What has been the most challenging part of starting a business (service or product)?

@gaurangt1 Agreed. People at jobs go through the same thing though, just keep that in mind. Grit is very underrated and non-entrepreneurs don't really grasp that concept the same way. You got this GT.

@huy_xuan How are you currently trying to solve for that?

@anshaj_goyal I agree with majority of this, but I think developing a service or product by conducting a ton of research is overkill. I would say for anyone starting out focus on solving your own problems, build small, and expand. It's the only way to truly validate if there is market fit, let the market decide.

@abid_unnisa my rule of thumb is, start small. Build the first version, get feedback, and build from there. Don't have all the features from day 1.

@anthony_medland thanks for this. I can totally relate. One thing I've carried throughout my career which has helped me a lot is, "never fail alone". It's easy for us to get so product/dream oriented that we forget about loved ones, friends, and other's whose encouragement and support can go a long way. You might not have a co-founder, but join a church, a support group, a community organization, anything that can help you stay focused and believing in your dream.

@anthony_medland you're on your own, but like @josh_edmond said below, you can join communities to help you push through and learn through difficult times. I had to do this, although I feel like I did it a bit late in my process, but I did it. It's a huge change in mindset. It's ok to ask for help. It's ok to make mistakes. And you don't have to be 100% alone doing it. When you see others going through it, you help each other.

Hey @todd_opertivo - I would actually do the following: Continue to support those people, authentically. There should be no stipulations just because they are friends or family. If you feel in your heart you want to support them, then do so, but don't do it because you feel like you should or have to. That's the wrong angle in my opinion. Also - people not supporting you, who gives a F***. There are 300+ million people on Twitter, and probably double that on LinkedIn. Share content, share your story, share your business, the right people will find you and share your posts. Don't force people to do anything, it's not authentic and it will come through in their post. As you grow on Social media, you will start to attract like-minded people. Connect with them through DM's and start putting together smaller POD's (engagement groups) to help each other grow (again authentically). Social media moves fast, people are doing 100 different things everyday, you can't expect them to catch your post every time you put something up on Twitter, LinkedIn, FB, IG, etc. Instead, post it to those engagement groups and ask for feedback and support that way. Your audience becomes theirs and theirs becomes yours. It's an effective way to stay on course, be authentic, and grow. I went from 900 followers to 5k in 5 months and launched 3 different products in that time while running 2 agencies. It's not easy, but the work starts to pay off. Let me know if you have any questions, reach out on Twitter. Cheers my man and good luck.

@zbijelic Thanks Zlatko! Super helpful!

@therealetch @richard_gao2 Lovely Richard. Good luck with the project and AI is a big topic of conversation, I hope to see you crush my man.

@therealetch @zbijelic Good luck to you as well! What did you feel was the hardest part of building your business?

@therealetch @richard_gao2 thank you. For me it was understanding how to delegate, I was taking on too much and being controlling. I needed to step away from that and understand that it can't all depend on me. That's tough as a founder.

@hayerhans I believe that 90% of entrepreneurs go through that, it's tough. I've been at the low and at the high of that and the low feels lonely. I also think a good strategy is to take some of that pressure of by finding a job to pay bills and run a side business until you can make more than your salary and then go all in on your business. It might take longer, but worth the stress management.

@your_price_booking I wish I can tell you whether you will survive or not, but I don't have that magic wand unfortunately. If you survie, that's amazing and you can build something big. If you don't, you learn a lot and the next one will be much better. Keep going.

@zbijelic I would say the same!

@joanduarte this is the right attitude. You are not going to find solutions from day one. Entrepreneurship is all about finding creative ways to solve something. The long game.

Hey @nickolas_mparalos - I completely get where you're coming from. I, myself, have always been an idea person, hiring developers, marketers, etc. Truly never felt that anyone in the marketing side was doing anything authentically. So in April 2022 I started writing online about entrepreneurship, my agency, and my products. I have been building things online since early 2011 across ecommerce, ios, and many other places. I always felt that I had a lot to share and alot to help people with, but imposter syndrome was kicking in. One day I just said F*** it, I am writing online and if someone reads it and gets value, great. If not, that's fine. Along with that, I am constantly building new SaaS products and running a service agency + coaching early-stage entrepreneurs through their struggles. At the beginning of this year I decided to turn it up a notch. I focused on building a personal brand through Twitter + LinkedIN and then I started a newsletter (because I started writing in April 2022) and also using my personal brand to market my products and businesses. One thing to realize is that this is a long game, not a short game. You're not going to make money from day 1, you might have to wait until day 200 or longer. The biggest piece is: consistency. You have to show up everyday, you have to put out some content, and you have to continue paving your own path. Don't compare yourself to other people and how many followers they have, the only thing that you should focus on is improving and continue to focus on what gives you energy. Through the right audience and the right followers, you start to build trust which brings customers. I am experiencing that right now through my social channels and my newsletter. Hopefully this gives you a bit of insight and confidence to keep kicking the can down the road and really focus on delivering value to other people first, and focus on customers second. Brand will always win in the long-term. Reach out on Twitter if you have any questions.

Hey @nickolas_mparalos that's awesome to hear man. I appreciate that - it means a lot. Look forward to seeing you on the other side (Twitter hahaha). Have a great day and I am rooting for you.