Thinking of starting your own thing? Here’s the fastest way to get clarity and momentum
Focus on value creation, not value signaling
Most people, at some point in their lives, will consider staring their own business.
You might have a startup idea that you’re intrigued by.
You might see a franchise opportunity that you think would be fun and enriching.
You might want to start a side hustle.
You may even want to do the work you currently do as an independent consultant or fractional executive rather than as a full-time employee.
Starting a business isn’t just for tech bros.
Starting your own thing — whether it’s a venture-backed startup or a one-person freelance shop or a side hustle — is an incredible way to do the work you love, on your own terms, with all the flexibility and freedom you could ask for.
And if you’re thinking about starting your own thing, here’s the fastest way to get clarity and momentum—
Focus on value creation, not value signaling
If you’re thinking about starting a bakery…
Value creation is baking things and giving them to people.
Value signaling is deciding the name of your bakery, designing a logo, and choosing your brand colors.
If you’re thinking of becoming a coach or independent consultant…
Value creation is helping people, by posting content, talking to them, or doing a project for them.
Value signaling is setting up a website, making business cards, writing your bio, and nailing down the perfect elevator pitch.
If you’re thinking of founding a startup…
Value creation is building a prototype of your product and giving it to customers.
Value signaling is building a pitch deck, networking with other founders, and making a spreadsheet proving that this could scale to a $1B business one day.
Too many people get stuck in the rabbit-hole of value signaling without ever creating any value.
You WILL need value signaling at some point.
But you need much LESS of it than you think.
And you need to do it way LATER than you think.
The best thing you can do at the very, very beginning is just get started creating value, as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Hey, baker…
Find a bunch of local bake sales and farmers’ markets. Bake things and sell them there. Set up a Google form to take orders and use Venmo to take payments.
Hey, coach or consultant…
Write a bunch of posts about concepts you think are helpful. Share them to your existing social media followers or to a few friends. Reach out to people you’ve worked with in the past and ask if they need help with any projects.
Hey, founder…
Hack together a basic version of your product using Google Sheets and ChatGPT and manual work on the back-end. Ask 5 friends to use it and tell you what they think.
When you’ve created lots of value, value signaling becomes easy and obvious.
It’s easier for you to do the branding for your bakery when you’ve already baked and sold a bunch of things.
You can draw on that real-world data to decide what the branding should be.
It’s easier to do an elevator pitch for your coaching or consulting when you’ve already helped a bunch of people.
You can draw on that real-world data to decide what the pitch should be.
It’s easier to write a pitch deck for your startup when you already have a bunch of customers.
You can draw on that real-world data to decide how to talk about it.
And the best signal of value…is actual value.
So get out there and start creating value today.
AND…you might run into some mental blocks when you try to do that.
If you know you SHOULD be creating value but you just can’t seem to get yourself to DO it…
I want you to come talk to me.
I have a three-point framework for pinpointing the exact blocker that is stopping you.
I have a proven process for clearing that blocker out of your way so you can get back to doing your best work.
And I can be your on-demand accountability buddy to keep you out of value-signaling rabbit holes and on track with value creation.
Let’s start today :)
What my clients have to say…
“Having been a real academic overachiever, I get into this situation where if things are not perfect, I get stuck in a rut. Unless it's all perfect, I don't move forward.
But Pooja taught me the concept of ‘quantity creates quality’ and gave me practical goals every week, and that really helped me move forward in my professional life (and even in my dating life!).
I moved from just sitting around in my room overthinking everything and not really taking any action, to having weekly appointments to move things forward, and having someone holding me accountable to getting stuff done. And that just gave me a lot more self-belief and structure.”
—Client | Communications Consultant turned Lawyer
Did you know I have a full table of contents, where all my work is categorized by topic, so you can easily find what you need right now? Check it out below! :)
💻 Website | 📸 Instagram | 🎧 Podcast | 💌 Newsletter | 👋🏽 Free resources