You Can’t Start a Business Unless You’re Willing to Do this Annoying Task

Summary

An entrepreneur's willingness to handle detailed paperwork and business setup tasks is crucial for success and investor interest.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the importance of attending to the detailed and often tedious tasks of starting a business, such as forming an LLC, trademarking a name, and managing tax forms. It suggests that while many aspiring business owners may have great ideas, their success hinges on their ability to handle the administrative and legal aspects of their venture. The author illustrates this point through a personal anecdote of a potential investee who was dismissed as a candidate due to his aversion to paperwork. The article argues that successful entrepreneurs are characterized by their meticulous attention to detail and their proactive approach to understanding every facet of their business, including the fine print of legal documents. It concludes that an unwillingness to engage with these tasks is indicative of how one might run their business and that a lack of dedication to these fundamentals is a red flag for potential investors and collaborators.

Opinions

Paperwork and administrative tasks, though potentially annoying, are essential components of starting and running a successful business.
Entrepreneurs who are not willing to engage with the detailed aspects of business setup and management are likely to fail.
The attitude towards handling mundane but critical tasks reflects an entrepreneur's overall approach to their business.
Successful entrepreneurs are those who are willing to learn, understand, and manage the intricacies of their business, including legal and administrative details.
An entrepreneur's dedication to the unglamorous aspects of business is a strong indicator of their potential success and can influence investor decisions.
It is legal to start a business without formal structures like an LLC, but understanding and managing paperwork is still a necessity for any legitimate business entity.

How to not be one of the 20% that fail in the first year

I was chatting with a gentleman last week who has a fantastic idea for a business. He is proactively seeking investors for his startup and set up a call with me to “tell me all about it.” Read: Ask me for money.

I love hearing about new projects. And if I feel the project has a good probability of succeeding, I will consider investing. However, this man uttered four sentences that made me immediately hit the mental red eject button. I was out. Never to get back in.

“This is a solid idea. Where are you currently with the company? Have you formed an LLC yet or trademarked the name?” I asked.

“Well, not yet. I want to do it, but I just really don’t like doing all of that paperwork. It’s so much to read and it’s just so many little details. I’ll probably do it a little bit down the road.” He casually tossed out those words as flicking a cigarette butt out of his C 63 AMG window. As if not wanting to deal with details and fill out paperwork was totally acceptable for a guy about to start a massively high-risk company.

Nope. I was out. I found a way to gracefully exit the conversation and high-tailed it to other projects. Why were these four sentences so important? I’ll tell you. Paperwork is everything. Details are everything. Your product is cool, but if you can’t deal with the business “stuff” surrounding selling your product, you might as well throw in the towel right now.

The annoying task

Paperwork is a thing. Filling out tax setup forms, operation agreements, filing statements of information, obtaining an EIN — all of these things require filling out paperwork. For most people, this is not fun. In fact, it’s pretty annoying. But, if you’re unwilling to do it, you’re going to get nowhere.

You can have all the ideas you want, but until you’re willing to sit down, download forms, read the fine print, and do the minutiae required to get the business ball rolling, you’re doing nothing. It’s like that person who is always “writing a book” but who doesn’t even have the first chapter written.

Listen, it is perfectly legal to start a business without any kind of structure. You don’t need to pay LegalZoom hundreds of bucks to get yourself an LLC. That’s not the point. If you are unwilling to create/file/read detailed paperwork, you are not going to be successful in your business.

Whether it’s the terms and conditions on your website, a contract with a client, or a waiver of liability, you will have to learn to read the fine print and fill out forms.

Paperwork is important. It may not be on paper anymore, but if you want to create any kind of legitimate entity, you must force yourself to do it. You must be willing to sit down, dig in, and make sure you understand whatever documents you sign, create, or distribute. I know this sounds like common sense, but so many people are unwilling to do this.

What this says about you

Like my acquaintance looking for investors, it doesn’t matter what kind of fine print you're faced with. It’s the attitude with which you approach it that matters the most.

Successful entrepreneurs are willing to dig in to the details of their endeavors. They’re interested in finding out the details of every aspect of their business(es). They know that the more they understand about the entity they’re creating, the more effective they will be at running and growing it.

My acquaintance demonstrated an unwillingness to tackle what he deemed a difficult task. What does that say about how he will run his business in the future? You guessed it. He’ll probably be as lazy with other aspects of his business as he was with trademarking his (really fantastic) company name.

And that was why I was out.

The way you approach any one thing is likely the way you approach everything. If you are willing to jump in, get your hands dirty, learn, patiently wade through the uninteresting tasks, and grow as a person along with your business, people will clamor to help you along the way. If you’re not dedicated, people can smell it from a mile away.

What kind of entrepreneur are you? Are you willing to fill out forms, read through contracts, and do all of the paperwork your business will require? If so, you’ll be on the track toward success. If not, I recommend finding yourself another vocation.