Hey there fellow non-entrepreneurs! 🙋♂️ Have you ever felt like 99% of business advice is complete bullshit? Because same here! Let me tell you a little story…
I’ve come across so many people who talk a big game about business, but when it comes down to it, they’re just full of hot air. It’s like everyone wants to sound like a business guru, but in reality, they’re just talking nonsense. And don’t even get me started on all those online courses and advice videos! It’s like a minefield of BS out there.
I mean, come on, how many times have we heard “get rich quick” schemes or “easy tricks to success” that just end up being a waste of time and money? It’s enough to make anyone roll their eyes and tune out.
So, I’ve got to ask – am I the only one feeling this way? Do you also think most business advice is just a bunch of hogwash? 🤔 Let’s discuss and share our experiences!
Don’t be shy, shoot me a message or leave a comment below. Let’s sift through the BS together! 💼🚫 #EnoughWithTheNonsense #LetsGetReal #ShareYourThoughts
It’s just get rich quick scams combined with Facebook Ads for large reach
Yeah totally. Most of them are just saying things that would help them market what they’re trying to offer. No real advice- just marketing.
And sometimes I feel like some successful people wouldn’t share a piece of their mind that easily. If you’re a chef and you’ve got a winning recipe, would you share your secret ingredient?
Yep, I grew up very introverted and older people would tell me “you don’t want to do that for a living” or “those people have such and such degree or it takes X years, even decades of experience” “they were born into that”. They said it with such confidence I thought they knew things I did not. Now I know they are just full of it and looking back these were people who never accomplished anything or advanced in life.
I hate myself sometimes thinking of what I could have done if I just blindly did my own thing. Now I don’t listen to negativity anymore.
It’s basically all useless and driven my monetisation.
The fundamental problem is that, **even when the person giving the advice is 100 percent truthful**, it’s always hoplessly infected by survivorship bias.
For example, I like and agree with lot of the things Alex Hormozi says. However, the fact that certain techniques worked for him, says nothing about whether it will work for the average viewer. For all I know, 99/100 people did exactly the same thing as him and it didn’t work.
But we don’t here about them as they are busy back in a 9-5 instead of running a youtube or tiktok channel.
If it’s packaged as business advice it’s most likely bs
There’s no single way to do this For every person that says you need to get great at sales to be successful there’s some introverted nerd who’s got a successful business run from his bedroom
For every person that says you need to find something unique that’s never been done before, there’s people breaking into existing markets finding great success just by being a better option
You can find contradictory evidence to nearly every single piece of business advice
Good advice and learning is found in the specifics of your operation.
Just go out and hustle that only works..
It is, because if it’s coming from social media it’s usually from people who monetize your attention. It’s also the same type of “fee-good” content that has 0 value to you. You’re not going to get fit by watching people go to the gym. You’re not going to lose weight by listening to people saying they lost weight. And you’re not going to become an entrepreneur by watching other people brag about their wealth.
There’s a huge but subtle difference between actionable advice and inspirational advice. The first one makes you do something and get results as feedback, the other makes you feel good for a while then gets you right back into your miserable state of mind.
Action is key to everything. You take one step, get feedback, improve and take another. In time, these small steps lead to huge advances in your endeavor. That’s the only way to do it. Everything else is just “content”.
Honestly, the more investors and CEOs I meet with, the more I realize it’s all bullshit. Half the time these people giving money don’t even understand the business and then just say “oh you just need to pump sales” without even understanding what’s being sold. They just look at financials where the CEO is literally just trying to finesse it to seem the best. None of the conversation is actually about solving a problem in the world that people want to pay for.. It’s literally just pointing to another startup that got lucky and got paid and saying, “I have the same numbers as them! See I’m worth $100M”. Fucking dumb
I think if you’re in a similar business to the people you’re talking to then the advice / discussion points can be very informative. Ultimately it’s good getting different views , even some opposing views that challenge your own, in order for you to mentally test your ideas against theirs.
That said, most businesses are unique even if they are in a similar field – customer bases, location, etc can have a broad similarity but at a granular level it could be quite different. You should do what’s right for your business , you’re the one that’s got to live with the decision at the end of the day.
And you are free to take advice or ignore it, but I always feel that you should be receptive to hearing it.
I can understand why people feel like the OP
**A lot of advice out there is not very actionable-too broad, too vague, too ‘motivational’**
People want advice that will actually produce sales by tweaking what they are already doing to produce different results.
For instance, instead of saying, “hand out business cards” it would be better to say, give out business cards that MOTIVATE the recipient to want to REMEMBER you business.
**This can be a CUSTOMIZED freebie offer on the business card**
This can be a REFERENCE URL to an APP that the recipient can use daily that brings your business brand front and center.
