I’ve been spending a lot of time lately with entrepreneurs in the early stages of building their businesses. I am not an expert, but having built a couple of small businesses and run Zander Media for the last eight years, I’ve noticed that I give the same advice again and again. I recently distilled that advice into ten principles which I wish somebody had told me when I was first getting started.
Myth 1: Build It and They Will Come
Reality: Nothing spreads by itself.
The belief that a good product sells itself is comforting – and wrong.
Excellence matters. But ideas don’t travel on their own and products do not magically find their audience.
Without deliberate communication, even great work stays invisible – because nobody knows it exists.
Persuasion begins long before money changes hands. It begins the moment you decide to help the right people notice the thing you built for them.
Myth 2: If You’re Good, People Will Notice
Reality: Being good is just the beginning.
Competence is necessary, but it is not sufficient.
Many thoughtful, capable people freeze. They improve their craft endlessly while avoiding the discomfort of speaking up.
What actually creates momentum is not just quality but enough visibility that quality can spread.
Good work is necessary. But an audience does not appear without invitation.
Myth 3: Business Exists to Make Money
Reality: Business exists to solve problems.
Money is not the function of a business; it’s the result.
Every healthy business exists to solve a specific problem for a specific group of people. But solving a problem privately doesn’t change anything.
Selling is the act of communicating that a solution exists.
If no one understands what you offer, who it’s for, or why it matters, the problem remains unsolved.
Myth 4: Always Be Closing
Reality: The goal isn’t “yes.”
Most of us promote our businesses with some degree of desperation.
But the “always be closing” mentality only creates an illusion of control. It actually narrows future possibilities.
When you pressure someone towards a decision, you reduce trust and limit the relationship.
The most successful business people don’t chase agreement; they create the conditions where saying yes makes sense.
Myth 5: Pressure Works
Reality: Pressure creates resistance, not commitment.
When I was 10 years old, two Mormon missionaries came to my house. They asked me about my faith, lectured me about what I should believe, and told me – literally – that I was going to go to hell.
Not only did I not change my mind at that moment, but for years after I had a grudge against Mormon missionaries.
Pressure doesn’t accomplish your real objective.
Myth 6: You Need to Persuade Them
Reality: Business requires alignment, not convincing.
One of my favorite quotes is from Stanford professor BJ Fogg, PhD. He teaches: “Don’t try to persuade the unpersuadable. Find the people who already want what you are offering and make it easier for them to say ‘yes.’”
Most people don’t need to be talked into anything. They need help clarifying what they want and then encouraged to act.
Nothing productive happens when you try to drag someone somewhere they don’t want to go.
Great entrepreneurs remove friction.
Myth 7: Sales Is Manipulation
Reality: Manipulation ignores agency.
Manipulation is trying to get people to do things that they do not want to do.
Great entrepreneurship, by contrast, requires inviting somebody to do something – including buying something – that they believe they want and that will benefit them.
Selling and persuasion aren’t inherently good or bad. How they are used determines their worth. If you approach business with an eye towards helping people, you rarely go wrong.
Myth 8: Popularity Doesn’t Matter
Reality: Being liked is leverage.
When I graduated high school, my mother told me that everything was going to get better from here. She explained that unlike middle school or high school, life after high school wasn’t a popularity contest.
My mother – bless her – was wrong.
Being liked by a lot of people is a competitive advantage.
Your product has to be at least as good as anybody else’s — and ideally much better! But if you know lots of people and are liked by many of them, you’ll do well.
Conversely, if you are unknown or unheard – no matter how good your product or service may be – it is very hard to succeed.
Myth 9: You Have to Be Loud
Reality: You have to be clear.
There’s a stereotype of salesmen as loud, brash, and gregarious. That you have to talk to lots of people and charm them.
But business is actually much simpler than that.
- Figure out who your customer is.
- Determine what they need.
- Figure out how to meet their need.
- Communicate that you’re able to do so.
- Do it.
It doesn’t matter if you are loud or quiet; persuasive or inquiring. You just have to follow those steps.
Myth 10: Nice Guys Finish Last
Reality: Long-term wins favor trust.
There’s a common misconception that in order to get ahead you have to be willing to play rough.
Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be true. Nice people just tend to be much quieter about their wins.
When you are kind, do well with others, and work doggedly towards what you want, you’ll go much further.
You’ll also have a better time along the way.
