As someone who has started multiple businesses, I'm often asked, 'How do you start a business?’
Many people believe that starting a business requires a groundbreaking idea or a grand vision for the future, like something out of an Elon Musk brainstorming session.
There is nothing further from the truth.
When you do a quick Google search or ChatGPT ‘How to start a business,’ you'll often find a long list of intimidating steps.
For example, the first link that comes up when you Google 'How to start a business' is the Small Business Administration (SBA) website, which outlines a 10-step process.
Conduct market research
Write your business plan
Fund your business
Pick your business location
Choose a business structure
Choose your business name
Register your business
Get federal and state tax IDs
Apply for licenses and permits
Open a business bank account
10/10 of these steps are NOT necessary to start a business.
First, let’s define a business. So what exactly is a business? A business is a product or service you perform, and in return someone pays you money for it. That’s it. It’s not complicated at all.
If a college student sells their class notes, that is a business. If you create a cook book and two strangers on the internet buy it from you, that is business. If you clean your and your siblings’ room, and your parents pay you $2 per room, that is a business. Not a very scaled business but a business nonetheless.
So how do you create a business?
Start small.
You could start a YouTube channel reviewing NYC neighborhoods.
You could write an e-book about the top travel itineraries for major cities around the world.
You could create an Instagram/TikTok about all the reply guys in your DMs.
You could create a merch website with T-shirts of your favorite dogs or cats.
The key is to start small, focus on what you're passionate about, be willing to learn, adapt, and grow along the way.
Don’t worry about a fancy business plan, or if there are 1,000,000 people doing the same thing, or finding the perfect logo or which state you should set up your LLC in.
All those things are irrelevant, and you will eventually learn them. But don't let the small details hold you back from starting something great.
Once you have created something, you’ve already overcome the hardest step: Starting.
Then the journey from starting to selling to one customer to selling to hundreds, thousands and millions of people is just…. consistency, daily effort and hard work.
This means showing up every day, staying focused on your goals, and taking action even when the going gets tough.
If you dedicate 3-4 hours a day to this new thing that you started, a year from now you (and your business) will be a completely transformed person. You’ll know more about the industry of your business than the 99% of the population.
While many don’t even start, fewer stay consistent, and even fewer commit to doing something if it is not making them any money.
The most successful entrepreneurs know that consistency and hard work pay off. They're like the YouTubers who spent two years posting content every day, building their audience one follower at a time. It's like watching grass grow, but eventually, that grass becomes a beautiful lawn. And once they hit that magic number of 1,000 subscribers, the next 10k come easier than a Sunday morning.
The trick is to keep going, keep hustling, and keep chasing your dreams like a dog chasing its tail. It may seem silly, but it's the little steps that lead to big results.
Steven Bartlett host of the Diary of the CEO podcast puts it beautifully:
One of the best books I read on entrepreneurship was the Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia.
"You don’t learn, then start. You start, then learn.”
Sahil Lavingia founded Gumroad in 2011 with the goal of making it easy to earn a living online. Gumroad allows creators to sell digital products like e-books and courses directly to consumers.
His philosophy is simple: start by solving a problem, and if you can find a way to monetize it, you've got a business.
Rather than focusing solely on profits, Sahil emphasizes the importance of providing value to customers and creating a solution that meets their needs.
It’s a very quick read and will give you the tools to build a business from step 0 (including finding ideas, selling, building, marketing, growing, hiring etc.)
Some of the key teachings are:
Start then learn
Build a community, then solve a problem for them
Charge for something even before you’ve built anything
Avoid running out of money and, more importantly, energy
Run a tight ship amid the rise of the gig economy and remote work
Own a business without it owning you back
The internet is a wonderful place and it is a lot bigger than you can imagine. Not only can you make a logo, create a website and register your business in a matter of seconds, you also get access to 8 billion people as soon as you hit publish.
There has never been a better time to start a business. So what are you waiting for?