Being an entrepreneur can be difficult and challenging. Entrepreneurs pour countless hours and resources into projects and know that success is far from guaranteed. One nagging question constantly lurks in the back of every entrepreneur’s mind: “Am I wasting my time?”
Entrepreneur and author David Kidder explored these questions during conversations with several successful founders. He ultimately boiled these conversations down into five pieces of advice for all entrepreneurs.These five nuggets of wisdom from David Kidder’s The Startup Playbook can help entrepreneurs by giving you the tools to view your project with honesty and ask yourself important questions.
1. Play to Your Strengths.
Every team has different strengths and weaknesses. Don’t force yourself into a market space simply because it is vacant. Be honest with yourself and consider if you and your team are actually a good fit for the space.
Your startup company must be rooted and flow from the founder’s innate gifts.”
2. Optionality Is the Enemy.
Focus on your biggest ideas. Many entrepreneurs struggle with a wealth of options, and fail to hone their efforts. Do not allow yourself to become distracted by minor details and side projects. Choose a great idea and commit to it.
The successful founder’s job is to get to the answer as quickly as possible.”
3. Build a Painkiller, not a Vitamin.
Painkillers solve a problem. Vitamins do not. Does your startup solve an existing problem? If not, you may want to reimagine your idea and reconsider your vision.
Vitamins address problems in a holistic way, but they don’t take away pain.”
4. Be Ten Times Better.
Do not strive to be slightly better than the competition. Aim to be ten times better. Do you and your team bring ten times more value than the competition? Is your idea strong enough to easily defeat competitors?
Luckily, there is a simple way to win. And by simple, I mean it is absolutely the most difficult thing you have to accomplish in order for your startup to survive: be ten times better than your competitors.”
5. Be a Monopolist.
Kidder found that many successful founders aimed to create a company with monopolistic characteristics from the get-go. Monopolistic characteristics require a bold idea with a bolder vision, which drives the culture of the company. Many entrepreneurs limit themselves with ideas that aren’t sufficiently ambitious. Is your idea potentially market-dominating? Are you thinking big enough?
We are only limited by the scope of our vision.”
