When to ignore your critics!

It’s a fact, that so many people will tell you that starting a small business is a bad idea, should not really influence your decision making at all. An here I include the so called business gurus - just ignore them.

Can you imagine what happened when

• Alexander Graham Bell announced he wanted a phone in every house - Western Union called it an “electric toy” and “totally out of the question”;
• Henry Ford said he wanted one car in every family - most felt the horse was here to stay.

The same happened to me still in 1995, when most people thought the internet was going to disappear faster than it had arrived - I remember the abuse very well. So why do people get so negative about other peoples business ideas:

• Lack of Vision is probably the biggest reason;
• Envy is another big reason - driven by the inability to take a risk themselves and the fact that they can’t bear to see others succeed;
• Genuine concern for your well being - they thing your are taking too big a risk, you are naive, and so on.

Take advise on certain techniques on how to run your business, but do not take advise on if you should start a business or not. As these examples above show, you never know how big a business will get.

People make it big in business, while I think it not necessary to make it big, it may never the less happen and it could be your turn next. ST.

4 Responses to “When to ignore your critics!”

1. Phil Connolly
   http://www.spreadsheetsdirect.com
   
   Said on November 19th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

   I think you hit the nail on the head with those three points. When I was finishing up in my last job I started thinking about setting up on my own but was still unsure as to whether I could do it by myself. I had a few months off then started looking for jobs to apply for but none appealed so I thought *$£ it! I’ll give it a go myself. Most people now just say ‘I wish I could work from home.’ when they find out what I do. One put off point is knowing how to start setting a business up. There are so many pages on the internet about it that you can spend a couple of months just reading up on things.

2. Stefan Töpfer
   http://www.winweb.com
   
   Said on November 19th, 2007 at 3:47 pm

   Phil,

   I agree it can be very confusing to start investigating to set up a business - the red-tape in the UK is enormous. I can only say go and see an accountant, most of them are getting that right.

   Stefan

3. Shama Hyder
   http://www.AfterTheLaunch.com
   
   Said on November 19th, 2007 at 6:59 pm

   Stefan-

   True words of wisdom! I will add a number four here- People are scared of change. Who wants to learn how to drive a car when a horse is sufficient?

4. Stefan Töpfer
   http://www.winweb.com
   
   Said on November 19th, 2007 at 7:23 pm

   Good point, forgot that one!

   On the other hand I need to leave something for you guys!

   Stefan

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