School for Startups Minutes

Hosted by jim@schoolforstartups.com (Jim Beach)

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300

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Jun 2026

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About the show

The short vignettes are taken from School for Startups Radio. We release a quick thought to motivate or educate you about a different facet of entrepreneurship every day.

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60 recent

June 14, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1014: Quit too Soon

So many people want to be entrepreneurs, but are not, and it's so sad. It's hurting America, it's hurting yourself, it's hurting future generations of your family. You need to go out there and act. I know that there are reasons that you're not, and I hope this week we can overcome some of them. There's one more reason I want to talk about this week, one more thing that's preventing your success. I'll do that right after this. When I started my first business decades ago, I went to the post office every day to see if I had any money coming in. It took 42 visits to the post office before I got my single check. That is very usual. Success takes longer than we expected. Customers arrive slower than we thought they would. The reality is that entrepreneurship is a little bit less dramatic than the movies, and success is built on consistency and long-term planning and execution. It's not going to be fast.

June 14, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1013:Permission

Do you wish that you were an entrepreneur, but you're not yet? There are so many people like you. It is probably the number one situation in America. Seventy-two percent want to be an entrepreneur, but only 10 or 11% are. And I know there are so many reasons: the fear of the risk and the fear of failure, all of those things, but we have to do something to get started. We can't plant the tree yesterday. I have a bunch of things that I've been talking about this week. Next, I want to talk about one more mistake that we make. I'll do that right after this. In life, we're always waiting for permission from our parents, from teachers, bosses, spouses. In entrepreneurship, no one is ever going to give you permission. You must give it to yourself. Take your right hand, put it up in the air, and say, "I am going to be an entrepreneur." That's the only permission you're ever going to get. Don't wait for permission; just act now, you.

June 14, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1012: Can't Sell

The theme this week is why people do not become entrepreneurs. So many of us want to be, but we are not. It's maybe because of the inertia, maybe because of the fear, the fear of the unknown. You just don't know what to do, but I'm trying to help you get over these fears and realize that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. We just have to get over these speed bumps. I'll give you another one of the little problems we need to overcome right after this. I'm a very introverted person, and I hate selling, but I realized early on that I had to learn to sell. There's no way to be an entrepreneur if you can't sell your own product. I know it's uncomfortable, and I know it can lead to rejection, but we have to get going, and you are the best person to sell your product. No matter how introverted and shy you may be, you must get out there and learn to sell your very own products. I did it. You can too.

June 14, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1011: Overestimate the Risk

This week, we are talking about why people don't become entrepreneurs. Seventy-two percent of Americans say they would love to be an entrepreneur, but only about 10 or 11% are. And what are the reasons, and can we change these reasons so that people will be more likely to start a business? I do believe that we can do that, and I'll share another potential reason that people don't start a business right after this. Oh, and how to get over it. People are afraid to take the risk, but let me tell you this little scenario. If you work for Coca-Cola and get fired, you have zero. If you're an entrepreneur, say a landscaper, and one of your 20 clients fires you, you still have 19 clients. Entrepreneurship may be even less risky than a corporate job in America these days. That's how much America has changed. You have to think about risk in a different way.

June 14, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1010: Waiting for the Idea

Last week, I tried to convince you that entrepreneurship is not about creativity, risk, or passion, and that anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. If you missed it, go to School for Startups Radio.com and click on the Minutes button, and you can check those out. This week, I want to take it a step further and tell you why people don't become entrepreneurs, even though 72% of Americans want to be entrepreneurs, rich, and famous. They don't do it. They sit on the sidelines, sit on the sofa. Today, I'm going to tell you why they don't do it and how we can get over that. I'll start in just a second. One reason they wait is that they're waiting for the perfect idea, the breakthrough idea, the million-dollar idea, the idea that no one has ever had before. And while they're waiting, nothing happens, and other people start the businesses. You have got to find an idea, copy an idea, find something to get moving on now.

June 7, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1009: Action

I've had two goals this week. One was to redefine entrepreneurship so that it actually makes sense. We do not need to worry about creativity. We simply copy ideas and make them better. We do not accept risk. We find ways to ameliorate it, have other people face the risk, or make sure that we sell in advance of starting the business. We do anything we can to reduce the risk. And then, we are passionate about our family and our God, not necessarily the business. So, what was my second goal? I'll share that with you right after this. My second goal is to get you into action. I want you to get off the sofa, destroy the remote control, and take control of your destiny. Go and start doing things. You can't plant a tree yesterday.

June 7, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1008: Revenue

This week, we have been talking about what entrepreneurship is and what it is not. I've already pointed out, and I hope you believe, that it's not about creativity, risk, or passion. When you throw those out the window, you realize anyone can be a successful entrepreneur. There's only one thing actually left. I want to point that out right after this. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people start businesses. They file paperwork, they design logos, they print business cards, build websites, and then nothing. Then they disappear because there's one more step, and that's actually doing something that people find of value and will pay for. In other words, until you get revenue, you're just starting a business. When you actually have a check to cash from somebody else, that's called entrepreneurship.

June 7, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1007: Passion

Already this week, we have addressed the fact that entrepreneurship is not about creativity or risk. Most entrepreneurs copy their ideas from somebody else; they just do it a little bit better. They prove their idea for less than $5,000, and most of them bootstrap after that and own most of the business with very few outside investors. There's another myth about entrepreneurship I'd like to bust. I'll do that right after this. Common business advice says, "Follow your passion." It sounds so inspiring, but it's actually wrong. Most entrepreneurs do not love their industry; they would rather be with their family on vacation. They do not love commercial cleaning products; they didn't dream of becoming a janitorial supply company. No, passion usually follows success, not precedes it.

June 7, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1006: Risk

This week, we are going to talk about how people get rich in America. I've already pointed out that millionaires are mostly first-generation entrepreneurs and business owners. So, the question is, what is entrepreneurship? I've already pointed out that it is not necessarily about creativity. You can be creative, but most entrepreneurs are not. I'll bust another myth about entrepreneurship right after this. Another myth is that entrepreneurs love risk. The exact opposite is true. Entrepreneurs do everything they can to reduce risk in all parts of their lives. They test ideas before they invest, they talk to customers before building products, and they start small and learn quickly. In fact, most entrepreneurs are more cautious than people realize. Successful entrepreneurs look for ways to learn cheaply before committing expensive resources.

June 7, 20261 min

SFS Minute 1005: Creativity

Last week we celebrated the 1,000th episode of this series, and we talked about how to get rich in America, and I showed that 87% of millionaires are first generation millionaires. They did it themselves and became entrepreneurs, and so this week I want to define what entrepreneurship really is, because what you think it is is probably wrong, and I'll show that right after this. I think almost everyone on the street would agree that entrepreneurship is about creativity, and they would be wrong because entrepreneurship is not about creativity. It's about something very different: innovation. The local plumber didn't invent plumbing, and the landscaping company didn't invent grass. You don't have to come up with something new. Ninety-three percent of businesses are copies of existing businesses. Instead of trying to be creative, be innovative.