I apologize for my silence in the last couple of months ─ lots of end-of-summer visitors and a short vacation of my own. The good news is that despite my blogging lapse, there are many new subscribers and new CoreCoachees!
There’s more good news, as the photo indicates. I’ve been diligently working on my next book: The COREageous Entrepreneur: The Four Core Skills and Routines Every Founder Needs to Succeed. I’ve been working at it for a few years now, accumulating evidence and testing out my thesis.
My aim in writing this book (and this blog) is to reduce the startup failure rate, which, depending on the industry, is approximately 80%! With about 5 million founders starting up businesses in the U.S. every year. That failure rate is unacceptable and avoidable, based on my research and experience.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:
20-50% of startups fail within the first year.
50-70% of startups fail by the fifth year.
Only about 30% of startups succeed by the tenth year.
Certainly, there are external factors a founder cannot control: economic conditions, industry changes, funding availability and pandemics. Conversely, the internal factors that contribute to startup failure include: mental health conditions, ineffective communication skills, lack of focus, failure to execute, poor leadership and dysfunctional teams. These factors are within a founder’s control ─ they are skill-based.
There is preventative and practical work a founder can do to reduce the risk of failure in a smart, affordable and timely way. I’ll report more details (including a webinar!) as I take next steps towards publication.
I’m back to posting, so Stay COREageous and send your questions, comments and conundrums my way! Rebecca@MindfulCommunication.com. Visit my website at MindfulCommunication.com.
Talia D. a wannabe COREageous entrepreneur from Bloomington, Indiana writes: I wrote up a business plan for a service startup, hailed by my professors and my mentor as ‘a winner.’ But they advised that I need to be more confident in myself to pull it off. How do I begin building more confidence?
The proposition of starting a business can be overwhelming. Plus, knowing the dismal startup failure rate takes another jab at your ability to “pull it off.”
The good news is that your team is confident in the plan – you’re surrounding yourself with supportive folks you trust for good advice and constructive criticism.
Whether you are a newbie to entrepreneurship or a seasoned self-starter, confidence is a major factor in startup success. Here are a few ways to scale up your confidence:
If you’ve had any past failures that made you doubt yourself, label those events as “valuable data” to draw on for the future: naiveté, assumptions, blind passion, impulsive decisions, etc. What matters is how you view them.
Capitalize on your strengths i.e. your industry knowledge, your attention to detail, etc. Accept your gaps and outsource or partner up with someone who can fill them.
Go Micro and break down the big tasks into bit goals. Most tasks are less daunting and more do-able when they are broken into manageable steps.
On a personal level, challenge yourself to do something difficult every day – 5 extra slow pushups, wake up a half hour earlier than usual, make that awkward phone call, or give blood. Whatever challenge you take on make it reasonable and a bit beyond what you think you could do.
As always, if you want to learn more about CoreCoaching with me, email Rebecca@MindfulCommunication.com
Talia D. a wannabe COREageous entrepreneur from Bloomington, Indiana writes: I wrote up a business plan for a service startup, hailed by my professors and my mentor as ‘a winner.’ But they advised that I need to be more confident in myself to pull it off. How do I begin building more confidence?
The proposition of starting a business can be overwhelming. Plus, knowing the dismal startup failure rate takes another jab at your ability to “pull it off.”
The good news is that your team is confident in the plan – you’re surrounding yourself with supportive folks you trust for good advice and constructive criticism.
Whether you are a newbie to entrepreneurship or a seasoned self-starter, confidence is a major factor in startup success. Here are a few ways to scale up your confidence:
If you’ve had any past failures that made you doubt yourself, label those events as “valuable data” to draw on for the future: naiveté, assumptions, blind passion, impulsive decisions, etc. What matters is how you view them.
Capitalize on your strengths i.e. your industry knowledge, your attention to detail, etc. Accept your gaps and outsource or partner up with someone who can fill them.
Go Micro and break down the big tasks into bit goals. Most tasks are less daunting and more do-able when they are broken into manageable steps.
On a personal level, challenge yourself to do something difficult every day – 5 extra slow pushups, wake up a half hour earlier than usual, make that awkward phone call, or give blood. Whatever challenge you take on make it reasonable and a bit beyond what you think you could do.
As always, if you want to learn more about CoreCoaching with me, email Rebecca@MindfulCommunication.com
Rebecca’s CoreFour Coaching
"It takes more than courage to be an Entrepreneur, it takes CORE." Find out more.
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I’ve been diligently working on my next book: The COREageous Entrepreneur: The Four Core Skills and Routines Every Founder Needs to Succeed. I’ve been working at it for a few years now, accumulating evidence and testing out my thesis.
Talia D. a wannabe COREageous entrepreneur from Bloomington, Indiana writes: I wrote up a business plan for a service startup, hailed by my professors and my mentor as ‘a winner.’ But they advised that I need to be more confident in myself to pull it off. How do I begin building more confidence? 
"It takes more than courage to be an Entrepreneur, it takes CORE."