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The Scrappy Entrepreneur


It's fairly early on in my entrepreneurial journey, but I've been asked a number of times how I've gotten in touch with some of the guests I've had on Knowledge Bandits. You might remember me mentioning this in a previous post, but I think all entrepreneurs need to be scrappy!

One of the things that wastes so many entrepreneurs' time is this idea of being pretty at the "finish line." So many new entrepreneurs want to reach that height of success, whatever it is, and make it look like it was easy. You have to realize that starting a business is hard work. You need to be creative about how you solve your problems. It's very likely that some obstacles you encounter don't have step-by-step answers online. You almost need to create another business within your business to solve problems. At that marker that you've set out for yourself, at the finish line, you will be bruised, but that's just what it takes.

When I started out, I had this perfect picture about how things would be. I even imagined what obstacles I'd face and dreamt of the solutions. My mistake was thinking that the startup world cared about what problems I wanted and how I wanted to solve those problems. It doesn't matter what problems you have and how tough they are— just find a solution!

This is where scrappiness comes in. At the risk of sounding too Confucius-like, scrappiness isn't something that can be explained in great detail. One must be focused on the goal, then scrappiness will come to you.

Even though I've talked about scrappiness as this indescribable thing, I'll try to give you an idea of what it takes.

Until there is a clear answer

And even after you have a clear NO!, scrappiness will make you push a few more times at that same door. This isn't just about going the extra mile, it's about pushing until you see results. A no is a no, until it's a yes. Rahama Wright of Shea Yeleen was rejected from Whole Foods a few times before she got that yes. That and many other stories on Knowledge Bandits show this entrepreneurial resilience.

Homemade, scrappy solutions

Sometimes the solution you come up with won't be aesthetically pleasing and that's alright. Does it work now? Will it continue to work? These are the more important questions than, is this too desperate looking?

You need to move quickly sometimes and spending time on aesthetics isn't always the best use of your time. As an entrepreneur that needs to move quickly, sometimes you'll need to have the brick exposed and the welding showing. When you have time, you can come back with paint and other finishing touches, but you'll see in some circumstances you just need something that works.

I want to hear some of your scrappiness stories. Please comment or connect with me at arum at knowledge bandits dot com.

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