A discussion about the process, steps and options of starting a new business

Are you guilty of this?

When someone asks what you've been doing since you left your traditional 9-5 job, you say, "I'm trying to start a business."

Trying?  I'll never forget a friend of mine saying to me "How would you feel if you got on an airplane, and the pilot said 'OK, we're trying to fly to Miami now' as you taxied down the runway?"  Hmmm...I guess I wouldn't feel too comfortable at that point.

With that in mind, I now tell people that  "I'm opening a business."  Regardless of what happens after that, I am definitely opening one, not just trying to.

Another word, and concept, I've had to eliminate is failure.  OK, so maybe that worry isn't gone totally, but my feeling is that whatever happens down the road, I haven't failed.  I set out to open a business.  I'm opening one.  I've learned a lot along the way.  I've met plenty of interesting people and cultivated relationships.   I've already succeeded, and I'm sure I will succeed in many other things in the months and years ahead.

There's another phrase I'd like to hear less of, also.  Have you heard this one from your friends?  "Everyone says..."  Everyone says that most new businesses fail, everyone says we don't need another widget store in this area, etc.  Well, "everyone said" that the Wright brothers would never get their airplane off the ground.  Good thing for us they didn't listen. 

It's good business to solicit and heed practical advice, but you should listen to naysayers with a grain of salt.  I have a magnet in my kitchen that says 'Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right'.  Follow your heart.

What other words could be eliminated from our vocabulary?