Why is getting started so tough?

It’s a fact,  the first two years of starting a new business, no matter what the industry, will be two of the toughest of your life. Being an entrepreneur has been described as “Like being manic-depressive, without medication”.  During the first couple of years you’ll be faced with a lot of tough decisions and your business (if your like most) will come dangerously close to closing it’s doors on several occasions.  Paul Graham of Y-Combinator fame says the the most important factor of long term success for any business is just being able to keep it going long enough to figure out who your real customer is (Quite often, it’s not who you think) and how much to charge for your goods and services. If you can stay afloat long enough to do that, it gets much, much easier down the road.

One thing to keep in mind when you are going through the tough times is that you are not a failure, for making bad decisions.  We all do it.  One strategy for keeping a level head is to surround yourself with like-minded individuals, other CEO’s who are dealing with similar struggles.  Quite often this hive-mind can come up with  simple solutions to previously insurmountable problems.