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You Say You Want to Start a Business, But You Won't Do This One Simple Thing

By Art Harrison • July 22, 2025

Your business won't start with perfect plans—it starts with a simple post. Learn why public declaration is the most powerful step you're avoiding.

Your business—whether it's your first, fifth, or even tenth—is not going to start because you had the perfect plan or even a working product.

It's likely going to start when you make a simple post.

I know that may sound trivial. You're probably saying there's got to be more to it than that. But I'm going to tell you: there isn't.

If you really want to get started this time, if you want to stop dreaming and researching and actually build something that's yours, you need to understand just how powerful the little actions you could be taking right now really are.

The Insecurity That's Killing Your Dreams

Deep down, all of us are incredibly insecure. That's just a fact.

I don't care how confidently you present yourself—there's almost certainly something that right now you're hiding from your friends, family, or partner because you want to get a little bit better at it before you start doing it in public.

And the same is true for the business you want to start.

You can watch all the videos you like. You can do research, take courses, build a website in stealth. But at the end of the day, it's not going to be real until you tell people this is what you're working on.

This fear of public declaration is often what keeps people stuck in analysis paralysis—endlessly preparing instead of starting.

The Tale of Two Entrepreneurs

Imagine there are two people with generally the same idea.

Person A does the typical thing:

  • They hide and do everything in private
  • They spend weeks or months building a plan
  • They work on the website and logo
  • They try to perfect their pitch
  • They do all the things, but haven't told anybody about it

Person B just hops on LinkedIn and says: "Hey everybody, this is what I'm thinking of working on. What do you think? Do you know anybody who would be interested in this? Do you have any ideas?"

Which one do you think is more likely to succeed?

The reality is Person A not only has no momentum, but the anxiety they have about telling people what they're working on is growing stronger every single day.

I'm sure you've been in the same situation. The longer you spend on something, the more polished you feel it needs to be to justify all that effort. And the more likely you are to delay telling other people.

But Person B, who just said it right out of the gate? They still have to do work. They still need their plan, website, everything else. But now they're accountable.

This accountability is crucial for building entrepreneurial confidence—the belief that you can follow through on your commitments, especially public ones.

My Own Public Declaration

Just yesterday, I made one of these posts for myself because I'm starting a new business. Even though I have the same fears you probably have, even though it makes me a little uncomfortable to talk about it, I knew it was the right thing to do because this one I want to succeed.

I was completely honest about how long it took me to come up with my idea. I was honest about the struggles I've had during the past year and a half.

It's not as if I was hiding the entire time—if you watch my channel, you know I've been talking about First Step Entrepreneur for the last month. This was just the first time I announced it to my network.

Even though only 20 or 30 people reacted to it, I didn't make this post for congratulations or adulation. I didn't make it expecting my business to blow up or to find my first customer. I made it to simply make the idea real.

That's the same intent you should have using this framework. It's not about instant success. It's about creating momentum that will lead you forward, keep you moving, and help you achieve whatever you're trying to achieve.

Why LinkedIn Is Your Starting Point

I recommend LinkedIn because that's where most of the people you know are. While it may not be where your customers ultimately are, it's a great place to get started because that audience is generally supportive. They're open to new ideas and love hearing about new businesses. It's just the nature of the platform.

Many people avoid this because they're scared to start publicly, but LinkedIn provides a safe space to practice being visible with your ideas.

The Simple Framework That Changes Everything

Here's the strategy you can use right now to turn your idea from something you privately hold onto to something the world knows about:

Step 1: Remember You're Writing a Post, Not an Essay

Just be honest about it. Be vulnerable, be open. Write something simple and short. Just let people know: "This is what I'm doing."

Step 2: Choose Your Angle

Figure out exactly what you're going to post. There are three categories that work incredibly well:

The Confession: Be completely open and vulnerable. Share something you're going through or aspiring toward. This creates a different type of connection and interrupts the pattern.

The Declaration: You don't need all the answers, but you can let people know you've wanted to start a business for years and today's the day you're going to start working on it.

The Ask: This is uncomfortable for many people, but asking for help is one of the most important skills you'll ever learn as an entrepreneur.

All these angles are important because over the life of your business, you'll need to be vulnerable, declare intentions, and ask for support. You're not just creating momentum—you're learning the actual traits you'll need for years to come.

Step 3: Make It True to You

There are so many blogs and experts that'll tell you about character length, time of day, and other posting aspects. But the reality is, the most effective posts are honest, open, and authentically you.

People read through and see promotional angles. They recognize advertisements. If you're just honest, if it's your voice, if it's the person people have known and love, they will absolutely engage with it.

This authentic approach helps overcome impostor syndrome because you're not trying to be someone else—you're simply being yourself publicly.

How to Actually Create Your Post

Here are the simple steps I use every time:

Write a Simple Hook

The hook stops the scroll and interrupts the pattern. It makes people want to read whatever you've written.

