Why shouldn’t you be stupid? Why should you feel dumb when you do something other people aren’t “hip” to? Why should you should believe that following your own pattern will make people dislike you, your business and your beliefs. The truth is, being stupid could be just the thing your business needs in order to grow effectively.
How many of us could sit back 10 years ago, see a company called “Google” and believe it would be the powerhouse it is today? Not many of us. But I bet the creators did. They invented a word and did something that no one else was doing and turned it into their own brand and are now as rich as rich can be 
All because they dared to be stupid. Or how about the guys who create Youtube? Or how about Seth Godin giving away so many great marketing ideas for free every day on his blog? You know, some people actually believe that giving away things is BAD for business. Yea, go figure.
Are you scared to chase your dreams?
When you think about your dream job, or the ‘perfect life’ do you get that same exciting burst of energy and excitement that I get when I am planning different things for my business? Yeah, I bet you do. That my friends, is called Passion. I’ve wrote about passion previously on this blog and when you get a free minute or two, I’d suggest checking it out. So you’ve come to the realization that you have that burning passion, but what do you do next?
If you’re like most small business owners, or aspiring small business owners, you’ve probably let a little bit of doubt sink into your head. Maybe you’ve thought the following thoughts before:
- I don’t have the skills needed
- Where am I going to find all of the money required to do this
- I just don’t know where to start
While these are all perfectly logical thoughts to have, you NEED to realize that they should not paralyze your dreams. I was reading “The 4-Hour Workweek” the other day and came across this line in the book and it fits perfect with our current topic: “Risks weren’t that scary once you took them”. (oh, and did I mention Timothy Ferris is another guy who gives away great marketing and business ideas on his blog for free too?)
So how do we actually “dare to be stupid”?
It’s a simple concept really. Daring to be stupid is essentially the exact way you lived your life when you were a child. You were care free, did things your way and really didn’t care about other peoples opinions. That is how you dare to be stupid in a nut-shell and should be printed out in large, bold text and placed in your office somewhere.
Guerrilla marketing can be looked at as daring to be stupid simply because these marketing strategies are being put to practice in ways that other people haven’t thought of before. As a bootstrapper, you need to realize that being stupid doesn’t always mean failing. Yes, you can make a stupid decision and fail, but without action, there is no reaction. So yes, without trying something ‘stupid’ you can never fail; but you’ll never succeed either.
So find that inner child in you, dare to be stupid and jump with a leap of faith. It just might pay off more then you think.
Very nice article. And actually I’m now in the moment were I think should I just follow my passion and be a little stupid to stop my school in the last year…. :/
It is costing me a enormous amount of energy to do something for school. And I feel that I don’t need that stupid paper… So this post makes me think, thanks for that
R
Hi Rogier – Thanks for commenting and I am glad that this article helped you out in its own special way
If you have questions on anything or would like advice, feel free to let me know.
I agree with this – I was ‘stupid’ before I started my business, and I think if I hadn’t been it might have frightened me out of it! Sometimes it’s better not to know too much.
Hi Tara – Yeah, I totally agree with you. Sometimes knowing too much can cause you to hesitate when you shouldn’t. Might be a good topic for me to follow up on
I have been stupid. Being what I would call an accidental entrepreneur, I was never fully prepared to own my own company. Now I’m paying the price because I have no strategy, no plan. So, if I can move the “stupidness” around a little bit so that I can regain control and plan for success.
Good article. I agree sometimes we cannot be afraid to be stupid. Too often we’re so afraid of being looked upon as a fool that we fail to ask questions on things we don’t understand. What I believe is ‘Ask and be deemed a fool for that moment than to not ask and be a fool for the rest of your life’.
Great job on the article. I can personally relate to this because I been in business for several years, and I am still a college student. I always did what I liked (computer technology came naturally to me), and somehow it led me from enjoying car stereos in high school, to installing them for clients with my friend, and years later has led our company to where we are now: my daily job involved dealing with CEOs of international companies to provide them with in-taxi and in-bus digital & interactive advertising solutions. The moral of the story is dare to be stupid and FOLLOW YOUR PASSION!
This is an empowering thought, sometimes that sponteneous burst of creativity might just be the thing that can change our lives forever! Although we must be careful in weeding out the essentially worthy “dumb” ideas from what can just be a truly bad idea.
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