The entrepreneur spin move… Fake it till you make it

Posted on March 20, 2019 by Evan Carter, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

Being successful in business can mean many different things to many different people. But ultimately it means being profitable, and hopefully profitable running a business that you love.

I asked myself this question because my marketing partner was in an Uber last night and the Uber driver was talking about being a business owner. Naturally, my marketing partner pitched my services and the driver said “I don’t need a business coach, I have 6 businesses and already know what I’m doing”. Ok fair enough, she thought, but then asked “Do you feel that you are as successful as you want to be?” Then came the ol’ entrepreneur spin move… “Well that depends on how you define success,” he said.

I get it. I have been an entrepreneur for 14 years. We are so fucking good at this move. We project success like it is confetti after a Final Four championship. We HAVE to. If we didn’t, people wouldn’t work with us, and most importantly, our friends wouldn’t think we were rich. (Why does everyone think entrepreneurs are rich? We are broke.) Don’t worry, the friends that work in corporate America aren’t reading this because they are bored by now…. Because they don’t fucking get it.

If non-entrepreneurs knew what it was REALLY like…. Oh shit, they would stay 1000 feet away from us. So yes, we have to fake it until we make it, but sometimes we fake it so well, that we fake ourselves out.

That’s what I believe this Uber driver is doing. If an entrepreneur is terrified to let a mentor or coach dive into their financials, they probably aren’t doing that well and don’t anyone to really find out. In my past, I didn’t want someone looking into mine, and that was one of my first mistakes.

We have an identity, and we are terrified to lose that identity because so many people believe in that identity. And we don’t want to let anyone down. Especially ourselves.

What we need to remember is that we need to also live in reality. Reality sucks. Reality bites. Reality is much harder. That’s why we spend 14 hours in the office checking our emails or analytics hoping for sales and traffic, then come home to polish off a bottle of wine. But reality is what we need to be successful. And reality becomes much easier the more you face it.

So next time you are talking about how successful your business is and someone legitimately asks to help or offers advice, listen and don’t get defensive. An outside perspective may be what you need.

Baby steps.