I recently did a talk to The Cincinnati Entrepreneur Meetup Group and I figured I’d post some of the content from that session to the blog. The talk consisted of 12 points, here’s #1:

First, expect lots of naysaying to your business idea. Even the best startup ideas will have many reasons not to pursue them. There is no perfect idea, not even close.

It’s easy to ignore the people you expect little wisdom from—it’s when the smart/hip people start ripping into your idea that you’re going to question yourself. Here are some famous smart/hip (at the time) naysayers and their classic wisdom:

• “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, Chairman, IBM 1943
• “There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home.” – Ken Olsen, Founder, Digital Equipment Corp. 1977

Everything looks like a big mistake—until something good comes out of it. And know that often times, what appears to be the safe play is the risky one (killing your idea).

When I decided to start my blog, my “inner-naysayer” said some fairly damaging things to me. “You have nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. There are literally a million blogs out there, why add more noise?”

A good post by Steve Pavlina on a few self-employment myths. My favorite from his list is #4 Self-employment means putting all your eggs in one basket.

A smart entrepreneur builds multiple income streams. At a glance, it seems risky to attempt build multiple income streams (yet another myth). In truth, it’s the safe thing to do. Even if you have a full-time job, you can use your 9pm-12am time (after the kids are in bed, if you have them) working on your business (or businesses) to add a second stream of income to your primary one.

Remind yourself from time-to-time that you may be subscribing to ideas that when confronted head on, are mythical. These notions are blocking you from making daily progress on your business venture. Fight back!