The Biggest Hurdle for Young Entrepreneurs
By: Peter Davig
Tags: Self-awareness, Mindfulness, Business, Entrepreneurship, Life

The Biggest Hurdle for Young Entrepreneurs

And what it takes to finally make the jump.

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

To be both young and a successful entrepreneur is to be an anomaly; to defy human nature at its very core. Most of the hurdles that make entrepreneurship at a young age so difficult are known and rather straightforward, such as the lack of capital, skills, and knowledge. However, these are merely stepping stones since there’s a wealth of knowledge available to help us get over them.

Other hurdles aren’t so straightforward. They aren’t defined, quantifiable, or measurable. The one that I’m going to be alluding to in this article is the misalignment of the young entrepreneur’s incentive structure when compared to, say, a 35-year-old with a spouse and three kids.

Because odds are, if you happen to be reading this article, you probably aren’t one of the anomalies that I referred to in the first paragraph… yet. Let me explain:

Why We Get Into Entrepreneurship in the First Place

Generally speaking, there are two types of people: (1) conventional thinkers, and (2) independent thinkers.

Those that lean more towards the conventional-minded side are more likely to earn good grades in school, go off to college, and land a nice and secure job after graduating. This is the ideal path for them; they wouldn’t have it any other way. But you’re not a conventional thinker; you’re more independently-minded. And those that are independent-minded, among other things, have a higher propensity to create new things and challenge the status quo.

The next thing we need to ask ourselves is why we’ve decided on entrepreneurship instead of following the beaten path. On one end of the spectrum, we have those that have arrived here by means of “via positiva.” On the other end of the spectrum, we have those that arrived here by means of “via negativa.”

VIA POSITIVA: You were born with an entrepreneurial spirit or possess some otherworldly skill. Most of the young & successful entrepreneurs fall under this category. Action-takers by nature.

VIA NEGATIVA: You long to become an entrepreneur because conventional education, work, etc. are slowly crushing your soul.

Since you’re looking for answers in the article instead of taking action, then there’s a 90 percent chance you’ve arrived here by means of “via negativa.” Or, to put it another way: entrepreneurship doesn’t come naturally to you yet but you desperately need to find a way to make it work.

If it makes you feel any better, this is the category that I fall into as well.

Why Entrepreneurship Doesn’t Come Naturally to Twenty-Somethings

It is human nature to strive for things that make us feel powerful or important.

For instance, in elementary school, I vividly remember putting a lot of stock into what I placed for my gym class’s mile-run in the fall and spring. In adolescence, our energy coalesces towards popularity, being liked, and making ourselves look cool. And as we mature, our focus turns outwards towards the support of those that depend on us.

Most of us can remember how painful the first transition was — that is, from being an innocent child to an incredibly awkward and judgmental adolescent. But perhaps the most confusing transition is the one from adolescence to true adulthood. Especially as an aspiring entrepreneur.

Think about it. Just a few short years earlier, you gained approval through the quality of your grades, how your classmates perceived you, your dates, and your success as an athlete. You cared more about the façade you put up than anything else. If it were cool to take your future, career, and creative works seriously, you probably would have. But it wasn’t cool — just look at how much fun the “nerds” had!

Even so, as somebody in their late teens to early-to-mid twenties, it still makes sense to put stock into those same vanity metrics that you cared about a few years ago. There’s still a logical application. After all, it’s highly likely that you’re still dating around, developing your inner circle of close friendships, and building your reputation. I’m not shaming you for caring about those things.

But, there is a major drawback:

It is hard as f*ck to care both about how you’re perceived by your peers ~AND~ do the things required to become a successful entrepreneur.

Let me illustrate by pitting two people of different age groups against one another:

The Married Man vs. the Youngster

The 35-year-old entrepreneur is a married man with three kids and ten employees that depend on him. That is, the decisions he makes and the risks he takes for his business are predicated on how they can benefit them. He has almost entirely removed his ego from the equation. If the cost of implementing the highest ROI strategy for his business is that he might look stupid for a little while, then so be it — he’ll do whatever it takes to move the needle for his business.

On the other hand, the young entrepreneur is grinding for himself. By and large, he is still the same self-centered kid he was a few years ago. Because he is more risk averse towards the things that put himself in a place of vulnerability, he will miss out on wonderful opportunities to grow his bottom line. Since he is optimizing for the wrong things (i.e., looking cool) through no fault of his own, he will greatly hinder his ability to grow his business.

As we can see, there is a stark contrast in incentives between the married man and the youngster. In his motivation to support his wife, kids, and employees, the married man will do the things that are best for his business. Conversely, in being self-centered the youngster will miss out.

Does this mean that the married man doesn’t care about how he’s perceived by others? Of course not — it would be asinine to think so. It’s just that he cares more about the bottom line of his business. The nerds that you went to high school with didn’t want to be unpopular, either — they just prioritized knowledge over other people’s opinions.

So, long story short, a young entrepreneur’s incentive structure is terribly misaligned. The things that motivate them at this stage in their life aren’t conducive to success. For this reason alone, the pursuit will almost always feel like an uphill battle.

The Takeaway

One time I read that the worst way to catch a cat is by chasing after it. In this case, the young entrepreneur is both the chaser and the cat — in chasing himself, his goals are an ever-receding horizon. This is just another one of the weird ways the universe works.

So, my advice to youngsters who want to launch their own business?

Realize that you’re supposed to feel like you’re going to vomit 90 percent of the time. This is just the price you pay for going against the incentive structure that most people your age are motivated by.

Find something other than yourself to grind for. Maybe you don’t have a spouse, kids, or a handful of employees yet. But there has to be ~something~ that can make the pain and discomfort worthwhile.

Take failure off of the chin. The more often you fail, the more feedback loops and data points you have to work with. This is how you gain experience and wisdom.

But most importantly, understand that this is the biggest hurdle you face on your way to success. In working up the courage to jump over it, you are already half of the way there.

Learn to fight the inner resistance and the world will be yours.