Entrepreneurship Is Overwhelming

[SeanAustin]

I can't help but feel in over my head when trying to create from scratch.

In order to get my brand where I want it to be, there is so much I have to do:

Onsite Seo
Offsite Seo
Website Design
Social Media Marketing
Content Creation

Yes, only five things, but each one can be broken into hundreds of smaller tasks which simply can equate to such time and energy. And when I'm the only one working towards my overall goal, sometimes I just feel lost, overwhelmed, and up to my head in work.

For the more seasoned entrepreneurs out there, did you feel this lonely and overwhelmed when trying to build your brand from scratch? And if so, how did you cope with it?

I'm sure there is advice already out there, but a little morale boost from fellow members never seems to hurt.

 

[pompano]

I find working with other people works well. I used to work mainly on my own but I have opened up to people with different skill sets to work with me for a share. It has been a big stress relief and money saver.

 

[Duffers5000]

Dont sweat small stuff. Just get out there and put your brand in the public eye.Dont seek perfection its a timewaster.

Dont be modest fake it till you make it.

Most of what you have mentioned I would knock out in under a week. That doesnt make me great it just means I have sat around tables discussing minutiae when I should be just getting the product to market.

 

[LieutenantLame]

I'm no experienced entrepreneur or IM'er (still very newbie). But I've never really felt "lonely." Sure, overwhelmed at times because I'm a student and am trying to keep a 3.5+ GPA.

Anyways, you could always outsource everything. Work on only the categories you are best in.

One thing that I'm doing is that I'm splitting the work with a friend in half. Again, I am clueless when it comes to equity, shares, and other business terms, but what I'm doing is splitting profits 50/50. Have a friend work on a few parts and you work on the rest. Negotiate terms from there.

 

[miluge]

I do agree with the guys above! While I do enjoy entrepreneurship sometimes it's quite hard to handle so I delegate if I have a task way out of my skillset I delegate and try to learn in a same time but if you want to do everything by yourself you will be burned up in no time.

 

[BHopkins]

Your post doesn't have the mindset of an entrepreneur, you sound like you're working for someone else. The first step is to stop thinking like a corporation.

Your list of things to do:

1. Get Leads
2. Close deals
3. Complete Client work
4. Repeat

Leads can come from SM or SEO, but those aren't your goals, your goal is to build a business that is profitable. I'm successful and do about 5 minutes of social media work per week. That involves me logging into facebook and twitter, regretting both and moving on to something better. SM might be better for you, but it's not the result, it's just a tool.

When launching a new brand, I do it because I'm excited. I can usually do everything on your list in one day. Get a theme from ThemeForest.com, buy a few logos on Fiverr, write a few pages of content, create corresponding FB and Twitter accounts, start marketing.

 

[conforama]

focus on your skill and hire another pple for another task , you cant mastermind all in one day .

 

[CptnKidd]

I can totally relate OP, I think everyone does, at some point on that road to entrepreneurship.
The last months I've been trying to perfect everything, just to realize in the end it wouldn't even work out the way I wanted it to...I never even tried it in the first place, I just tried to "make it right" before I actually made it....

I read a book called "The Lean StartUp" (check http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/blackhat-lounge/610584-most-valuable-business-book-youve-read.html - this and many other books are being discussed there)
and it really helped me to get my mindset right.

Start with the minimum viable product, that is - just start your goddamn business and figure all the rest out along the way. Now that I know this is the way to go, it works fine!!

 

[SeanAustin]

Your post doesn't have the mindset of an entrepreneur, you sound like you're working for someone else. The first step is to stop thinking like a corporation.

Your list of things to do:

1. Get Leads
2. Close deals
3. Complete Client work
4. Repeat

Leads can come from SM or SEO, but those aren't your goals, your goal is to build a business that is profitable. I'm successful and do about 5 minutes of social media work per week. That involves me logging into facebook and twitter, regretting both and moving on to something better. SM might be better for you, but it's not the result, it's just a tool.

When launching a new brand, I do it because I'm excited. I can usually do everything on your list in one day. Get a theme from ThemeForest.com, buy a few logos on Fiverr, write a few pages of content, create corresponding FB and Twitter accounts, start marketing.

I appreciate your advice, but the four things you listed all have nothing to do with my brand. I do not need to get leads, close deals, or complete client work. I am not providing a service for anyone, but rather a unique product.

In order to do the things on my list, it is going to take a solid month of work. Sure, I could get a wordpress theme, get a fiver logo, write a few pages of generic content, and be like every other cliche site out there. Or, I could beat the competition by custom coding my site to fit the exact niche I'm serving, create my own logo that is going to represent my brand for years to come (I would never outsource something like this), create a solid silo foundation so that I can dominate for the terms I'm going after, create my own extremely high quality backlinks with very little automation so that I know each link will serve a strong purpose, so on, and so on.

Do you think the entrepreneurs who created sites like amazon, facebook, fiverr, etc, did all the necessary work in a days time? Or even a week? Of course not. If they did, then these brands would have been already dominated by the competition and we wouldn't know they exist.

This is why I feel overwhelmed.

But Captn Kid and Duffers are absolutely right. I can't sweat the small stuff as much. My brand is never going to be perfect, and at least at this point in time, I should really be focusing on getting the minimum viable product out there before focusing on perfection.

 

[CptnKidd]

Oh, and something I forgot OP!

Probably you already do this, but I'll say it anyways (b/c stupidly enough, I usually don't do this):
if you want your site to be perfect, don't hesitate to show it to a close (!!) buddy or someone you trust (or someone who doesn't know what to do with it).
Of course you want it to be perfect the moment you publish it, and you don't want any competitors to know what you're doing until you're ready, but show it to others as often as possible. That way you know whether some things have the desired effect or not! And chose people who are able to give you an honest opinion (no brown-nosers).

EDIT: this can also be extremely motivating, if you get positive feedback, although you're not so sure you're there yet!