Dear successful business owners,
My question is more directed to all self made people, who started from scratch.
So no inheritance, no fancy family background, maybe even not having a degree.
What was something that had to happen for you, that made it a turning point, to go from having no experience in business to scaling your business?
I am starting my own business this year and hopefully I could get some pointers.
Thank you.
To all successful business owners that started from scratch
byu/assertive_ inEntrepreneur
Posted by assertive_
7 Comments
I had to fail several times to various degrees. This meant a popular answer and it depends on what business you want to do. But I failed or fell short a lot before things clicked.
– to be badly treaded as an employee
– Failing hard enough to learn lessons but not hard enough to be annihilated.
– self reflect a lot
for me it was realizing i was building something useful but not something people would actually pay for in a repeatable way. the turning point was talking to customers constantly and tightening the scope until it solved one painful thing really well. growth came after that, not before
The turning point is learning how to buy back your own time. In the beginning, you wear every single hat just to survive. The exact moment you scale is the moment you calculate your hourly worth and aggressively automate anything below that number. If you are still wrestling with basic tech issues or admin work when you should be doing high level system design and sales, you will stay small forever.
the turning point for me was my first paying customer who found me without me chasing them. that moment made it feel real in a way no planning ever did.
before that everything felt like preparation. after that it felt like a business.
just start, the experience only comes from doing it.
Honestly it was failing at my first two businesses. Those failures taught me more than any success could have. Painful but necessary.
Remember if one idea does not work, don’t get married to it. Leave it and pivot to another.