When it comes to receiving good advice, less is sometimes more. You may have been there. A good idea pops into your mind and immediately you follow-up on your hunch with bits of initial research – you can feel the beginnings of excitement starting to simmer at the back of your mind. As an entrepreneur, I am well familiar with that burgeoning  feeling – the possibility of maybe.

Or you may decide to take a step in a brand new direction; a new job, a move, a decisive step away from someone or perhaps choosing to forgive something most find unforgivable. Whatever it may be I urge you to choose your counsel wisely. Beginnings are fragile and raw – that is the nature of them – and they are not yet ready for good advice, criticism, the next step or common sense. Sometimes you have to do stuff your own way and it may pay dividends to keep schtum until you have a platform on which you can project your ideas and your strategy. Only then, with some necessary armour and a certain amount of teflon coating, are you ready to withstand the constructive advice that inevitably will come your way.

Often beginnings are made of a hunch; and hunches can’t be explained. Only you know, in your gut, what is the right next step. What you need is encouragement, time and support. You know who your people are. They are the ones who let you shine and blossom, who belive in you no matter what. I call them the original incubators, they are by your side way before investors ask questions about P&L and future strategy . They never stop believing in you, even if you fail. Failure is almost certain for most of us one time or another but it does not mean you don’t get up and try again.

Remember this. It really doesn’t matter what others think, how old you are, what others have done before you or what it may look like. Only you can be authentically you in this world and the way you do things is unique – just like you are.  Stick to your guns, focus, plug away and explain later.

Good luck!

Birgitta x