What's the Problem?
What's the Problem?
99% of Entrepreneurs Fail to Do This!
Do you want to be an entrepreneur? Not just someone who has an idea, but someone who generates millions of dollars off their idea?
That’s what an entrepreneur is.
The truth is the “entrepreneur” umbrella covers more people than most people realize. If you run a small business, you are an entrepreneur. If you have a side-hustle, you are an entrepreneur.
And obviously if you launch a startup—you are an entrepreneur.
But what do 99% of entrepreneurs get wrong?
Pivoting this Newsletter
In order to provide more value to you, I am pivoting this newsletter to monthly instead of weekly. And the reason I’m doing that is because I want to take a deeper look into issues and obstacles that entrepreneurs face.
That means, the newsletter will be a little longer to read—which is a good thing!
Which also means—there will be more valuable information!!
And lastly, it will be something that you can start to use in your everyday life as a small business owner, side-hustler or straight entrepreneur.
I hope that you will tell others about this newsletter—and all of the amazing things we will discuss. If you know someone that runs a small business, has a side-hustle or is an actual entrepreneur with a startup—share this newsletter with them.
Today’s Topic
This is going to be the newsletter for June 2024.
And what we are going to take a deeper look at is why 99% of entrepreneurs fail and one of the first big mistakes they make when they start their venture. So let’s get into it.
The most successful businesses in the world “solve a problem.”
That is why the title of this month’s newsletter is “What’s the Problem?”
So what I want you to do right now is write down on a piece of paper the answer to this question:
“What problem does your business idea solve?”
If you can answer this question in the next 5 minutes—you are ahead of the curve. And since being an entrepreneur is a lonely place to be—maybe you need to hear that.
If you answered the above question with a really clear and concise answer—you are on the right track.
But did you know that 99% of entrepreneurs cannot answer that question.
Which means, the odds are you are having the same problem right now.
“I don’t really know what problem I solve” might be the answer you gave to the question.
My Own Entrepreneur Journey
If you’ve been subscribed to this newsletter from the beginning, you probably know my entrepreneur journey at this point, but if you’re new. Here’s a quick summary:
I worked for 20 years inside the K12 system
I am the only educator in America to have successfully researched, developed and run three pilot programs
I left the K12 system in 2019
I launched my first successful startup in 2013
I launched my second startup in 2020
And that’s where I am today, working on my second startup.
And the truth is “it’s not going so well.”
Yes, you heard me.
It’s not going so well.
So what’s the problem?
Getting Lost in the Forrest
Being an entrepreneur myself, I can see why 99% of entrepreneurs fail. The biggest challenge for entrepreneurs is managing our ambition. If you want to be an entrepreneur, you are by nature a risk-taker.
Cautious people do not want to run a business.
Cautious people do not want a side-hustle.
Cautious people are not launching a startup venture.
You need to realize that you are a different type of person than cautious people.
But that’s also your biggest weakness.
And the truth is most entrepreneurs tend to get lost in the forrest of ambition.
I want to do too many things.
The problem is you can’t stretch yourself too thin and hope to succeed. That’s not how it works. If you want to succeed, you need to hyper focus on what you need to do at that very moment.
And if you have a solid business plan—then your ability to execute will put you at the top of the success ladder.
I started my social media accounts in 2020. As an educator, social media is literally the worst thing to ever be invented. Social media promotes bullying, negativity, narcissism and creates low self-esteem, anxiety and depression.
But that’s an educator’s perspective.
On the other hand, social media is awesome for business.
Why?
Because social media is free advertising for your message. And you can reach half way around the world from the palm of your hand.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to grasp the awesome power of social media, while at the same time recognizing its detrimental impact it has on human beings.
But that’s the problem.
Most entrepreneurs are moving too quickly to stop and smell the roses.
And that describes me to a “T.”
Too Many Things at Once
David Ogilvy, the grandfather of American advertising once said that you can only sell “one message at a time.”
And he was 100% correct about that.
As entrepreneurs, we are highly productive people. You can do multiple things at once and do them at a high level. Your problem isn’t productivity.
Your problem is slowing down.
Here’s a list of all the projects I am currently working on:
I run a YouTube channel with close to 2k subscribers
I write this newsletter “Overcoming Obstacles”
I write articles for Medium
I write a newsletter for the NY Rangers hockey club (in season only)
I run Education Development Institute, an education research think tank
I run Leaf Academy, my second startup, the first online 21st century school
See the problem?
