Trough of sorrow and shiny new business syndrome

If you're like me, you probably think about all sorts of businesses you could start.

Just yesterday I thought I should get into buying underpriced storage facilities because I read something by a guy who bought one for no money down and the property is now worth millions of dollars. It didn't even look that hard!

Nick Huber - My $2,600,000 cash out refinance

Never mind that I have no experience in real estate or managing a storage facility. I wanted in!

What I noticed about these urges to start new businesses is that they tend to come when my main business (government consulting) is feeling slow or I face a setback.

There is a famous chart about startups that depict "The Trough of Sorrow."

Every startup gets a big energy boost early on at the beginning. The founders are motivated and are making rapid progress on something new. It's exciting. They might even get covered in the tech magazine TechCrunch!

But then after the novelty wears off the "trough of sorrow" comes along. Things feel flat. You're not making progress towards your key goals and you just feel stuck.

This is very similar to 1099 life. You make the decision to go 1099 and you're excited by all the rapid progress you're making.

But then a deal falls through or you don't get the billable rate you wanted or the gig you did land is just boring.

You think that maybe you should get out of the industry entirely and pitch something on Shark Tank. After all, you have a unique take on a new dairy-free ice cream that Mark Cuban would abolutely love!

You just got shiny new business syndrome.

It's more exciting to think about the possibility of starting a NEW thing rather than work through the problems of my current business.

But that feeling is deceiving. To be successful at any business, you'll need to learn to deal with problems, not just flee them.

So I'd encourage you to reflect on your true motivations when you're thinking about starting a new business. Are you just trying to escape a difficult but solvable problem? Or do you actually want to start a different business entirely and are willing to deal with the problems that come with that business.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.