Your Problems Are the Same as Every Entrepreneur’s

“We can’t possibly have the same problems. This is what happens when we confuse our passion for their business with the notion that these problems exist for virtually all entrepreneurs.” 

Your problems are not unique. The first time someone told me this I thought they were insane. But it’s true. Every startup shares the same problems. First and foremost, we all suffer from the issues endemic to new and developing businesses—lack of capital, lack of qualified team members and a lack of time to execute across all parts of the company. You are faced with creating the building blocks of a business, building a business model, gaining market acceptance, creating operational capacity and doing so with strained or nonexistent resources. In addition, we all have to build the functional areas of a company—sales, marketing, finance, operations, technology, human resources and the list goes on. This is true whether you are opening a pizza store, launching a clothing line, building an online store or selling jewelry. These same problems exist in virtually every newly launched venture.

Don’t Tell Me I am Not Unique

Suggest to entrepreneurs that their dilemmas aren’t unique and they are offended. Their first reaction is that you are insulting their business. They don’t want to hear that their business is “like every other business.” Instead they’ll interject: “Our product has never been created.” After all, they believe they are doing something special. If they have this perspective, they also believe that the problems they are experiencing are unique.

We may have the most innovative new idea in the world, but the day-to- day challenges of bringing it to life are shared by many others. Additionally, the basic business principles you need to succeed, while sometimes applied differently in traditional companies, still remain basic road signs for everyone. Why does this distinction matter? Imagining your struggle is incomparable with anyone else’s is a damaging perspective for a number of reasons.

The Implications

When entrepreneurs believe their issues are unique, they shun support and direction from experienced business people offering valuable advice. They believe they are operating under a different set of parameters. As a result, they isolate themselves and hunker down in their perspective. It’s a bunker mentality. As more people try to help, they feel more isolated and hunker down further.

What keeps running through the entrepreneur’s head is, “Unless you are here every day, you can’t understand our issues.” It’s true—people who have only worked in larger organizations or have not put their money, career and lifestyle on the line may not understand what the entrepreneur goes through on a daily basis. Yet, responding with a bunker mentality or defensive attitude prevents you from taking advantage of established tools, business principles, guidance from others and supportive mentor- ship. More importantly, your belief that no one understands your specific situation isolates both you and your team, not only from the knowledge of the larger business world, but of those in the entrepreneurial community.

The reality is, in fact, quite the contrary. There are many experienced entrepreneurs who have “been there, done that” and can lend valuable support. Other entrepreneurs also understand the natural insecurities that can take over, especially in the early chaos of launching your business. We are not insulting the uniqueness of your business. No one is questioning the dedication it takes. However, when it comes to accessing much needed resources and direction, defending your “difference” is not only incorrect, it is not in the best interest of your company.

Strategies to Shift this Perspective

Accepting this perspective allows you to start implementing basic business tools that help all businesses run well.

• Create Building Blocks. Setting priorities, creating process, making communications efficient—basic building blocks that advance all businesses and will help do so for yours.
• Advice from Others. You will start to see advice in a different light. You may still be thinking: “That advice makes sense for most businesses, but our problems are unique, different.” But if you stop and take notice, you’ll see far more similarity than difference in the problems you’re facing. Take advantage of that shared knowledge. It enables targeted support and advice from other entrepreneurs who have been in the same trenches as you. You welcome advice and can take advantage of the wisdom of others.
• Benefit from Experience. Others have been exactly where you are now, and where you will be in two weeks, worried about an upcoming investor meeting. Let their experience help you prep for the unknowns you’re facing. It will save you valuable time and energy that you can put toward keeping your product and vision unique rather than wasting time defending your experience as unique.
• No More Bunker Mentality. When you understand that you are part of a community with shared experiences, it changes your point of view from a bunker mentality to, “How can I interact with and learn from others who have these experiences?” It helps you get you out of your bunker and into the light.

Your vision is unique. Your problems are not. Once you accept this, you have a much better chance of bringing that vision to life with a strong business foundation under it.