Warning! Do These 3 Things Before Starting a Business to Maximize Its Chances of Success

When I started researching this topic and googled ‘advice before starting a business’, I found countless articles that said ‘conduct market research’, ‘pick a location that fulfills the following requirements’ and ‘be practical’. Just one slight issue: I wasn’t looking for a business plan. That would be part of the ‘starting’ and not ‘before starting’ process. Naturally, I buried my face in my hands in desperation. Of course, I wasn’t going to give up on it. In fact, I now had one more reason to write that article. And I do love a challenge.

So here I am, in my bedroom, looking over the city at 11pm, wondering what exactly I’m going to talk about. 

After researching entrepreneurs and millionaires Codie Sanchez, Alex Hormozi and Davie Fogarty, among others, I noticed a trend in what entrepreneurs did or wished they did before starting their own business, and divided it into three things to do before starting your own business.

If you’d like a full list on all the sources I based this article on, write a message in the suggestion box below. We’ll edit this blog post to include it.

1. Not to do list.

In one of the videos of The School of Hard Knocks, James Dumoulin interviews a millionaire, who at one point emphasises the importance of a not to do list, and how it is often underestimated. Everybody has a to-do list, that’s why a list of things to avoid is, as Alex Hormozi stressed, the difference between you—and the rest. 

Alex Hormozi is often asked what routine made him successful, but in a YouTube video, he affirms that it’s not about what you do, but about what you don’t do. Some of the things he mentions include: constantly consuming content on social media, replying to an overwhelming number of emails or accepting meetings at any time of day. By avoiding these, he used his time more effectively. But notice how we still don’t know what he does throughout the day: his meals, working hours, breaks… 

In your case, if you’ve already decided you want to undertake the path of entrepreneurship, do the following before launching your business. Pick a piece of paper or a notebook that you keep around (we don’t want it out of reach in a random drawer under thousands of clothes). Write 10 things that you’d never do. This can be, for example, screaming at my employees in the office, taking credit for other people’s work or sleeping less than 6 hours. As you can see, it can be related to your values, relationships, health, etc. The idea is to know what you stand for before you start building everything. Why? Because it may seem crazy right now, but in a few months, you may have a shiny new life and it’s easy to forget who you are. This piece of paper you can carry around in your wallet, phone case or pocket will remind you of him/her.

2. Develop the right skills

If you asked me one idea that business articles, videos or podcasts have in common, I’d say ‘focus on one skill and develop it in depth’. All the people who have been successful in one specific area, have focused on being great in that one area. If Tiger Woods had been trying to be good at basketball while his dream was to be a professional golf player, he would’ve never been good at any. It’s like that old saying, ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’. So pick one skill, develop it in private for 6 months, and come back unrecognizable. 

In a world where unemployment keeps rising, retirement age increases and there’s a threat of control of technologies and AI over our jobs, it’s the job of the future generation to become irreplaceable. Unfortunately, it’s something our grandparents didn’t have to do. They had cheap housing, thousands of jobs available and the promise of booming economies to keep up with after so many wars. Lucky for us, we have to find leverage.

If you think about what makes an employee irreplaceable, it’s the skills they possess and how good they are at applying them to something that causes immediate or over-time success. For instance, why is the CEO of a 30 million dollar business irreplaceable, but the position of a 9-5 employee packing boxes in an Amazon warehouse may disappear within minutes? The CEO has knowledge, risk analysis, public speaking and years of experience in this industry that AI may one day–but not currently—replace. Meanwhile, there are machines that can pack more boxes in less time than the warehouse employee can—and for a fraction of the price. 

Nowadays, there’s no excuse: with AI, apps, the Internet, social media…you can learn any skill in a matter of days, whether it’s how to play an instrument, start a website, learn a new language…

Plus, as Davie Fogarty pointed out in one of his videos, skills are the only inventory that can’t be taken away. If you go bankrupt, you may lose your company, your car, factories,... Your skills will stay with you.

Bottom line: by focusing on one or two skills and sticking to them, you will become irreplaceable and your business is far more likely to be successful. 

Bonus tip: once you develop the right skills, you can reach out to a mentor or a few people you know who are already investing in, buying or starting new businesses. Entrepreneurship is tough, and the reward takes time. That’s why you’ll need both emotional support, which you can seek in your family members, partner or friends, and business advice, which is what mentors are for. Another advantage of having a mentor is you move around their circle with many other entrepreneurs. They start inviting you to social gatherings, parties and events that help you make connections: crucial for business deals.

3. Find the right product or service to develop

Now you know what you don’t want to do, you have the right skills and a mentor. It’s time to actually develop the first stages of what your company is going to sell.

Rule number one when starting a business: never, ever, choose what you like or what you think sounds cool. Don’t choose what’s going to impress your friends. That’s the first step towards failure. As Codie Sanchez said, ‘the sexier the business, the less money it’s going to generate’. Real money is silent and boring. It’s in things that people are always going to need, like plumbing and washing cars, instead of chasing industries like entertainment and technology that are far harder to access and where cash flow is not as consistent. 

Think: how many entrepreneurs can you name that operate in a ‘sexy’ industry? Many. How many can you name that make boring, silent, money? A few, at best. However, there are many hiding in the shadows. They understood the power of silence and boredom.

Rule number two: understand the power of scarcity. According to Alex Harmozi, there are three ways of making money from a product:

1. solve a problem better

2. solve a problem no one knows about

3. solve a problem that’s hard to solve

The easiest way to do this is to open Reddit and start reading threads on problems people complain about that nobody is solving. This is the real gold. It’s important to be observant, though. You need to find a product or service that is problem aware before being brand aware. The problem’s there, the solution isn’t—yet. It’s now your task to make it. Ride the demand, don’t create it.

Rule number three: understand why they buy. Who’s they? Well, if you’re smart enough: the rich. They don’t want what’s cheaper but what’s better, which means you can charge more if the product or service you offer is high quality. The only thing you have to do is understand why they buy and orient your business to fulfill it.

Final advice

Although finances are important, by following the advice above, you’ll have an unfair advantage when launching your business project to turn it into reality. 

You’ll have more clarity of mind. You’ll be more prepared. You’ll be more confident.

In one of her videos, Codie Sanchez says something I find absolutely remarkable and I’d like to share. She said that ‘obsession and curiosity, if you pair them with action, they compound’. 

Throughout my research, I also found small tips that can help make a difference, like stepping out of your comfort zone, creating cheap wins to release dopamine and living by a military phrase that can easily be applied to business: ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’.

In the end, as Dan Martell said, ‘the moment you take money from anybody else that’s a stranger you become a businessperson’. In today’s world, everything is possible if you are willing to make it possible. Everybody has goals. It’s your actions to achieve those goals that make you unique.

But, to be honest, who am I to talk? I can hear you saying ‘who’s the author of this article, again?’ As Will Smith said in an interview with James Dumoulin, ‘listening to people who haven’t done the thing that you want to do, that makes you crazy’. So maybe you shouldn’t take my advice. I haven’t launched a business. You know who has? All the inspiring entrepreneurs that I quoted in this article. So don’t listen to me, listen to them. They know what they’re talking about.