Starting a business is one of the most challenging things you can do. And one of the hardest parts is that most people won’t understand why you’re working so hard, especially when you’re not making much money to start. They also won’t understand why you’re spending so much time away from them.
Some of these people may even resent you for starting a business. They’ll try to drag you down emotionally, tell you your business idea is silly and impossible or even try to sabotage your efforts. You may think that explaining yourself to these people will make things better. But in most cases, explanations won’t help. Here are the kinds of persons to avoid, according to https://www.wolfwinner.com/en/online-pokies.
- The life of the party
If you work a standard 9 to 5, with money to blow and time to kill, perhaps you can afford the distraction (and expense) of fun-loving friends, late-night parties, and weekend festivals. When you’re all-in on the startup journey and every minute (and dollar) spent counts, you probably aren’t in the best position to devote significant time or energy to such negative ROI distractions.
You don’t necessarily have to cut off those party-throwing, party-going friends forever, but you may be well-served by distancing yourself until you get a better handle on your entrepreneurial progress. A monthly meet-up might suffice to keep the friendship alive while safeguarding the other 30 days of the month for more productive activities.
- The idea junkies
These people may be the most deceptive of the bunch. They weasel their way in with a wholesome, helpful offering: free ideas — lots of them! The problem with these seemingly altruistic and motivating idea junkies is twofold:
They’re oftentimes uninformed about the ideas they suggest
They aimlessly chase after shiny objects, with little regard for a cohesive vision
I know many founders who shut them out completely, but I typically take a different approach: I entertain every idea or suggestion thrown my way, no matter who it comes from. That said, after a bit of thought or research, I’m quick to nix an idea if it doesn’t fit with my company’s long-term vision.
- The cheerful groupies
We can all appreciate a nice ego stroke from an endlessly optimistic cheerleader — it feels like an undeserved affirmation of our impending success. Nonetheless, it is just that: undeserved. Whether it’s coming from your mom, your friend, your spouse, or your assistant, a biased groupie who acts as a constant “yes” person isn’t doing you any favors. In fact, they’re doing just the opposite: instilling a false sense of security and accomplishment when, perhaps, you haven’t earned it. I take most compliments with a few cups of salt and pepper — especially if they’re coming from biased people in my circle who rarely offer a challenging or dissenting viewpoint. A compliment from a customer or beta user is a lot more meaningful than a round of applause from my BFF. You can only partner up with them when you’re playing games at best online casinos for US players.
- The short-winded critics
On the flip side of the “yes” people, there are the knee-jerking critics who are quick to say “nay”, but slow to say “why”. I believe critics can be some of the most valuable voices around — if they can expound upon the “what” and the “why” with which they take issue. Further, a more valuable critic will go so far as to offer helpful, thoughtful feedback in the form of solutions or suggestions to combat the issues they’ve identified.
Those who are simply pessimistic for the sake of being contrarian may not deserve a spot in your circle until or unless they start offering up some solutions to counter their objections.
- The little engine that can’t deliver
These people are by far the most disappointing. These are the would-be partners who are always a few steps away from having a great, synergistic product, platform, or service with which to join forces. Unfortunately, they rarely live up to the expectations they’ve set and end up delaying your entrepreneurial journey to accommodate their snail-paced progress. The problem with these little engines that can’t deliver is that surrounding founders get their hopes up, banking far too heavily on promising, but unproven partnerships, and abandon their prior plans to plow ahead and achieve success all on their own.
- The sleuth competitors
The most dangerous competitors may not define themselves as competitors at all — and that’s what makes them all the more frightening. If you have a group of entrepreneurial friends or peers in your space, you may be walking a fine line between shooting the breeze about your business and revealing proprietary trade secrets and information that could be used against you.
