Small Biz Stories: Protect Your Vision

One of the most important things for an entrepreneur to do at the beginning of a new venture is to protect their vision. Louie Northern of Ascend Aerials suggests that when you are working on an idea, it’s important to hone the idea and pitch it to other people, but to do so carefully in a way that that will nurture and cultivate your idea, not discourage it. Share, but don’t overshare.

Many people like to share their ideas with close friends and family, people they know best and love most. But there are two risks. First, the people who care about you the most are most likely to be worried about risks to your well-being. They are likely to see the downside before the upside. Second, you care more about what the people you know best think. If they don’t understand your idea or don’t react the way you want them to—and every idea is overlooked or misunderstood by a lot of people in the beginning—it can be very discouraging, and cause you to abandon your vision.

Louie loves to pitch his ideas to total strangers—like Uber drivers. These people have no vested interest in your or your well-being, and whether or not you gain their approval isn’t an important part of your psyche. So they are likely to give an honest answer, and you can accept it easily. You can tell if they think it’s a great idea or if they’re uninterested, and if they’re uninterested you can always try pitching to a new person or else adapt your pitch for the next time.

For the full story, watch this 4-minute video: