I’ve been approached countless times by young individuals and aspiring entrepreneurs just starting out what I call the start-up stage.
Some come with impressive ideas. Others talk about new technologies, sophisticated systems, and big dreams. But when I ask them,
“Do you have any customers yet?”
“Have you started selling the product?” and the answers I often get are:
“Not yet, still refining the idea.”
“Waiting for the grant to be approved.”
“The business model isn’t perfect yet.”
This is the real issue for many young entrepreneurs today as they spend too much time thinking and not enough time starting.
As a fan of cars and motorsports, I often give this analogy: If you’re in a rally or a race, you have to start and hit the accelerator. You can’t just stay in the parking lot. What good is a beautiful, powerful race car if it never moves?
Business is the same. If you keep waiting for everything to be “perfect” before you start, someone else who began with the simplest setup will already be far ahead. Why does this happen? Because too many get stuck in the Dreaming Phase.
When you overthink and over-plan for too long, you’ll eventually fall into one of these two categories:
1. The Grand Seeker : The Perfect Idea Chaser
This person is always chasing a game-changing business idea. Every week the model changes. Today it’s an app to sell vegetables, next week it’s a logistics platform. But not one of those ideas ever launches.
They keep waiting for the “perfect timing,” the “flawless product,” and the “ideal conditions.”
But the truth is there’s no such thing as the perfect time.
2. The Grant Seeker : The Funding-Only Founder
This person is heavily reliant on grants:
i. When MARA opens an application, they apply.
ii. When MOSTI calls for tech projects, they shift the model to ‘technology’.
iii. When Zakat opens a social impact fund, suddenly it becomes a charity project.
They’re excellent at writing proposals but the actual product? Still nonexistent. And here lies the danger: once the grant money runs out, so does the business.
The Reality of Business:
You must sell first then scale. Let me share a real example:
There was a team working on a project to help fishermen sell their catch directly to consumers. Great idea. But they took two years to build the “perfect system.” They were too scared to start because the platform wasn’t “stable” yet.
At the same time, someone else used just WhatsApp and Google Forms and already made tens of thousands in sales. So what should you do?
If you’re just getting started or feeling stuck, here are three simple reminders:
1. Use What You Have
You don’t need a sophisticated system. WhatsApp, Excel, or Google Forms are enough to get started.
2. Find Your First 5 Paying Customers
Don’t wait until you have thousands. If five people are willing to pay for what you offer, that’s enough to validate your idea.
3. Sell First : Deck Later
A 50-slide pitch deck is useless if you have zero customers. Focus on generating sales. You can create the proposal later.
My Advice: Step on the Gas. Stop Waiting
If you’re still:
a. Drawing your business plan for the tenth time,
b. Switching ideas every month,
Waiting for a grant before taking action
Then you’re still at the starting line and if you keep waiting, others will outpace you. In the real world, customers don’t care about your perfect system. They want their problem solved.
True founders aren’t just dreamers. They’re the ones brave enough to take action even if it’s messy and simple at first. Step on the gas. Start now.
It doesn’t have to be perfect but you just begin and along the way, improve and refine as needed.
In this journey, there are no shortcuts. All of us will go through moments of uncertainty, stumbling in the dark, unsure if we’ve chosen the right path.
But one thing I’ve learned even from my limited experience is that success in business doesn’t come to those who admire the future from afar.
It comes to those who dare to take that shaky first step.
I’m not an expert. I’m not an academic with a string of titles. I’ve simply walked this road a little longer, fallen a few times, gotten back up, and learned that dreams only become real when you move.
Let Me Put It This Way
In motorsports, no car ever wins a race just because it looks good on paper. High horsepower, beautiful bodywork, full tuning all just theory until it’s tested on the track.
You won’t know how your suspension performs until you hit that first corner. You won’t know if your torque is strong enough until you accelerate out of it. You won’t know the right tire pressure until you experience the heat and road conditions. You only learn these things by racing.
The same goes for business. Unless you start, unless you step on the gas and get on the real track, you won’t know what’s wrong, what needs tweaking, or what can be improved. Maybe you’ll find your customers don’t care for advanced features they just want something easy to use.
Maybe your product isn’t durable enough. Maybe your payment system is too complicated. All this only becomes clear when you face the real world. That’s what we call a developmental process.
Start now even if it’s not perfect and fix things along the way. We improve the suspension when we feel it’s too soft. We retune the engine when RPMs drop. We adjust the brakes after experiencing a hard corner; and none of that happens if the car stays in the garage being polished but never enters a single race.
To all young founders, start-up dreamers, and those just beginning their journey:
1. Don’t be afraid to start.
2. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
3. Don’t spend forever sketching on the whiteboard only to forget how to build.
Be the one who dares to step on the gas not the one stuck behind the wheel, gazing at the future in the rearview mirror.
What I’ve shared here isn’t because I know more than anyone else. I’m simply offering lessons from the little experience that Allah has allowed me to taste. If there’s any good in this message, know that it comes from Him and if there are flaws, they’re entirely mine.
May every step we take no matter how small be blessed and bring benefit to many because in the end, this world isn’t permanent. But the kindness we leave behind that’s the real legacy.
