The Great Facade

“How is everything going?” This is a common question we ask each other every day. In the world of entrepreneurship, this usually means: “How is your business going?” We like to answer these questions with something positive held close to the surface. Rarely does an entrepreneur disclose their challenges, because “everything is great!” This is usually a facade we present outwards to people. It is also a trap.

Sure you don’t need to air your dirty laundry to everyone who asks you how you are doing with your business, but if you keep your cards too close you may be missing some real opportunities to solve your problems. As an entrepreneurship culture we need to do better at asking if an entrepreneur needs anything right now for their business. As an entrepreneur we need to do better at saying something like “right now, we are working on this and I really need to solve for ‘x’ to take the next step forward.” This is how we escape the trap of “everything is great!” After all, we are entrepreneurs, don’t we hate traps?

— Amy