This week, we have been talking about the first customer and all of the impact that it has on your business. Obviously, it's revenue, but it's also confidence, education, validation, and so many other things. It's also going to create one more thing that we haven't talked about yet. I'll do that right after this.

This week, I have alluded to the summer camp that I started when I was 24 at Stanford and MIT, and I was telling you about how we got our very first customer and our second customer and the things we learned from them. I'll tell you the end of the story now. In that first year, we got 96 paying customers over four weeks at Stanford and MIT and considered it a huge success. The great thing, though, that it gave us was opportunity, because the next year we expanded to Georgetown, SMU, UCLA, and Emory because we were on a roll. Success will give you opportunity.

This week, we are talking about the importance of the first customer to your new business and how it just changes everything. Today, I want to talk about a very important lesson that you learn from your customers. I'll do that right after this.

I started my first business when I was 24. It was a summer camp at Stanford and MIT. I stood there every evening, giving the children back to their parents, and I was talking to the parents and learning what they thought was going on. It was very different from what I thought they should be hearing. I was hoping they would be hearing about the great education that we were providing and the fun water balloon fight that we had had. No, they were talking about their children smiling for the first time, and I realized that we had found something very important. Our kids were very unhappy, and we were making them happy for the first time ever, and that's what we were really doing. We weren't really running a summer camp; we were making kids happy.

This week, we are talking about how the first customer changes everything for your business. Yesterday, I was talking about how important it is to learn what your customers will tell you. They will tell you what business you are really in, and they will tell you what they really want to pay for. It's so absolutely critical that you talk to them and find out what they are looking for and what they saw in you that made you their choice to give you their money. I want to take this a step further and talk about the confidence this gives, right after this.

One of the hardest parts of entrepreneurship is uncertainty. You wonder if the idea will work, you wonder if your price is too high, and then a customer buys. Suddenly, the conversation changes. You stop asking, "Will anyone buy?" and start asking, "How many people will buy at this price, and how do I get to them?" It's such a different question, and it creates such incredible confidence in you.

This week, we are talking about how our first customer as a new business changes absolutely everything. Yesterday, I talked about getting my first check in the mail. It took 42 trips until I finally got a check in the post office box, and it changed my life forever. I want to talk about something that could be even more important, though. Right after this.

Maybe it was just a fluke; maybe they felt sorry for you. But when the second person buys, now a pattern may be forming, and then a third and a fourth. At some point, you stop selling to individuals and start discovering a market, and that's a huge transition. The goal isn't just one customer; the goal is repeatability. Can you do it again and again and again? That's when you have a real business.

This week, we are talking about a very particular part of the entrepreneurial journey: the first customer. It absolutely changes everything. You think you know what you're doing. You've written an incredible business plan, you've put all of the things in place, the website is there, and the product is ready. Your market research proves that you're going to be successful, but you don't know. I'll tell you what happens next.

Something absolutely magical happens. I remember going to the post office box 42 times, and it being absolutely empty. The 43rd time, there was an envelope in there with a check. It proved that I was not crazy. Someone else had reached into their wallet and given me money because they thought my product was going to work, and that changed everything. It changed everything at home with my parents; it changed everything with my family.

So many people want to be entrepreneurs, but are not, and it's so sad. It's hurting America, it's hurting yourself, it's hurting future generations of your family. You need to go out there and act. I know that there are reasons that you're not, and I hope this week we can overcome some of them. There's one more reason I want to talk about this week, one more thing that's preventing your success. I'll do that right after this.

When I started my first business decades ago, I went to the post office every day to see if I had any money coming in. It took 42 visits to the post office before I got my single check. That is very usual. Success takes longer than we expected. Customers arrive slower than we thought they would. The reality is that entrepreneurship is a little bit less dramatic than the movies, and success is built on consistency and long-term planning and execution. It's not going to be fast.

Do you wish that you were an entrepreneur, but you're not yet? There are so many people like you. It is probably the number one situation in America. Seventy-two percent want to be an entrepreneur, but only 10 or 11% are. And I know there are so many reasons: the fear of the risk and the fear of failure, all of those things, but we have to do something to get started. We can't plant the tree yesterday. I have a bunch of things that I've been talking about this week. Next, I want to talk about one more mistake that we make. I'll do that right after this.

In life, we're always waiting for permission from our parents, from teachers, bosses, spouses. In entrepreneurship, no one is ever going to give you permission. You must give it to yourself. Take your right hand, put it up in the air, and say, "I am going to be an entrepreneur." That's the only permission you're ever going to get. Don't wait for permission; just act now, you.

The theme this week is why people do not become entrepreneurs. So many of us want to be, but we are not. It's maybe because of the inertia, maybe because of the fear, the fear of the unknown. You just don't know what to do, but I'm trying to help you get over these fears and realize that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. We just have to get over these speed bumps. I'll give you another one of the little problems we need to overcome right after this.

I'm a very introverted person, and I hate selling, but I realized early on that I had to learn to sell. There's no way to be an entrepreneur if you can't sell your own product. I know it's uncomfortable, and I know it can lead to rejection, but we have to get going, and you are the best person to sell your product. No matter how introverted and shy you may be, you must get out there and learn to sell your very own products. I did it. You can too.

This week, we are talking about why people don't become entrepreneurs. Seventy-two percent of Americans say they would love to be an entrepreneur, but only about 10 or 11% are. And what are the reasons, and can we change these reasons so that people will be more likely to start a business? I do believe that we can do that, and I'll share another potential reason that people don't start a business right after this. Oh, and how to get over it.

People are afraid to take the risk, but let me tell you this little scenario. If you work for Coca-Cola and get fired, you have zero. If you're an entrepreneur, say a landscaper, and one of your 20 clients fires you, you still have 19 clients. Entrepreneurship may be even less risky than a corporate job in America these days. That's how much America has changed. You have to think about risk in a different way.

Last week, I tried to convince you that entrepreneurship is not about creativity, risk, or passion, and that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. If you missed it, go to School for Startups Radio.com and click on the Minutes button, and you can check those out. This week, I want to take it a step further and tell you why people don't become entrepreneurs, even though 72% of Americans want to be entrepreneurs, rich, and famous. They don't do it. They sit on the sidelines, sit on the sofa. Today, I'm going to tell you why they don't do it and how we can get over that. I'll start in just a second.

One reason they wait is that they're waiting for the perfect idea, the breakthrough idea, the million-dollar idea, the idea that no one has ever had before. And while they're waiting, nothing happens, and other people start the businesses. You have got to find an idea, copy an idea, find something to get moving on now.