Dealing with the naysayers

There's probably no idea that will win universal approval before it becomes reality. This is particularly true of visionary, mold-breaking, non-linear, quantum-leap kinds of ideas which will elicit responses ranging from 'nice, but there's no market' to 'in your dreams', most likely in stronger and more categorical terms. It takes unswerving belief in the dream for an entrepreneur/inventor/creator to make it happen which is why passion and dedication are must-haves for any would be entrepreneur.

I'm passing on an interesting post on why entrepreneurs shouldn't listen to 'experts' (you can read the post here and the source it mentions here) - which was both encouraging and amusing. I found the the JK Rowling and the Ford put-downs particularly interesting and can only imagine how they must have felt on hearing them - and applaud their fortitude in forging ahead anyway. Sure, hind-sight is 20-20 and all that, but there's a huge difference between a reviewer who says 'I don't immediately see how it will work, tell me' versus the one who says 'There's no way this will work'. As an entrepreneur, you have to learn to judge your judges, assess your reviewers and know when to listen and when to ignore. Or better yet, know when to push back - if someone says 'no', ask 'why not?'. Maybe they'll have good reasons which are worth listening to and may help in refining your idea/business. Or maybe all they have is an unshakable belief in their own superior knowledge in which case you are better off relying on your own unshakable belief in yourself and moving on to doing something instead.

1 comment:

Leila said...

I love this blog. I wish I'd read it years ago and taken it to heart! If we don't promote ourselves, nobody else will!