Seeking permission to start

If you’ve wanted to start an Online Business for yonks but haven’t, then your block could be that you are seeking permission?

This is in my consciousness because in a recent post I discussed the merits of needing an MBA to start an Online Business.

This led me to dig a bit deeper. When someone asks me that question, what are they really trying to say?

They’re saying: I’m procrastinating, hesitating, delaying, overthinking because I need permission.

MBA: Seeking Permission?

Before we talk more about permission. Let’s put to bed needing an MBA to start an online business once and for all.

Thanks to the rise of entrepreneurial stardom/fandom the successful company founders of yesteryear have their stories etched into the very fabric of the internet and society (Aren’t they the same thing?). 

Founders such as – Steve Jobs (Apple), Steve Wozniak (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Evan Williams (Twitter), Daniel Ek (Spotify), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Matt Mullenweg (WordPress) to name a few.

What do all these founders have in common? (Apart from being businessmen *sigh*). 

Answer: They all dropped out of college/university.

So if we’re looking for concrete evidence that it’s possible to create a successful Online Business without an MBA – we’ve just got to look at history.

When looking at history we can wonder – would Mark Zuckerberg have turned Facebook into a success if he’d stayed at Harvard? It’s impossible to know for sure, but we can take a probable guess that it would’ve been unlikely. But imagine if he’d said, I need my degree to validate me as a person and in turn, it will give me permission to build Facebook. We’d likely still be using Myspace.

Seeking permission is normal

If you’re kicking yourself right now because you haven’t started that business you’ve been talking about for months (years). Don’t be. Seeking permission is deep-rooted into our psyche. It’s normal. We spend decades as kids seeking the permission of our parents. Can we – cross the road, play video games, have that chocolate cake?

We then enter the education system and spend the next decade seeking the permission of our teachers.

To then enter the business world and turn this behaviour off – is easier said than done.

Draw a line in the sand and start your Online Business

So no judgment! But! and there’s a big but! You must turn it off. If you’re ever going to start an Online Business you’ve got to stop seeking permission.

Because in the world of creating Online Businesses there are no parents or teachers or MBA’s waiting to give you permission. If you’re expecting this then you’ll be waiting a long time.

Another approach. This only works if you’re being super honest with yourself. If you’ve realised you are seeking permission to start an Online Business. Then simply study history. Study inspirational people. Study those that built Online Businesses without seeking permission from anyone.

But just long enough for reassurance.

Then draw a line in the sand and just do it.