This comment is a reflection on the state of social networks and not a critique of the OP’s post.
One thing I always see glossed over in articles like this one is: where to find these experts giving advice?
On one hand, of course its this way. The people writing these articles are already experts (or pretending to be!) and are immersed in dense networks of entrepreneurial people and are targeting people with access to these networks. Almost by definition, the people starting the biggest/most-profitable/MOST-EST businesses are largely going to be people with access to these same networks and capital. Much (most? all?) of this seems predicated on physical location.
On the other hand, I’ve started and exited a successful (relative to its peers in its physical area) business and know a person or two like me that are located outside of urban areas where these types of entrepreneurial networks are focused. I know all of us would’ve greatly benefited from a vastly expanded network of experts. And, unfortunately, our networks in more rural areas of the US are much better than what is available in large swathes of the world.
If someone’s starting a business in a field they have some expertise in themselves (and I wouldn’t recommend they do otherwise), it seems likely they’d know at least one suitable expert, or else know someone who knows one. And if not, they could try approaching people they don’t know out of the blue—I imagine some would be helpful enough to give free advice. (I do!)
Yes, definitely. The sparse nature of expertise networks in most areas still seems to really rear its head.
This isn’t to say it’s impossible. Like you say approaching people out of the blue is a good idea, and I can say with experience that it works! It’s just that (maybe?) there are greater barriers for these people.
It’s more a problem of finding entrepreneurial experts than it is in finding field experts. Imagine you have an idea for building a business that disrupts the Jiffy Lube’s of the world (I got my oil changed today) but you’re located in Montgomery County, KY with a population of 27k. You can likely easily find someone willing to give you ideas about how an auto repair shop works, but very unlikely that you’ll know of someone who, for example, knows how to start a franchising company, or do good market research, or how to find investors, or whatever.
Maybe this budding entrepreneur just shouldn’t be attempting to this. Maybe the budding entrepreneur should just be moving to whatever more urban areas is appropriate for their field. It’s just that I find all this a little unfortunate for all the areas that get drained of the best entrepreneurs.
This comment is a reflection on the state of social networks and not a critique of the OP’s post.
One thing I always see glossed over in articles like this one is: where to find these experts giving advice?
On one hand, of course its this way. The people writing these articles are already experts (or pretending to be!) and are immersed in dense networks of entrepreneurial people and are targeting people with access to these networks. Almost by definition, the people starting the biggest/most-profitable/MOST-EST businesses are largely going to be people with access to these same networks and capital. Much (most? all?) of this seems predicated on physical location.
On the other hand, I’ve started and exited a successful (relative to its peers in its physical area) business and know a person or two like me that are located outside of urban areas where these types of entrepreneurial networks are focused. I know all of us would’ve greatly benefited from a vastly expanded network of experts. And, unfortunately, our networks in more rural areas of the US are much better than what is available in large swathes of the world.
If someone’s starting a business in a field they have some expertise in themselves (and I wouldn’t recommend they do otherwise), it seems likely they’d know at least one suitable expert, or else know someone who knows one. And if not, they could try approaching people they don’t know out of the blue—I imagine some would be helpful enough to give free advice. (I do!)
Yes, definitely. The sparse nature of expertise networks in most areas still seems to really rear its head.
This isn’t to say it’s impossible. Like you say approaching people out of the blue is a good idea, and I can say with experience that it works! It’s just that (maybe?) there are greater barriers for these people.
It’s more a problem of finding entrepreneurial experts than it is in finding field experts. Imagine you have an idea for building a business that disrupts the Jiffy Lube’s of the world (I got my oil changed today) but you’re located in Montgomery County, KY with a population of 27k. You can likely easily find someone willing to give you ideas about how an auto repair shop works, but very unlikely that you’ll know of someone who, for example, knows how to start a franchising company, or do good market research, or how to find investors, or whatever.
Maybe this budding entrepreneur just shouldn’t be attempting to this. Maybe the budding entrepreneur should just be moving to whatever more urban areas is appropriate for their field. It’s just that I find all this a little unfortunate for all the areas that get drained of the best entrepreneurs.