How to Actually Start Your Business (What Nobody Tells You)
There’s a conversation happening right now on Reddit that every aspiring entrepreneur needs to see.
An aspiring entrepreneur posted a simple question: “How did you start your business?”
But here’s what makes this post different—they didn’t just ask the question. They revealed the real struggle behind it.
They’ve saved $5,000. They’ve been researching for months—watching YouTube videos, taking courses, listening to podcasts. They ask AI chatbots daily about which business to start, and the answer changes every few days.
Right now? They’re thinking about starting a cleaning service for roofing companies. But they’re not sure. They don’t know if it will work. They’re trying to figure out how to get a laptop so they can start.
Does any of this sound familiar?
If you’ve ever felt stuck between dreaming and doing, between research and action, between “I want to start a business” and actually starting one—this is for you.
The Research Loop That Keeps You Stuck
Let’s talk about what’s really happening here.
This person has $5,000 saved. That’s more than many entrepreneurs start with. They’ve done their homework—courses, content, research. They have a concrete idea: cleaning services for roofing companies.
So what’s the problem?
They’re stuck in the research loop.
The research loop looks like this:
- Find a business idea
- Research it extensively
- Find potential problems or better alternatives
- Switch to a new idea
- Repeat
It feels productive. It feels like progress. But here’s the brutal truth: research is not action, and information is not experience.
You can study business strategy for five years and still have no idea how to actually run a business. Because running a business requires skills you can only learn by doing—handling rejection, solving unexpected problems, making decisions with incomplete information, dealing with difficult customers, managing cash flow under pressure.
None of that comes from YouTube videos.
Why We Choose Research Over Action
Before we go further, let’s be honest about why this happens.
Research feels safe. As long as you’re researching, you can’t fail. You’re “preparing,” “learning,” “getting ready.” Nobody can criticize you for being thorough.
Action is terrifying. The moment you approach a roofing company with your cleaning service, you risk hearing “no.” You risk looking foolish. You risk discovering your idea doesn’t work. You risk failure.
So we stay in research mode. We tell ourselves we need more information, better clarity, the right tools. But what we really need is courage.
What Actually Starting Looks Like
Let’s get specific. If you have $5,000 and you’re thinking about starting a cleaning service for roofing companies, here’s what starting actually looks like:
Week 1: Validate the Idea
- Find 10 roofing companies in your area
- Call or visit each one
- Ask if they currently use cleaning services
- Ask what their biggest challenges are
- Ask what they’d be willing to pay for a solution
Cost: Your time and maybe transport money. Learning: Whether this business idea has actual demand.
Week 2: Test the Service
- If you got ANY interest from Week 1, offer to clean for one company at a heavily discounted rate
- Do the actual work
- Learn what equipment you need, how long it takes, what challenges come up
- Ask the customer for honest feedback
Cost: Cleaning supplies (maybe $100-200) and your labor. Learning: Whether you can actually deliver this service and if customers value it.
Week 3: Refine and Price
- Based on your test, calculate your real costs (time, supplies, transport)
- Set actual prices that cover costs and give you profit
- Approach 5 more companies with your real offer
- Try to get your first paying customer
Cost: More supplies if needed, your time. Learning: Whether people will actually pay for this service at profitable prices.
Week 4: Decide
- If you got paying customers: You have a business. Scale it.
- If nobody would pay your prices: Adjust your prices or pivot to a different service.
- If there’s no demand at all: You just saved yourself from wasting a year on a bad idea. Pick a new one and test it.
Total spent: Maybe $500-1,000 of your $5,000. Total learned: More than you’d learn from 6 months of research.
Notice what’s NOT on this list:
- Building a website
- Creating a logo
- Buying a laptop
- Setting up social media
- Registering a business name
- Getting business cards
None of that matters until you know if anyone will actually pay you for your service.
The “I Need X First” Trap
Let’s talk about the excuses that sound legitimate but are actually just fear in disguise.
“I can’t start until I have a professional website.” “I need the right equipment first.” “I should get business cards before I reach out to anyone.” “I need to take one more course to be ready.”
Here’s the truth: if you’re starting a service business, you don’t need any of that to get your first client.
You need:
- The ability to deliver the service
- A phone to communicate
- The courage to talk to potential customers
- A way to receive payment
Everything else is what we call “productive procrastination”—things that feel like progress but actually delay the real work.
Your brain uses these “needs” as excuses. It’s saying, “I can’t start until I have [thing],” because starting feels scary. Getting that thing feels achievable and safe.
But here’s the reality: if you can’t start your business without perfect conditions, you’re not really stuck on resources. You’re stuck on fear.
Start with what you have. The fancy tools can come later, bought with money you earned from the business.
The “Which Business Is Best” Trap
This entrepreneur keeps asking AI which business they should start, and the answer changes every few days.
Here’s why: there is no “best” business to start.
There are businesses that match your skills, your market, your resources, and your willingness to do the work. But you won’t know which one that is until you test it.
The cleaning service for roofing companies might be perfect. Or it might be terrible. The only way to find out is to try it.
Stop asking “which business should I start” and start asking “how quickly can I test this idea to see if it works?”
What Successful Entrepreneurs Actually Did
Go read the stories of successful business owners—anywhere in the world.
Very few of them started with clarity. Most started with:
- A guess about what might work
- Limited resources
- Plenty of fear
- A willingness to try anyway
They didn’t have all the answers. They had one idea and the courage to test it.
They didn’t wait for perfect timing or perfect tools. They started with what they had.
They didn’t feel confident. They felt terrified. They did it anyway.
And here’s the key thing: most of them ended up doing something different from what they originally planned.
They started with one idea, learned from the market, and pivoted to what actually worked. But they only discovered what worked because they started.
Your Choice Right Now
If you’re in a similar position—money saved, ideas swirling, no clear answer—you have two choices:
Choice 1: Keep researching.
Keep watching videos. Keep taking courses. Keep asking AI for advice. Keep switching between ideas every few days. Stay exactly where you are, feeling stuck but “productive.”
Choice 2: Pick one idea and test it this week.
Not perfectly. Not with all the answers. Not with all the tools. Just test it. Talk to real potential customers. Try to make one sale. Learn something real about whether this idea works.
Only one of these choices moves you forward.
Only one of these choices turns you from an aspiring entrepreneur into an actual entrepreneur.
The Real Question
That Reddit post asked: “How did you start your business?”
But the real question underneath is: “How do I find the courage to start when I’m scared and uncertain and don’t have all the answers?”
And the answer is: You don’t find the courage first. You start anyway, and the courage comes from doing.
Every successful entrepreneur was once exactly where you are—scared, uncertain, overthinking, stuck between research and action.
The difference is they eventually chose action. Imperfect, messy, scary action. And they learned everything else along the way.
What Happens Next Is Up to You
You have resources. You have an idea. You have the ability to test it this week.
The only question is: will you?
Will you make one phone call to one roofing company? Will you have one conversation with a potential customer? Will you take one small action that moves you from researching to doing?
Or will you spend another week, another month, another year in the research loop, waiting for clarity that only comes from action?
