Beat the 4 dream killers
How many times have you met someone that wanted to start a small business, exercise program, piano lessons or other endeavor only to kibosh their dreams with one of the following dream killers:
- I don’t have time
- I don’t have the money
- I can’t buy inventory
- I don’t have the expertise
I can testify that the dream of starting something new is much more attractive that actually doing it. There is no risk. No one can say “that will never work”, “you’re not smart enough”, or give the “that idea is too weird” look.
Honestly though I too have fallen victim to one or more of the four killers and I fight them regularly. Here is how I fight them.
1. I don’t have time – I don’t have more or less time than anyone else. Day job from 8 to 5 with evening and weekend work sprinkled in a few activities I am cycling out of and not replacing for Rockin H time. Plus a 15 year old son involved in school activities and scouts, an 11 and 8 year old girls involved in scouts and activities, a wife of 19 years that participates in civic functions, church, and keeps a day job too. We are active and this business is growing. How do we do it? I get up early, I stay up late, and free time where ever I can use it goes into the business. Regrettably I had no idea who was in the Super Bowl until last week only to be informed by Sister Angela that the Seahawks and Broncos are in. I’d reckon most people reading this blog have time…and more knowledge of the super bowl than I will ever have.
2. I don’t have the money – It is likely money will be factor, but the internet has made entry into dang near anything $0. Take 3D printing. Google Sketchup is free. The tutorials are free. A Shapeways account is free. The Shapeways store is free. Anyone can sell products via Shapeways and never spend a dime. Money should not be an issue. Every other endeavor only needs creativity and the gumption to start. Think small before thinking big. Money will be less of an issue by starting small. It is also less risky.
3. I can’t buy inventory – See #2. If the drawings cost is $0 and the store front costs $0 and the products are made on demand, no inventory is needed. And who says I need to keep 20 widgets when 5 will do? Sure there are economies of scale but small business is fragile, no use tying up tons of capital in inventory. Amazon works the exact same way with books I might want to publish being printed on demand just like Shapeways. Write a great blog (free) or sing music published to YouTube (free) and inventory becomes a non issue. Or make that book an eBook folks pay for via woo commerce (a free wordpress plugin for selling electronic items) and an income stream was created for no money with no inventory and completely on autopilot.
4. I don’t have the expertise ~ It’s 2014. A world of knowledge is at our fingertips. Anything a person would want to learn how to do can be found on the internet. Here are a few things I have learned from YouTube: My daughter learned how to roast coffee beans, I set up a woo commerce shopping cart, fix the wheel hubs on the Grand Prix, learned what type of microphone to buy for videos and how to properly grill salmon. With good keyword searches and a 15 minutes any gap in knowledge can be filled in a step by step manner.
I have iterated before none of this is easy and it’s true, it isn’t. But I daily overcome the four dream killers, persist and grow slowly. It takes gumption and guts but it is worth it
What are your dream killers and what is holding you back from chasing your dream? Post your comments in the comment box.
