When is the right time to start your business?

Is it when you’ve got it all figured out? A rock-solid plan? A good chunk of money to invest? The perfect product? The perfect time?

No. None of the above.

When I think about timing, I think about archery. Did you know I practice archery? (I favour shooting longbow and barebow, for fellow archers who might be reading.)

When you draw your bow and line up your shot, there is always the chance that you’ll let go too soon… but equally, you can hold on for too long before letting the arrow fly.

Ideally, with each draw you’ll find the sweet spot where you aim and let go of the string – trusting that first moment where your body and mind whisper ‘yes’ – and that your arrow will fly true. If you hold on too long, you start to struggle and second-guess yourself – and this is often when the shot goes wrong.

There’s a moment in your gut when you feel like the timing is right – and it’s so similar to the feeling you’ll get when the right time to start your business appears.

It might feel too soon. You might not feel truly ready. But deep down, in your gut, you’ll know it’s time to just let go of the string and launch your business out into the world.

 

Quotes and highlights from this Episode:

* So many people are waiting for everything to be perfect before they start.

* You need to move your idea from the dream space and make it into a tangible reality in the world.

* There is truth to the adage ‘You can do anything but not everything.’

* Don’t get tripped up by the idea that you need to be at a certain level of expertise to start.

* You just need an idea – then put it out into the world in whatever form it’s in right now and let it grow.

* “You don’t plant an acorn and expect it to be an oak tree tomorrow.”

* You can keep your seed in a jar in the back of the cupboard and it will still stay viable but it will not grow.

* A tree never stops growing and neither does a business.

* “It’s impossible for your business to be perfect – ever.”

* If you’re being held back because you think you don’t have enough knowledge or haven’t done enough planning – you have.

* You’ll never know everything but you can always learn.

* You can always experiment, apologise if something is wrong and you can always go in a new direction.

* All you need to start your business is a product – something you can put up for sale.

* Everything else is part of the process of evolving and growing your business but testing your product in the market is the first step.

* You always have time to change, grow and adapt your product after you have feedback from your customers.

* Feedback may send you in a new direction and it might be in a direction that you wouldn’t have come up with on your own.

* Your business will be shaped by the environment and the feedback you receive.

* Sales are a form of feedback on your business.

* Putting your name out there to your family and friends can often be the scariest part of the process.

* “Since I was a teenager I had the dream of making money from an internet business but I had no idea how to do that!”

* You have the joy you feel while you’re making your products – and then sales are an added bonus whilst you’re starting your business.

* “If you put your work out into the world and nobody buys, is that the worst thing that could happen in life?”

* It’s a reasonable fear that people might not buy from you and that’s OK to feel that fear. Do it anyway.

* There are things you can work on to tweak and improve on after you’ve got that feedback but until you put it ‘out there’, you’ll never know.