Keep It Short

Maybe only two or three paragraphs. Nothing overwhelming. No big leadups, long sentences, or paragraphs. Make it easily skimmable since most people read on their phones.

Add a Call to Action (Maybe)

If you have something for them to look at—a website, PDF, or need specific support—you can ask for that. But often, leaving it without a call to action is more effective, especially when you're just beginning.

If you look at my recent post, I didn't tell them exactly what I was building. I didn't promote it or give details and features. I just said this is what I'm going to do now. I didn't want to be a salesperson. I wanted to be a human.

The Power of Public Accountability

Once you make that post, several things happen:

  1. Accountability kicks in - When people ask how things are going, you'll hopefully have made progress
  2. Pressure to perform - If they DM you, you'll feel pressure to have done something since you last talked about it
  3. Referral potential - Some will refer friends or family once you start talking about it more
  4. Quality motivation - You'll want to have the best possible product when those referrals come

All of those things come from making this post. Now that you have accountability, you really feel an obligation to see things through.

What Happens Next

Once you've followed these steps and made your idea public, you have real momentum. That idea that was just something you were maybe going to do is now happening.

It's not going to happen overnight. You're not going to instantly get your first customer. But you might be well on your way to the million-dollar business, to quitting your job, to having a team around you that does all the things you've been fantasizing about.

All of that is possible because you simply made a post.

There's lots more to do. There will be ups and downs, doubts and fears. But you'll have crossed the most important line: the line between thinking and doing, between private dreams and public commitment.

The Choice Is Yours

You say you want to start a business. You've been talking about it, thinking about it, planning for it. But if you won't make one simple post announcing your intentions, then you're not really serious about starting.

You're just serious about thinking about starting.

The difference between successful entrepreneurs and everyone else isn't talent, luck, or even great ideas. It's the willingness to make their private intentions public commitments.

What's stopping you from making that post today?

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Need help figuring out what business to announce? Learn how to start a business without a product or idea using the value-first method.

Ready to move beyond just posting and start building? The First Step Entrepreneur program provides the structure and community to turn your public commitment into a real business.

Ready to Take Action?

Stop planning and start building. Take the first step toward turning your ideas into reality.

