These are harsh things to hear and even harder to say. Investors and adviser's don't want to crush the dreams and passion of future entrepreneurs, however real entrepreneurs won't get discouraged by this honesty, they will be driven by it. If you don't believe in your vision enough to take criticism and keep moving you don't have the drive to make it successful anyway. I won't apologize for this statement as it is true. All businesses go through tough times and it is easy for the most confident and driven of individuals to get discouraged. If you can't push back on adversity you won't succeed.
Too often we want to encourage entrepreneurs and young thinkers to make them feel like they are smart and their idea is great. I believe in positive reinforcement for what is done right I also believe in honest harsh criticism for what is done wrong.
There are a lot of great ideas that don't make good businesses. I can't tell you how many times I've heard young entrepreneurs say "they loved it". My response is "will they pay for it?" We have all heard a friend talk about a concept that sounds amazing, like it can't fail... but that's because we haven't asked the tough questions. We bought into the passion and see that the concept does make sense but never stop to ask "how, how much, how long, how many, who, who is..."
- How: How are you going to execute?
- How Much: How much will it cost to execute?
- How Long: How long before you can start selling?
- How Many: How many customers do you need to be profitable?
- Who: Is your competition?
- Who Is: Who is working with you?
Hire someone you would want to work for, surround yourself with people who will challenge you, don't get discouraged... listen and learn.
Your idea may be a terrible business, but if you learn how to conduct due diligence on your own ideas you'll save yourself time and energy... and when you come up with that idea that does make a great business you'll be ready!
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