There is a hidden cheerleader in every stranger.
Being an entrepreneur is all about insecurities and unpredictability. When I started my journey two years back with GO LESS — A skin and hair care product line, I thought the launch of the business would be easiest because if not any, my closest people would definitely come forward to support and buy. I thought that it would be hardest to impress strangers, because why would anyone trust and support an unknown face? But I was wrong. This disbelief itself made me think deeply and I felt it deserved a blog.
When we start expressing ourselves, we see disbelief around us. Well, I was not surprised that after one year of launching my products in skincare I find my husband asking me, which would be a good brand for him to remove the dark spots from his face. I mean listening to this from a guy who is funding your business during downtimes and cheering you every day was an absolute turn-off. Somewhere, it’s a funny reality that the spouses will believe in you and your dreams but still remain apprehensive about your solutions. They still are fixed on seeing you as an ideal partner but not the ideal expert to solve their problems.
When we step into our power with our business ideas, we surprise the people around us, especially our parents who know us in a certain way all their life. This I observed when I literally forced my mother to replace her cheap ‘so-called’ natural shampoo with mine. I noticed a lot of resistance to testing my ideas and a strong belief in they not matching her expectations. Like a typical Indian mother, I received zero feedback on the product but unending advice on why to stop chasing a difficult dream and go back to my job. They are the ones who always want us to protect from pain and live their dream of seeing their children safe and happy.
I love this quote and find it perfectly fitting here, “No prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
Our friends have seen us the longest and know more about us and have seen us grow with a specific image in their minds. Breaking that with a new radical change is difficult. They still see you as their little buddy with inconsistent desires. They are the ones who have a doubt that you may change your path anytime and continue being the same person with an inconsistent life vision. They are the ones who want to still see the little kid in you who desires and not derives from life.
Believe it or not, in life whenever you start a business, take on a new hobby or even just change your lifestyle for the positive, don’t be surprised if strangers and not-so-close friends come and support you first and your friends and family later. This is because strangers notice your work, acknowledge your commitment or celebrate your dreams without the filters of love or hate or win or lose. They are the ones who recognize the ability you possess to solve their problems, value time, give effort and attention to build a product or service of their choice, or probably sometimes just relate to your vision. This is true, I was surprised many of them whom I didn’t know chose my work over others only because they could relate to my philosophy. This gesture of the strangers is not a business victory for me but a personal victory. This is earning and building trust in the ecosystem. This is celebrating unbiased and unfiltered human consciousness.
