Use the Skills You Have

​"I have no idea what am I doing..."
That is one of the refrains I hear from so many new Entreprenoras when we first start working together. They are usually high-achieving professionals with backgrounds in law, finance, consulting, medicine, media, and IT, so it always surprises me when they express feelings of confusion or inadequacy when it comes to their new business.

Now of course start-up life is new to them, so some of the anxiety is about the new-ness. But I always reassure them that starting a business is like working in any other business: It requires due diligence and financial analysis, operates under supply and demand  dynamics, can be SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analyzed, is dictated by cash flow, and requires a good product-market fit. I could go on.

Whatever business you're in, certain fundamentals hold true. It might feel terrifying or scary because it's new to you to be starting from scratch, but it's not rocket science (and if you are a rocket scientist, you probably have lots of transferrable skills you can bring to your new business too!)...

​So do an inventory of the skills you already have and USE them. Leverage the personal experiences and professional expertise that you can already bring to your business. And don't over-worry about the things you don't know how to do yet. (You can learn... that's why you're here!)

If you were once a banker, your financial due diligence skills will be invaluable when you assess potential deals. If you were once in sales, those skills will be perfect in marketing and selling your new product or services. If you come from a non-profit  background, you can use your grant-writing expertise to craft compelling Angel investor pitches. If you're a lawyer by training, you can kill it when it comes to reviewing business contracts. If you worked in IT, you can use your project management skills to manage your new product development. And on and on and on...

You get the idea. You already have a lot of valuable skills that you can use in your new business, whether you start it as a side-hustle or jump into it full-time.

So stop worrying about why you can't start, and start thinking about how you can use the skills you have to get started. Plug information gaps (being a part of this community will help!), get smart about your industry and trends, go to events, speak to people who are doing what you want to do, and then use the skills you already have to make a success of it.

It won't be easy, but you have got this.