hello business world.
We're all familiar with that prompt. And having learned (to some level of expertise) about five computer languages. Granted, some completely forgotten, I've written that a lot.
I want to make this one short and sweet. I'm not sure how many people reading this will be interested in business or starting their own business. But I've recently been listening to a lot of advice on starting my own business. And some of it is universal. And others. Well. A little bit conflicting.
The conflicting advice goes like this:
- go all in, quit your job as soon as you can. Otherwise your dreams go stale.
- work on starting your business as a side hustle, then move it to a real business after you started a few and failed a few businesses.
Which do I believe? Well. If you've got a clear understanding of exactly what you want to do. And money enough to back up a reasonable runway until you are profitable. Then number one clearly wins.
If you're unsure of one of those things that are crucial to get started. It could be the runway savings isn't there. The time to profitability is unpredictable. Or you just need more expertise until you feel confident (enough). Then number two seems like the answer to me.
Where a lot of companies start part time and work their way to full time as the people running them learn a lot about what they are doing and where they are going.
The second conflicting bit of information that I've run across lately.
- Passion comes from experience. When you become expert at something then you'll grow to love it. So the beginning part of starting a business might be a grind. And you have to push through.
- Starting a business should be the easiest thing in the world. Just do something that comes easily to you.
- Follow your toolkit.
So far, my experience has been one of uncertainty and hard work. I've always wanted to start my own business and never figured out what to start. And so never started.
And building my skills as a software developer has been slow. It makes sense to me that my experience building my business would be slow.
I see people out in the world with instant success. I think that might be a lot of things lining up for them at once. What they get inspired to do happens to be something people need. They find it easy to do the skill that they also happen to love.
I do believe that passion will follow expertise some of the time. But some of the time you can become expert and it never quite clicks that you love it. Think of the poor accountant that only takes the job for financial security and even years after has realized that it's only been a grind.
So number one and number two are only sometimes true.
Where following your toolkit find a bit of balance in that. It's not just what you love, which can be a vague concept. And it's not your passion. Which can sound like career commitment. After all, what will I be passionate about in five or 10 years?
Following your toolkit hits the sweet spot for doing what skill you have, that you want to follow with curiousity. It's immediate and demands no long term commitment. And most of all it's useful.
That advice has more chance of hitting the sweet spot of curiosity, market demand, and skill. Where if you can find those three things at once, then you have a gold mine.
That means that there's room for alternate ideas and strategies in starting a business. I like the slow and steady path where I put work ahead of end goals. I prefer showing up and working on things that have value rather than idealistically holding out for perfection.
But really, the advice that really matters is the kind that helps you keep moving, even in small steps. Whether that means saving for your runway, tinkering with side projects, or just following the thread of a skill you enjoy today, it all adds up.
So maybe the best “hello world” for entrepreneurship isn’t a perfectly polished product or a the ultimate business plan. Maybe it’s just showing up, trying, and letting your your next great idea guide you toward the thing that feels both useful and happy.
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