I do too much and what I need to do is slow down.
That’s why I am pivoting this newsletter from once a week to once a month.
What’s Your Brand?
Before you decide to stop doing one thing and focusing on another. I want you to take a step back and consider your brand.
That’s right—”what do you stand for?”
When you move too quickly, you can lose sight of your brand.
This is what happened to Apple Computers after they fired Steve Jobs in 1985. At the time, Apple Computers was considered the best personal computer on the market and they were seriously threatening IBM computers for the personal computing space.
But then the Apple Board of Directors did what no one ever thought possible—they fire the Founder of the company.
And for the next several years, Apple Computer proceeded to go bankrupt.
In fact, when the Apple Board decided to bring Jobs back in 1997, Jobs admitted Apple was three weeks away from declaring Chapter 11.
And we all know about the great Apple turn around.
But why was Jobs successful?
And the answer is he “refocused the brand.”
What did Apple stand for when he left?
What does Apple stand for now?
Jobs used to say, “Apple is all about cool personal devices that people know how to use right out of the box.”
And that’s Apple’s brand.
You know that when you buy an Apple product, it’s going to work, you’re going to be able to figure it out right away and it’s going to look cool.
Sounds simple, except defining your brand might be one of the hardest projects you execute.
So take a moment to think about it:
What is your brand?
You Need Definition
When you don’t know all the answers, defining something is a scary proposition.
For 99% of entrepreneurs, they are flying by the seat of their pants.
There’s a time and place to be nimble and agile—but there’s also a time and place to be solid and grounded.
And the key for entrepreneurs is to develop both mindsets—and not only that, but know when to move quickly and also when to slow down and start defining things.
If you’re a solo-preneur, you can move as quickly as you want.
Until…
Yes, that’s right until you need other people to understand you.
And at that moment, you need to slow down.
No one knows what’s going on inside your head, but you.
That means, you need to slow down enough to articulate your ideas and your wishes for the future.
If you solve a world problem—then you need to be able to communicate what problem you solve? how your startup solves it? and why people should start using your solution.
What I just outlined for you is the hardest thing to do in the world.
And the entrepreneurs that are better at doing those three things—will be the ones that succeed. And the entrepreneurs that are not good at those three things—will fail.
And that’s the bottom line.
I Want You to be Successful!
My goal and purpose with this newsletter is to help you be more successful. That’s why I spend the time writing this newsletter. That’s why I spend the time thinking about the most important obstacles that most entrepreneurs face.
That’s why I do all of this—FOR FREE!!
This newsletter is my way of giving back to the entrepreneur community.
I don’t gain anything from this newsletter.
I know that sounds crazy—why don’t I gain anything?
It’s just not how I operate.
My mission and purpose in life is to fix the K12 system.
This newsletter is my way of giving back.
If you want to help me fix the K12 system—then you can contact me on X or Instagram, but other than that—I want you to be successful in your own startup ventures.
I have been an entrepreneur since 2013. That’s my start date.
That means, I have been an entrepreneur now for over 10 years.
When you do something long enough and you are successful at it—you tend to learn lessons. Some of those lessons are harder to swallow then others, but you learn a lot over a 10-year period.
My background is in education. But I’m not a common educator either.
I have conducted 20 years of academic research and read 20 years of academic literature. So I combine my 20 years of knowledge and research with my decades worth of entrepreneurial experience—to write this newsletter for you.
Again, it’s all 100% FREE!
Which is why I think you should share it with everyone you know. Because why not??
There are more nuggets of information in all of my newsletter editions, then you’ll find on several YouTube channels or hundreds of business related books.
And the best part—you have an opportunity to actually interact with me, by making a comment:
My Medium account is called Professor Schwartz.
I toyed with the idea of making this newsletter called, “The Performance Coach.”
And if you subscribe, you get access to all the archives of not just this newsletter, but the catalogue of video podcasts from the “Tuesdays with Schwartz” show, where I discuss more topics in business and entrepreneurship.
Get Access to a 21st Century Education
We all know that the key to success is “education.”
But did you know that you did not learn the fundamentals of 21st century team building, leadership and problem solving skills in school. In fact, you didn’t even learn them in college or graduate school.
