Question: What the toughest challenge that an innovator faces?
Answer: It’s different for every innovator, but the one that crushes many is how bored the rest of the world was by their ideas. Finding support, whether emotional, financial, or intellectual, for a big new idea is very hard and depends on skills that have nothing to do with intellectual prowess or creative ability. That’s a killer for many would-be geniuses: they have to spend way more time persuading and convincing others as they do inventing, and they don’t have the skills or emotional endurance for it.

This is from Guy Kawasaki’s post, Ten Questions with Scott Berkun, and I thought it tied in nicely with the naysayers post from last week.

It is fascinating to realize that being successful requires a lot more than just being a genius programmer or designer or author, etc. You also need two other skills:

1) The ability to help other people feel your passion and excitement and, as a result, buy in!

2) The ability to keep your focus and energy when no one offers support.

Berkun put it bluntly and in a way I had never heard before. An innovator has to deal with how “bored” the world is by her ideas. Ouch! Your commitment must come from pride for your idea and confidence in your ability to make it work. This is something we’ve been talking a lot about in our office lately as we work on our proposal for Bootstrap Business. It’s hard to put so much effort into a project, and then be forced to prove your own qualifications AND the worthwhile nature of what you’re trying to accomplish. I’m learning that it’s all just part of the entrepreneurial package. It keeps us on our toes and tests and strengthens our devotion to the task.

This morning, Rich, Ron, and I had a big sit-down about the book, Bootstrap Business. We’re currently working out the book proposal, a daunting task that, by design, makes you evaluate every aspect of what you’re writing. I’ve had a certain question on my mind for a couple of days now, and took the opportunity to bring it up. It seems like there is a clear and definite distinction between the love of entrepreneurship and the love of a certain business. Some people get into a business because they feel passionate about something specific: let’s say, antiques. So, they start an antique shop. The love of entrepreneurship, on the other hand, is the love of strategy and opportunity. An entrepreneur looks at his skill set and resources, checks the market out, and moves forward. An entrepreneur will do whatever the market demands- because the thrill is in the hunt and in the game, not in the actual task. Yes, you have to do something you’ll enjoy, and something that plays on your interests and skills- but it is more about the strategy and the planning than it is about SEO or flower baskets or pies or any number of businesses you could work yourself into. Take these two guys, for example. I’m willing to bet that washing cars is not their biggest passion in life. What they are passionate, about, however, is making the most of an opportunity. This is where it can get tricky. On one hand you can tell yourself, “We’ll just give it a go, and if it doesn’t work out, it’s not about that anyway.” It’s safe. You can do what you love, and never feel like a failure because it’s not about success. Getting out there and trying to build assets is another story. It’s so easy to get lost in the game, to linger to long on one idea and not long enough on another. It’s easy to take risks you can afford or to hang back, not risking enough. You can let your entire life get caught up in a venture or get so caught up in “being your own boss” that you forget to do the hard work necessary to see success happen. Managing that balance is what entrepreneurship is all about. I’m still not exactly sure what I think about the distinction that seems to exist between being a business owner and an entrepreneur. Maybe there is some middle ground. Certainly there are people who are both. One thing I feel sure of: no matter what venture you’re pursuing, you’ll be well served to develop a keen eye for opportunity, a passion for strategy, and a flexibility to follow new avenues to success.

I ran across this in Seth Godin’s blog today. I’ve actually been in AT&T’s chatroom before, waiting in a virtual line for some help with my own phone-related problem. The person who finally got to me was very helpful, but overall, the room was annoying. I had to wait a long time to get any attention, I could see everyone else’s questions while I was waiting (not as pressing as my own, I assure you!), and once I typed a question in, I had no power to ask anything else or change anything until the comment was acknowledged by an “agent.” In the end they provided me quality service, but it gave me a headache waiting for it. It’s bad business to take capable customer service and a quality product and tuck it safely in behind an impenetrable program. If I hadn’t been desperate to figure out how to send a picture to my phone from my email (it seemed important at the time…) I wouldn’t have found the patience necessary to get my question answered. What little measures can you take to make your product or your service more accessible to your customer? It’s not always about what you produce, it’s about how you produce it. One of the biggest misunderstandings about entrepreneurship is that an entrepreneur doesn’t work for anyone but himself. Everybody works for someone. In the case of a business owner, the immediate accountability is to the customer. So make sure your boss is taken care of.