For example, if you’re a grocery store, hand out coupons whose discounts can only be claimed if the recipient orders a RECIPE TRACKING / SHOPPING LIST BUILDING app – the prospect gets a discount initially but also becomes aware of when you put the INGREDIENTS of their meal plans on sale.
There are also similar tricks for dentists, lawyers, etc.
**In other words, the prospect can take ACTION NOW on your contact with them.**
The problem with closing your mind and not listening is that you will miss golden nuggets of information that can save you money, time & make a business fly.
You’re not wrong, but you have no credibility to make this point either.
Start something and see if it works for yourself.
You’re way too cynical for someone whose sitting in the bleachers
Yes it is. Even good advice is generally useless without customization.
I keep trying to find a good podcast for business advice/inspiration, and always by the second episode I realize the podcast is tailored for virtual products or “coaching” businesses. And the host is always also selling their own virtual products “courses” and coaching sessions. I’m not sure if this annoys me more as a business owner or as a real life sports coach.
Yea I agree. I think every single guy trying to sell you a course or a “secret formula” doesn’t actually know crap and if you try checking their credentials, you won’t find anything other than “Founder of XY Marketing Group” which is a glorified way of saying I own a social media account and pay for google ads.
Truthfully, I doubt that getting good business advice reasonably is possible online. Going to a decent college with entrepeneurial courses / founder programs is much better. There you can get advice from people with actual credibility, you know, the kind that doesn’t have time nor the need to build a social media persona.
Almost all advice is bullshit in any context unless it’s founded in experience. Even then it’s best shared as experience vs advice unless solicited otherwise.
Huge difference between “In my experience, I did x, and the results were y, and I learned z” vs “I think you should x, Have you considered y”. The 2nd assumes a bunch of unspoken context that makes all of the difference.
Yes. I attended a lecture series with self made entrepreneurs all in the $100’s of millions in net worth. Often the back to back lecturers would give the complete opposite advice. It kind of cracked me up.
It’s alllll bullshit
You learn more observing the failure of others than the success of others.
Yeah, I love to listen to some for a short time. It cracks me up. It’s all about how they would go make a million today with nothing. Yeah, if they had no contacts and no money, they wouldn’t. Unless they fell into something.
Same for marketing and sales. All you have to do is tell your friends, and you will have several sales before the day is up. Please don’t buy their books and courses.
The best business advice is experience.
Your own is more valuable than others.
The problem isn’t 99% of business advice is bullshit.
The problem is 99% of people are bullshit.
Find the 1%.
It shouldn’t cost you a penny.
You need to actually get into the weeds of things as an entrepreneur… most advice vaguely applies to you… you learn better by making mistakes!
Will I don’t think that is only applicable to business. There is a lot of bullshit advance about everything out there. Of course there are exceptions. Sometimes it is just a matter of someone’s advice being applicable to their own special circumstances and not everyone.
I’ve always valued advice and “archived” it. I’ve learned one size doesn’t fit all. The advice may only fit 1 in 100, but I’ll at least have the knowledge to address that one issue when it comes up.
The fact is, a number of my business practices probably would not work in 99% of other industries so I don’t usually give advice unless I’m asked.
I don’t know how old you are, but the older you get the more you realize 99% of the people you run into are full of shit. It’s not just business advice.
90% bullshit.
I have been in business for about 8ish years now (32m – marketing/lead gen). Read God knows how many books, audiobooks/podcasts, been to events, hired agencies, hired coaches.
None of the agencies delivered. None of the coaches delivered. I wouldn’t say it was a total waste of time/money as I still learned things. Were they full of s**t, or were they just not a good fit for my business? I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter, I just have to take the value I can from the exchange and move on.
I have had better outcomes from doing things my own way, albeit with outside inspiration. Flat out copying, or doing what works for someone else is not likely to work.
Influencers are mostly driven by views, engagement, and money. Some are truly trying to serve people, but ultimately they don’t do it for free. Their advice that’s appropriate for them, may not be appropriate for you, and there are a lot of other factors they don’t take into consideration with their success (like luck, and timing). With that said, you can still glean some value from some of them.
Books have been the most valuable resource for me by a mile. Some more than others.
Bottom line; You have to experiment and test things in business, there is no “one size fits all” approach for people, industries, or periods of time. What may work well last 3 years in a given industry, may not work well now (but selling the “how to” might!).
Best thing you can invest in and listen to is yourself. Educate yourself, test things, and grow. No matter what any clown says online, it does not happen fast in business, that is the exception not the rule.
Many people start businesses under the basis of someone else’s blueprint, and then are shocked when it doesn’t work, and they have invested the time into themselves to have the tools to do things their own way successfully.
Turn off the noise, read some books, and start trying stuff and learning on the job. Good luck! 🙂
Business advice always came off as self help to me. My experience with entrepreneurs is they typically are too busy executing actions to sit around and give tons of advice to people. Typically most I have met have developed a skillset, gradually developed their business, and typically lived below their means.