What Books Won't Teach You About Building Your Own Business

Note to Reader: The following excerpts from this article highlight some of the key lessons you can only learn from experience as you build your social enterprise.

Always remember to thoroughly research, prepare, plan your enterprise before launching and constantly track and learn from errors and setbacks.

“Business books can teach you how to write a plan, develop a marketing strategy, and pitch to investors. What they don’t prepare you for is the emotional reality of starting and scaling a business.

Here are some of the real-life lessons that can only be learned after you take the leap into entrepreneurship, as described by real business owners and educators.

Business Ownership Requires Emotional Endurance

Fear, self-doubt, and burnout are common in the early stages of entrepreneurship.

You’ll Need to Act Fast in Uncertainty

Launching and growing a business is full of ups and downs. One month, you’re booked solid; the next, you’re scrambling for leads and wondering how you’re going to pay your bills..“You’ll need to … make decisions without all the information and creatively stretch limited resources,”….

Resilience Is Your Greatest Asset

Setbacks, rejection, and mistakes are inevitable. What matters most is your ability to recover.

You’ll Learn to Trust Your Gut

Business books are often rooted in theory and teach you how to apply that theory to your day-to-day operations. They don’t typically teach how to harness your intuition and make a decision based on what you feel is the right call for your business, even if others tell you otherwise.

“You’re going to have to tune out the noise [and] trust yourself more than you trust the comfort of certainty,” ……….

Support Systems Are Essential

Entrepreneurship can be isolating. Having a mentor, advisor, or peer group can provide much-needed perspective, accountability, and support.

“Without honest feedback, it's easy to get lost in your own echo chamber,”

It can also help to seek out local meetups, professional associations like SCORE or chambers of commerce…………

Persistence Beats Perfection

Many would-be entrepreneurs get stuck waiting for the “perfect” time or having the “perfect” business idea. But perfection isn’t the goal; progress is.

“Success often depends not on having everything figured out, but on taking bold, imperfect action,”…….

TIP: suggest you review Module 5 Failure in the Practitioner Guide for insights on learning why businesses fail.

https://www.investopedia.com/books-wont-teach-you-about-building-business-11755056