Good Morning digital family,
My aim with this digital issue is simple. At the end of it, I want you to have the courage to start the thing/business you have been putting off. So my cards are clearly on the table. Let’s press on.
One of the most frequent messages I get from people is 'Hey Mike I want to start x but..." Now you can fill in the sentence after the 'but', however, I get told a range of things.
People talk about not having enough money, being too busy, and being young. Someone even told me once that they couldn't start the business because they didn't know what the market was like. This is an odd reason not to start something because no one really knows what the market is like; even incumbents. People often forget that the whole point of starting a business is to create some certainty in the midst of uncertainty. Enough on that, let’s talk a little bit about mindset.
The culture
I have a theory that I can't quite prove but I believe it deeply. We live in a pessimistic culture that celebrates the fall of people and things more than the rise of people and things. This pessimism is ingrained in a lot of people and it takes deep personal work to overcome it. We readily rehearse things not working and very seldom consider what would happen if things actually work. I have sat in many risk assessment meetings where we talk for hours about what could go wrong. We have placed such virtue on realism that we don’t dream anymore and in turn, we don’t act.
When I was starting out.
2017, I had just finished my master’s from Manchester University. I had a nice graduate offer at a bank which I was planning to surprise my friends with. However, I started to get passionate about the mainstream media and i wanted to start a business.
I didn’t know how it would make money or how it would work but I knew I was annoyed at the current system and wanted to change things. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a rich uncle or aunty I could reach out to for some money. I needed around £50,000 to get started (news is an expensive business), but I just did not know how to get started. I muddled through ideas, had lots of chats and did a lot of research.
I decided that I would raise money through a fundraiser. The first few people I told just didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the idea but thankfully I had some friends who were. Even still, I remember thinking 'i don’t know anyone who has crowdfunded £50,000 but I just went for it. Long story short, we raised £78,000 in total. £50,000 online and £28,000 offline. Till today, it was one of the most stressful things I’ve done because we did all of that in 50 days.
Now, don’t take away the wrong message. I’m not saying be like me. What I’m trying to show is that I had doubts about the project but I did it anyways. The business we started has changed my life for good, in more ways than I can tell. It led to us building a community of over 40,000 people, led to us employing people, to a globally covered conversation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and so much more. Safe to say things went well, but it started with that first step.
The truth is, there is no right time to start anything. You just have to start. You have no idea how what you are starting may change your life and the lives of people around you.
“Ideas don’t come out fully formed , they only become clearer as you work on them . You just have to get started.”
― Mark Zuckerberg
Some great businesses started during the recessions
Some major companies got their starts during recessions over the past century. Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975, the same year as the oil embargo recession. In fact, many of today's best-known companies were founded during the Great Recession in 2009, including Uber and Airbnb.
The Great Recession in 2007 to 2009 saw the creation of several startups like Uber ...
According to CNBC, the GDP fell 4.3% and unemployment reached 10%. The recession lasted for 18 months. The housing market crashed, and a banking crisis occurred that caused financial institutions like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to collapse. As previously reported by Business Insider, the effects of the recession are still felt today.
According to the company's website, the ride-sharing company Uber launched in March 2009. The company was founded by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, who developed the idea for the app when they couldn't find a ride in Paris, France.
In June 2018, the company reported its app had been used for 10 billion trips.
... and the popular vacation rental marketplace Airbnb.
As previously reported by Business Insider, the genesis of Airbnb formed in 2007 when roommates Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky decided to rent out their loft. They created a website and bought air mattresses. Including their former roommate Nathan Blecharczyk, they decided to form a business around the concept.
Initially, they struggled and scraped by, but in 2019, the company was worth $31 billion.
Now, these businesses have gone on to do very well financially but that’s not the only reason you should start. It could also enrich your life greatly.
I once wrote about procrastination and growing publically
Grow publicly
I’m not a psychologist so I cannot speak to all of this, but I find it helpful to know where these impulses are coming from so you can start to address them. It’s a strong start to knowing where the impulse to procrastinate may be coming from.
Let’s stop hiding our procrastination behind perfectionism. Half the joy in building things is getting better. You need to get comfortable with growing publically. I always tell some of the artists I mentor something. Truth artistry is giving people permission to watch you grow publically. Even if we are not artists, I think we can adopt some of this into our lives.
We have to be comfortable showing our growth and conceding that we may not always achieve the high standards we sometimes set ourselves. Rather than ‘it’s perfect’ why not set a new standard for sharing things? How about ‘it’s ready to be seen’. The second standard isn’t lower, it’s just different and more realistic. Get out there and get producing.
Just start
The only way to end this issue is to encourage you to just start. The blog, the business, the relationship, the podcast. Just stalling and just get started.
Have an amazing week
M.T. Omoniyi
Lord knows I needed to read this one!
Amazing read BRO!