This morning I woke up thinking about Guy Kawasaki’s new site, truemors. I have absolutely no idea why. Guy wrote a post describing what happened after he asked for help getting his truemors site up and running. Apparently, the whole world had something negative to say. According to commentors, they didn’t think it would work, it wasn’t worth his time, and it was a stupid venture. This only made Guy more interested in working on the site- and sure enough, there it is, alive and well.

Guy said this, “If you believe in something, go for it. This is the only way to really find out. Mathematically, the naysayers are right 95% of the time, but believing you’re in the 5% is what makes entrepreneurs entrepreneurs.”

There’s always someone ready to offer an opinion. I find it rather interesting. It seems like there are a hundred things going on in this office on any given day. I’ve started to see the pushback that comes when you try to achieve something. It can come from anywhere. It can come from partners, onlookers, family members, or just some guy in another state who just happens to read your blog and have an opinion about it. Unfortunately, I am a person who is heavily affected by what other people say. I try hard to not let it change my direction, but it causes some major internal battles as I try to regain my confidence in myself. At the very least, it wastes some time. So how can I (and maybe you, too) avoid letting the naysayers bother us? I had a couple of opportunities to run up against naysayers this past week and a half, both with regard to the book we’re writing and some other things I’m working on at the moment. I find the most destructive type of “naysaying” is laughter- I can argue well, I can defend myself through most “grown-up” discussions of a subject, but what am I supposed to say to laughter?

1) Don’t take yourself too seriously. Most of the time you’ll have to prove the worth of your idea before it’ll get respect. Expect people to offer negative feedback, and put it through a “sifting” bin. Is any of the feedback helpful, or does it just need to be trashed?

2) Remember that it takes about 2 seconds to criticize something. Oftentimes your naysayer will make a comment and move on, not even remembering what she said to make you doubt your idea. If she isn’t giving it that much thought, neither should you.

3) Put it into perspective. You have the idea, the passion, and the plan. Your naysayer judges the situation dispassionately. While that may be good if you’re on jury duty- entrepreneurs thrive on passion. It gets the job done.

4) If all else fails, go back to what your mom told you about the mean kids on the playground. “They’re just jealous because you’re smart and beautiful and going to get a good grade, and they’re not.”

Thanks, Mum.

Rich loves mountain climbing. As a result, a lot of his business philosophies and metaphors come from his experiences hiking different peaks in the US, and also in Nepal. I love hearing the stories- makes me want to jump on a plane and with my hiking boots and a backpack full of Spam.  Or, at the very least go hiking on Saturdays…The mountains here in Utah might not be the Himalayas, but they are beautiful!

We’re currently working on a chapter in Bootstrap Business called, “Climb High, Sleep Low.” Mountain climbing (and this is not meant to be funny…) is all about balance. You have to push hard, very very hard, to get to the top. At the same time, there are very real dangers involved for anyone who climbs too high too fast. The body needs time to acclimatize. There is more to lose than just a summit bid.

Ed Viesturs said the following: “For me and the people I care about, my style of climbing is the right style. Getting to the top is optional, but getting back down is mandatory.”

The biggest obstacles to creating a business are risk and fear. What are you able to loose? In pushing towards the top, are you sure you can get down again safely? Here are some of the actions items from the upcoming book that help you pinpoint your current location: are you in a situation to push upward and gain altitude, or should you linger near the tent for a bit and build your reserves? If you are already living the following principles, you should swallow the fear and get on with the climb. If these ideas are new to you, you should take some more time to prepare.

• Live on less than you bring in.
  
• Do not buy things on planned earnings; buy them on the extra income generated.
• Get your personal financial life in order so you don’t put your family or loved ones at risk.
• Establish and maintain a 3 month buffer. In order to do this, calculate the amount of money needed to cover all expenditures for three months. Then, divide the amount of money by the amount of time you would like to be able to bank your buffer. Consider how much you can afford to save. It’s more than you think.
• Keep your personal lifestyle in check. An entrepreneur’s personal finances are tied in closely with those of his business! Don’t live beyond your means, and do not go into unnecessary debt.