People often ask me, “How much does it cost to start a business?”
And I think that is the wrong question to ask (I’ll explain why in sec)…
But here is the short answer: everything.
All your time. All your money. All your energy.
It’s going to take everything you got.
For me, that meant staying up late after my day job watching training DVDs and building my site, and investing whatever money I could when I could.
For you, it will mean something else.
But why is that the wrong question?
Because when a person asks me that, it tells me they’re in a scarcity mindset.
It tells me they either don’t have the surplus to start a business right now, or (more often), they don’t want it enough.
The person asking that question usually lacks enthusiasm and commitment…
And in this game, you need to be committed.
Lots of people see ecommerce as a get-rich-quick scheme…
And they don’t realize that it’s going to take 6 months to source a product, 6 months to learn the technology and build the infrastructure, 6 months to run their offer, and then 6 more months to optimize…
Then, after 2 years (or more), they’ll finally see if it’s working.
So here’s the right question to be asking: How much can I possibly put into this?
Here are some other good questions: What else can I invest? Who can help me? How do I make this a pleasurable and sustainable part of my life?
And here’s maybe the most important question of all: Why do I want this in the first place?
You have to be a little crazy to start your own business, so before you do, consider your motivation.
I started my first business because I wanted more time, money and energy to spend on the people and things that I love. That’s what motivated me during those first few years.
Here are Carrie and I in our early days selling wigs:
At that stage of entrepreneurship you need to be IN IT, and ready to take on any role and play it to the fullest: customer support, fulfillment, wig model — whatever it takes!
Starting a business is a lot of fun, but it’s not easy. You’ll have a ton of opportunities to quit…
And the person asking “how much?” — they’re the first ones to lose their nerve.
The ones who persist are the ones with a deeper motivation.
They’re the ones who find the time, find the money, find the energy…
Who are committed to learning and improving and enjoying the process.
So what’s motivating you? What made you want to start your business?
