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Everyday a great idea crosses someones mind on how “if there was just an app that does X” it could revolutionize an industry, personal life, or just improve day to day existence. So many of these sparks of genius are never realized and no action is ever taken.

There are many reasons for this. It’s often very expensive to build just a prototype. Raising capital is extremely difficult and very time consuming. Most often, the individual with the idea isn’t a mobile or web application developer, designer, marketing strategist, sales professional, business model expert, CPA etc etc.

Each one of these niche professionals is vital to growing a successful company, whether it's a startup or an established business. Since there is a million to one chance you are an expert in all of these fields, it's extraordinarily important to make the right choices in who you partner with, hire, or gain investment capital from as you formally start putting your business together.

So, why not just go out and find all the appropriate resources you need? Turn the dream into reality; rock and roll into the good life.

Why Is It So Important?

Here is where reality kicks you in the teeth and tests your entrepreneurial metal. Without a working business model, traction and revenue, it’s hard to sell your vision of the future to potential team members, investors and customers.

Could you apply to startup accelerators like Jumpstart Foundry or Techstars and hope to be 1 of 10 startups selected out of thousands of applicants? Sure you can. Is that guaranteed to happen? Of course not. Can you go pitch angel investors and get funded? Of course. Is that likely to happen? No. You have a 1 in 300 chance of them saying yes.

Even if you get funded, you still need the appropriate members of your team in the different professions mentioned to have a reasonable chance of success.

Why All These Negatives?

Many of you reading this are probably wondering “why would you talk about all these negatives, why aren’t talking about the great reasons to launch a startup”?

The answer is it’s better to walk into the risks of entrepreneurship with your eyes wide open. When you decide to try and turn that dream into reality, understand that you’re taking a step off a cliff with no parachute. Everything rests on your shoulders and you must allow your inner fire to spark the power to fly into the unknown.

Once that ability is realized, you will quickly appreciate what it means to carry the weight of entrepreneurship. While the days are long and the burdens are real, the freedom it brings and the personal satisfaction is worth every moment of fear, stress and responsibility as your dream begins to take shape.

Why is it so hard to achieve startup success?

It’s not that it’s hard to put all the pieces together. That goes without saying. It’s hard because most founders taking a step into the unknown never allow that fire to burn. They never accept the rarity of everything falling perfectly into place, and success coming without being tested on a daily basis.

So entrepreneurs, rise up. Accept reality. Go into the unknown with your eyes wide open and your sword drawn. Be a leader and willing to shoulder the burden it brings. You will be amazed how many of the things needed will fall into place, the team members that will follow you, and investors who will see the same sparks in you that led to THEIR success!