Why am I doing this?
The only good answer to this question is...
“because I have to.”
Give yourself a month. If it’s all you've thought about for 30 days straight and working on anything else doesn’t feel right, that’s when you should take the entrepreneurial leap.
If that’s not how you’re feeling, save yourself the time, money, and heartache.
Be patient. Something else will come along.
What am I really good at/what do I love doing?
Some founders love product development, some love sales, others love finance. It doesn’t really matter which camp you fall into.
All that’s important is that you recognize where your skills and interests lie so you can plan accordingly.
What am I really bad at/what do I hate doing?
Same explanation as the previous question.
What’s my personality?
There are tons of tests out there to more objectively measure this.
Some most popular ones are:
This sort of information makes it easier to have an honest conversation around the best work environment, team members, and projects for you.
It certainly helps with selecting a complementary cofounder and thinking about the next question…
If my business scaled up to 50 people tomorrow, what role would I want to have?
Being a CEO is not the same as being a founder. Two entirely different skill sets.
Uber is a great example of this. Travis Kalanick was the founder they needed to engage in a fist fight with entrenched taxi unions, but, ultimately, not the CEO of a 10k+, publicly traded company.
Many founders, who have success, wake up one day in the role of CEO and are miserable. Plan ahead so this doesn't happen to you.
How will it impact other areas in my life that are important?
If you’re young or this is your first brand, it’s easy to think your work defines you. It doesn’t.
It only represents a small portion of your life that’s secondary to your family, friends, and other passions.
Putting those other things on the backseat and being all-consumed by your work is ok for some period of time.
Talk to those who will be impacted and protect what you’re not willing to negotiate on (e.g. being there to put your kids to bed at night).
What does success look like?
Founders often look to the home runs in CPG and automatically associated that with success. There’s nothing wrong with a profitable, family-run business that grows, thoughtfully, overtime.
Different strokes for different folks.
Think long and hard about what will make you happy.
Remember when you start taking money from more "institutional" sources is when you start giving up some control so just make sure you’re ok with that.
Need help thinking through any of these questions?
Drop us a message in the chat. 👉👉👉
