3 Simple (Yet Effective) Pieces of Advice I’d Give Anyone Interested in Starting A New Business

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In October 2019, I traded in a promising career path to become an entrepreneur.

Despite the challenges, I’m still standing as motivated as ever.

I am much different than the uninformed optimist I was back then. I am still optimistic, just much more informed.

The new year always brings on a feeling of eagerness and motivation to start fresh. So, I’d like to offer 3 simple (yet effective) pieces of advice to anyone interested in starting a business (creative side hustle or full-fledged venture).

The best part about this advice is that it’s relevant to existing business owners (myself included).

1. Stop trying to be the best at your craft…it’s actually not your job.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t care — I’m saying the business owner's job is to do all the business things (which is more than just the craft).

People start businesses because they're good at something – like writing, working with numbers, or giving advice. Doing your craft is only part of it. There are 3 personalities to any business:

• The entrepreneur (vision) is future-oriented and cultivates new ideas and growth.

• The manager (systems) is past-oriented and crafts systems to keep things orderly and consistent.

• The technician (craft) is present-oriented and does the work.

If you only focus on your craft, you’ll lose sight of the bigger picture.

2. Determine an appropriate level of marketing…then triple it.

Your talent will not matter if you don't tell (and show) people that you can help them.

While aspiring to "be so good they can't ignore you" is admirable, demonstrating your value is more important. You need attention. Talking about your process, solution, and ideas will earn your trust.

Trust is the dividend from your marketing efforts.

And it just so happens also to be the currency of business.

Combining attention and trust creates the entrepreneur’s dream problem: too much demand and too little supply.

3. Don’t throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks…make calculated experiments instead.

Most people experiment incorrectly.

Yes, the market provides the feedback you need, but you must do it right.

Think back to 7th grade when you were introduced to the scientific method. Embedded in the process were three variables:

• The independent variable is the factor you would change in the experiment.

• The dependent variable is the outcome that results from the change to the independent variable.

• And the control variables are the ones you kept constant.

If you change too many variables, you’ll never identify which change drives the greatest outcome.

Your business and those 7th-grade experiments are fundamentally the same — just with different stakes.

The truth is you probably won’t fully internalize this advice until you’ve done the opposite.

It’s perfectly natural.

As I said initially, I was an uninformed optimist who did the opposite of what I needed to do.

• I focused too much on my craft

• I worried too little about marketing

• I experimented the wrong way (repeatedly)

You’ll get it eventually…I promise.

Happy new year — thank you for reading.

Peter

If you found this newsletter helpful in 2023, please share it with a fellow intellectually-minded business owner.

They and I will thank you.

And…if you’re serious about growing in 2024, then read these posts to:

• Avoid unnecessary difficulties

• Protect your decision-making ability

• Surround yourself with high-achieving humans

First time here?

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Hi, I’m Peter. I quit my highly-regarded, 6-figure job at Harvard to build a strategy consulting company in 2019.

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