Video Transcript

Based on this new blog post, I've identified key themes around the power of public declaration, overcoming insecurity about sharing ideas, and the simple framework for making your business real through posting. For the Blog Post: Excerpt: Your business won't start with perfect plans—it starts with a simple post. Learn why public declaration is the most powerful step you're avoiding. Meta Description: Stop hiding your business idea. Learn why your business starts with a simple post, not perfect plans, and get the framework to do it. For the Video: Video Description: You say you want to start a business but won't make one simple post. Here's the framework to turn private dreams into public accountability. Reformatted Captions: whether it's your first, your fifth, even your 10th business, is not going to start because you had the perfect plan or even had a working product. It's likely going to start when you make a simple post. I know that may sound trivial. You're probably saying, there's got to be more to it than that. But I'm going to tell you, there isn't. If you really want to get started this time, if you want to stop dreaming and researching and actually build something that's yours, you need to understand just how powerful the little actions that you could be taking right now really hurt. So today, I'm going to show you my formula, my framework that I use every single time that I have an idea that I don't want to just be a side project. Let's talk about the problem, because deep down, all of us are incredibly insecure. That's just a fact. I don't care how confidently you present yourself. there's almost certainly something that right now, you're hiding from your friends or your family, your partner, because you just want to get a little bit better at it before you start doing it in public And the same is true for the business that you want to start. You can watch all the videos you like. You can do the research, take the course, build a website and stealth, but at the end of the day, it's not going to be real until you tell people that this is what you're working on. Just imagine there are two people. They generally have the same idea. One of them does the typical thing. They hide. They do everything in private. They spend weeks or months building a plan. They work on the website, the logo. They try to perfect their pitch. They do all the things, but they haven't actually told anybody about it. And imagine someone else with the same idea just hops on LinkedIn. says, hey, everybody, this is what I'm thinking of working on. What do you think? Do you know anybody that would be interested in this? Do you have any ideas? Which one of those people do you think is more likely to succeed? The reality is the first person not only has no momentum, but the anxiety they have of telling people what they're working on is growing stronger every single day. I'm sure that you've been in the same situation. the longer you spend on something, the more polished you feel it needs to be to justify all of that effort. And the more likely you are to delay telling other people. But the person who just said it right out of the gate, They still have to do work. They still need their plan, their website. everything else. but now they're accountable. just yesterday, I made one of these posts for myself because I am starting a new business. And even though I have the same fears that you probably have, even though it makes me a little uncomfortable to talk about it, I knew that it was the right thing to do because this one I want to succeed. This is the post that I just made. I was completely honest about how long it took me to come up with my idea. I was honest about the strormles that I've had during the past year and a half, but it's not as if I was hiding the entire time. If you watch my channel, you know I've been talking about First Step Entrepreneur for the last month. This was just the first time that I announced it to my network. Thought us that there's only been 20 or 30 different people that have reacted to it. I didn't make this post for congratulations or adulation. I didn't make it expecting my business to blow up or for me to find my first customer. I made it to simply make the idea real. And that is the same intent that you should have using this framework. because it's not about instant success. It's just about creating the momentum. that will lead you forward, that'll keep you moving, and that'll help you achieve whatever it is you're trying to achieve, whether it's millions of dollars in a successful business, or just a way to quit your nine to five job. reason I recommend LinkedIn is that's where most of the people you know are. And while it may not be the place where your customers ultimately are, may not be a channel you use as you grow your business. it's a great place to get started because that audience is generally going to be pretty supportive. They're going to be open to new ideas and they love hearing about new businesses. It's just the nature of the platform So here it is. Here's a strategy that you can use right now to turn your idea from just something that you privately hold on to to something that the world knows about and that you can move forward with. The first thing you need to do is you need to remember that you're writing a post. You're not writing an essay or making a plan. So just be honest about it. Be vulnerable, be open. Write something that is simple and short. Just let people know this is what I'm doing. The second step is to choose your angle. You need to figure out what exactly it is you're going to post. And I found that there's really three categories that work incredibly well, especially when you're just starting or even before you have the idea that you're going to work on. The first angle is a confession. Just be completely open, be vulnerable, be willing to share something that you're going through, something that you're aspiring towards, because that creates a different type of connection. It interrupts the pattern, and it actually encourages people to interact, to support you. The second angle is a declaration. You don't have to have all the answers, but you can let people know that you've wanted to start a business for years and that today's the day you're going to start working on. And the third angle is an ask. And ask is really uncomfortable for a lot of people. A lot of early entrepreneurs struggle with asking for help and asking for money, but it also happens to be one of the most important and valuable skills that we'll ever learn. All of these types, all of these angles are actually incredibly important because over the life of your business, you're going to need to be vulnerable. You're going to need to confess things to your partners, to your customers. You're going to need to declare your intentions. You're going to need to ask for a lot of support along the way. So not only are you creating momentum, making your idea real, you're learning the actual traits that you're going to need and that you're going to use for the coming years if you actually do it this time. The third step is to simply make it true to you. There's so many blogs and experts that'll tell you the character length, the time of day, all kinds of other aspects on how to post. But the reality is, the most effective posts are the ones that are honest, that are open, and that are you. people read through and see through every sort of promotional angle. They see things that are clearly advertisements. So if you're just honest, if it is your voice, if it's the person that people have known that they love, they will absolutely engage with it. Then finally, here's how to actually create your posts. These are simple steps that I use every single time to make sure that I'm doing only what's important and what's right. The first thing is to write a simple beginning, an opening, a hook. The hook is the thing that actually gets people to pay attention. It stops the scroll. It interrupts the pattern. It makes them actually want to read whatever it is that you've written. And the next step is to make sure that whatever you're writing is really short, maybe only two or three paragraphs, and that there isn't anything that is overwhelming with it. You don't need big leadups. You don't need long sentences or paragraphs. You need need something that is easily skimmable. Most people are going to read these types of things on their phones. So you want them to be able to skim it quickly See that it's something kind of interesting and not too much work for them to read it, and then they'll go back and actually pay a little bit more attention. That's all that it takes. You might also want to add a call to action if you have something for them to look at, if you're asking for their support to look over your website or a PDF that you've just put together, then yeah, you can ask for that. But a lot of times leaving it without a cold to action is even more effective, especially when you're just beginning If you look back at the post that I just made, I didn't tell them exactly what it was that I was building. I didn't promote it. I didn't give all the details and features of it. I just said that this is the thing that I'm going to do now. I'm going to talk about it more as I go forward, but right now, I don't want to be a salesperson. I just want to be a human. I want to connect to the people that know me best so that they'll be there holding me accountable Once I do that, I know that when I run into them on the street and they ask me how things are going, I will hopefully have actually made some progress. I know that if they DM me, I'll feel pressure to have actually done something since the last time I talked about it? And I hope that some of them refer their friends or family to me once I start talking about it more. And when they do, I want to make sure that I have the best possible product And all of those things are going to come from me making this post. Now that I have accountability, I really feel an obligation to see things through. Once you've done all that, once you've followed these steps, written your posts, actually made whatever it is you're working on, no, made it public. You have real momentum. That idea, that thing that was just something you were maybe going to do, it's now happening. it's not going to happen overnight. You're not going to instantly get your first customer, but you might be well on your way to the million dollar business to quitting your job to having a team around you that does all the things you've been fantasizing about. All of that is possible because you simply made a post. There's lots more to do. There's going to be up and down times. There's going to be doubts and fears. If you don't even have a product or an idea, then you might want to check out this video next because here I walk through how to start any business with even a basic idea.