Therefore, if education is the key to success—are you surprised to learn why life is 10x more difficult in 2024 than it should be.
That’s the facts!
You should have learned the fundamentals of 21st century leadership, team building and problem solving skills in school. Because if you would have learned those skills in school—becoming a successful entrepreneur would be easier.
The truth is that I’m not really an expert.
But I know as much as experts do.
Which confuses most people.
“If you know as much as experts, why doesn’t that make you an expert?”
Take a moment to think about that statement in your own life.
If you’re an entrepreneur and you want to launch a startup that solves a real-world problem, do you need to be an actual expert in that problem?
Or do you just need to understand the problem like an expert would, but you have discovered a solution that works.
The problem with a lot of experts is—they don’t have solutions.
Experts understand things at a high level—that’s why they are experts.
But experts are not always problem solvers.
And that’s the difference.
As an entrepreneur—you need to be a problem solver first, but you don’t always need to be expert.
Dealing with Resistance
I want to conclude this month’s newsletter with these thoughts.
The minute you say you can solve a real world problem—you are going to encounter resistance. Now that might surprise you.
After all—why wouldn’t people want to fix problems in the world?
The answer is complicated.
The truth is people do want to solve real world problems, but most people are cautious and non-risk takers. And solving problems means you have to take a risk.
When you wrap your mind around that one issue—it will help you deal better with resistance.
People are not against you—they are against risk at all costs.
“I’d rather do it the same way, as long as I don’t have to risk losing what I know.”
This is most people’s mindset.
You can judge them for it, but I caution you against doing that as well.
The only way to make change possible is to help people admit that they have a problem they don’t like. Once you can get people to admit that they don’t like something—now they are in a mindset to want to change.
You need people in a change mindset, otherwise—nothing you say or do will matter.
But the change mindset isn’t enough.
And that’s because people are going to be naturally cautious.
If you showed someone 1 million dollars in $100 bills—and said to them “you can have this million dollars if you complete these three tasks.” The truth is 99% of people would say “no thank you.”
And if you’re sitting there saying, “no way!”
That’s because you are a risk-taker and 99% of people are not like you.
If you showed most people a stack of $100 bills—they would be highly suspicious. They would even be scared.
Yes, they would be scared of a million dollars.
I hope you hear what I’m saying because it will help you be more successful.
After you get someone to admit they don’t like something—that’s when you need to find out if they want to do something about it.
And this is the step most entrepreneurs and business people skip over.
They wrongfully assume that most people want to fix problems they hate in their life. And that’s simply not factual. And psychologists have been studying this phenomenon for the last 100 years.
Why do people not want to fix problems?
And the answer comes back to risk-taking and fear.
The average human being would rather deal with the problem they know—then risk changing something and deal with an unknown future.
So what can you do to overcome this obstacle?
And so here’s why this newsletter is called “Overcoming Obstacles.”
When you get to this point in your business cycle—where you are talking directly to your ideal customer. What you need to do is get them to admit that fixing the problem would make their life easier and better.
If they freely admit that the problem they encounter is annoying and they don’t like it—you need to help them admit that they have the power to change and fix their life. They don’t need to deal with that problem one more day—unless they want to. And the key is getting them to admit—the choice is theirs.
Do you want to deal with this problem one more day or not?
When you empower your ideal customer and make them realize they have the power to change their world, that’s when they will decide to say YES to your solution. If you don’t help your ideal customer feel powerful—they will say NO all day long.
Help your ideal customer feel they have the power to fix their problem—and you win!
Share the Monthly Newsletter!
I hope you enjoyed this expanded newsletter. I think it’s more helpful to be able to go deeper into topics and really expand out how you deal with things in real life, rather than just trying to give you a listicle every week.
There are other places to find checklists and listicles.
You don’t need one more.
The “Overcoming Obstacles” newsletter will dive deep into real issues and real obstacles facing the business community.
But I want you to realize that you can interact with me on this platform. That means, if you have a question, or if this edition or any other edition sparks your thoughts and opinions, then please share them.
The more you participate—the more you will get out of this newsletter.
The Business Self-Assessment Test
The Education Development Institute created a business self-assessment test that you can take if you want. It’s a series of 100 questions that you can answer on your own or with your team.
And the answers will help you unpack what your business is doing right and areas that you might want to focus on. If you want to take this business self-assessment test—just follow this link: