I wrote last week that most of the conversations I have with friends and acquaintances regarding start-up ideas die as dreams and never are pursued. This is fascinating because most of the time the people involved in these conversations are competent, connected and appear motivated. So why don’t most of them ever move forward?

In some respects I believe pursuing a start-up is like doing your first backflip into a pool. Mainly, it’s scary.  But until you get your confidence up and the nerve to simply do it, it will never happen. You can extend the metaphor if you like, e.g., you won’t get everything right the first time, it’s important to have a few people around to help point out the things you’re doing wrong, etc.

But beyond just getting over the fear of the unknown and making the decision to do it as started above, I began thinking about why most of the start-up ideas that people have discussed with me never launch.  Ironically, lack of third-party investment didn’t make the list.  Below are my observations:

No financial margin. Most people live right up to the level of their earnings and have no financial margin in their life to pursue a start-up, either as a sideline gig or full-time. It’s tough getting your house in order to invest cash and go without a salary for a substantial period of time, which are often start-up necessities.

The overall process is confusing and intimidating, even to someone to who has previously run a large company. In a prior life, I had a CFO responsible for payroll and HR was responsible for benefits.  Selecting the vendors for these services on your own can be pretty scary. I had questions for tax attorneys who referred me to tax accountants who referred me back to tax attorneys. All of the federal, state, county and other tax considerations can cause the most competent of people to gloss over. At some point, you just have to be willing to jump in the water, make the best decisions you can with the data you have available, and correct course along the way.

The disease of “Someday”; which for most people is a disease that they take to the grave. Lots of times I hear someone say something like;  “I’m still thinking about it, probably next year,” or “Just three more years for the big payout at my current company and I’ll be ready”. Ironically, I tend to hear these statements from the same people every year, as the timing seems to always roll forward. John Maxwell’s book, “Put Your Dream To The Test” might be a great read for some people to determine if the “dream” is real or simply a pipe dream.

Lack of self-awareness on personal risk profile. Amongst all of the various reasons, this one might be the biggest. I believe most people simply don’t have the proper risk profile to pursue a start-up. Most people prefer stability and the known vs. risk and the unknown, despite what they might occasionally say or think.

What else? Why do you think most people who have an idea never pursue it?  Why haven’t you taken the jump into the pool yourself?