How often do you think to yourself – no one can understand our challenges because they are so unique to your business and your vision. People say they have been through our problems but what we are doing is unique. 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 vision is unique. Your problems are not.” 

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.

• 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.