm. You don't blame your family. You don't blame the economy. You don't blame the fact that you're a minority. You don't blame the fact that you didn't grow up with money. You don't blame anybody but yourself. You take responsibility and say, no matter what, I have to take control. It's my responsibility to make something happen. This is on me. And if it's on me, I can change it. That's the mindset. And that mindset alone will put you ahead of 99 % of people in the world. Entrepreneurs don't look for permission. They look for responsibility.

4:24Because when you're responsible, you have ownership. And when you have ownership, you win. Treat number two, you can learn anything you need to learn. Entrepreneurship is a learning sport. You don't need to know everything, but you need to believe you can learn anything if you need to. Whether it's marketing, sales, product, finance, hiring, leadership, problem solving, you know that if you need to learn it, you can do it. You can figure it out. I built WellBenderNinja, my software company, from nothing. Nobody taught me SaaS. I never had any experience in software before. Nobody taught me about fundraising or how to raise capital or how to pre-launch or how to make money or how to be able to pay your hires or any of that.

5:06No one taught me UX. No one taught me UI. No one taught me how to hire a tech team, how to build an infrastructure. I learned because my survival and the survival of my business depended on it. You don't need expertise. You need the belief that you can acquire expertise. Trick number three, you show up when you're not motivated. Listen, it's easy to do the things you love and when you're feeling pumped. That's easy. The hard part, the challenging part is doing things when you don't feel like it. This one thing knocks 90 % of the people out. You don't need to be obsessed. You don't need to work 16-hour days.

5:44You don't need to hustle to your eyes bleed. But you do need consistency. Before I was a full-time entrepreneur, I was a teacher and I was building businesses on the side. but I spent two, three hour sessions during the week to build my business. I spent all of Saturday building my business, working on it and really going after my dream. Not because I was inspired every day and it was like the Energizer bunny, but because I made a commitment to my future self. I said to myself, if I want to make an ad of this job, I need to invest in my future self. I need to put in the time. I need to commit to it.

6:20I need to focus. And if I don't do that, if I get lazy, if I miss that evening session, or I don't do it on Saturday and work on my business, then I'm giving up. Then I'm not fulfilling my end of the bargain. I can't expect to be successful if I don't do the work. Motivation will get you started, but systems are what get you successful. For small business, a high-speed fiber connection is only one piece of the puzzle. You need the total solutions advantage from Comcast Business. It's a first-ever combination of the largest, fastest fiber-powered network, gig speeds with equipment and security included, plus a five-year price lock.

6:59Learn more, get started for$60 a month for 12 months when you add an advanced solution to a qualifying internet package. Limited time offer restrictions apply. New customers only requires 300 Mbps internet, security edge, and additional qualifying service. One year agreement, paperless billing, an auto pay with bank account required, taxes and fees extra. You know that feeling when there's a spark building inside of you, that you were meant for more? That's your own drive pushing you towards what's next. Capella University gets that. With their FlexPath learning format, you can set the pace and earn your degree without putting your life on pause.

7:34You've built experience and you know what you're capable of. Now, this is your time to turn that momentum into more. The only real question is, what can't you do? Learn more at capella.edu. Trait number four, you can handle uncertainty. Listen, business is unpredictable. Customers leave, launches might flop, people quit on you, ideas crash, the market shifts. You can have some tough days if you crumble every time something unexpected happens, and this is going to happen, it's going to be a really rough ride for you. The entrepreneurs who succeed aren't fearless. They're courageous, actually. Courage is not the absence of fear.

8:16It's moving forward despite your fear. And business rewards people who stay calm while the world is shaking. Trait number five, you actually want to solve problems. If you're annoyed by problems, you're going to hate entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship, business, is the problem-solving game. You're in the business of solving problems. One long stream of problems, right? Solve enough problems and you're going to get paid. The bigger the problems you solve, the more you get paid. Solving problems consistently, you become unstoppable in the marketplace. Entrepreneurs aren't chasing escape, right?

8:58They're chasing meaningful problems because they know that equals dollars. The best way to put it is entrepreneurs aren't problem-free. They're problem fueled. Trait number six, you can think long term. This one is huge. If you're looking for quick wins, if you want overnight success, if you think six months is a long time, you're not ready. Business rewards patience. The slow, consistent builder beats the frantic sprinter every single time. I'm 11 years into this podcast, The$100 MBA Show, over 2 ,700 episodes, no breaks, no gaps, and the compounding effect is pretty insane. And I'm just getting started.

9:42I feel like I'm just getting started. I have so much more to achieve. Business really isn't hard. Staying in the game long enough is. It's an endurance game. Can you withstand the pain of time? And that's really what it is. Can you just really make it happen despite the fact it's taking longer than you expected. So are you cut out for business? Well, we now know it has nothing to do with confidence or charisma or personality or creativity or passion or being outgoing or how many entrepreneur books you've read that helps, but it has very little to do with any of that stuff. It has everything to do with your willingness to take responsibility, to learn, to adapt, to show up consistently, to handle uncertainty, to solve problems, to think long term.

10:35If you're willing to do these things, not perfectly, but to the best of your ability, then yes, you are cut out for business. You're more than cut out for business. You're designed for. If this episode has given you clarity, share with someone who keeps asking themselves if they're cut out for business. If they've been umming and ahhing about starting a business, you know who I'm talking about. Go ahead and send them a message and give them the link to this episode on whatever app you're listening to or watching this episode on. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. You don't need permission.

11:06You don't need to be born with the entrepreneur DNA. You don't need to be special. You just need to commit to showing up. The only way you can really fail is if you give up. Don't give up. Entrepreneurship isn't a personality type. It's a choice. Take that choice. bet on yourself and keep moving forward.

11:54to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.

12:05This one's for all my TV lovers. My Entertainment from DirecTV gets you 60 plus channels and Disney Plus, Hulu and HBO Max all in one pack. But here's the thing. With so much great TV and My Entertainment, you're going to want to talk about everything you've been watching. Just remember that your friends might not be as well watched as you. Don't be a spoiler and encourage them to get My Entertainment for just$34.99 a month. Go to directtv.com slash genre packs and sign up today. New customers only. Service renews monthly unless canceled. Credit card required. Conditions apply to apps. HBO Max Basic with ads begins after Direct TV five-day trial.

12:33Learn more at directtv.com. Restrictions apply.