Overcoming My Introvert Tendencies To Build A Business

I really know what you are going through man, I have been struggling with the same issue, having a great product isn't by far the only thing you need to achieve success. I just launched and got no traffic at all :P

But along these months, had to deal with a lot of people and I think naturally we overcome these problems, the only thing we gotta do is not give up, but being more interactive and dealing more with people also showed me it is a good experience that I was lacking in my life... One step at a time going further overcoming this issue and getting visibility by engaging the communities out there, reading about others struggles and learning from it.

I'm sorry it is just a big text to say "don't give up, it will pay off", but I really think that is the core to it.

Good job on your road man :)

This is something I struggle with too. I'm a lot more at home behind a keyboard that meeting new people in a work / business situation.

Something I've found very helpful is attending software development meetups in the area. Building software is something I'm passionate about and it's a lot easier to be confident and strike up conversations when you know the topic.

The positive experiences I get from this helps my confidence level when it comes to reaching out to potential customers and clients.

You're definitely not alone.

A big worry for me when I started my company with a couple of (also introverted) friends, was how we'd manage to promote ourselves and sell. I knew we had to do cold emails, cold calls, sales meetings, events, etc. And none of those things are activities I felt really comfortable doing.

It's definitely a journey, but here are a few points that have helped me.

1. Motivation. This could also be interpreted as confidence, but I think motivation fits better for me. These are thoughts and points that help me get out of my comfort zone because I know why I'm doing it.

• I believe that the product and business we're building offers value to customers.
• I am enjoying the entrepreneur life, and want this to be sustainable.
• I don't want to let my co-founders down.

2. Energy. Know how you get mental energy and how you spend it. It took a long time for me to figure this one out, but it has helped me SO MUCH.

• I recuperate and gather energy when I'm alone, or with a small number of people, I know well.
• I spend it by talking to people I don't know, meeting a lot of people at the same time. This can be parties, or sales meetings, etc.
• What has helped me a lot is preparing for potentially energy-intensive times by resting and essentially scheduling in energy gathering/spending activities.
• Pacing! Know when to rest and don't push yourself too hard.

And a pro tip: If you just push yourself past the first seconds of "awkwardness", it's much easier. This has helped me when doing my first sales calls, walking up to people at networking events, etc.

Hope this helps!

I've been struggling similarly since I started my IH project early this year. It's insane how much this hesitation and second-guessing can slow you down. It's incredibly helpful to try and overcome this.

I have largely, but not entirely, overcome my introvert-while-IHing issues based on two things:

• Have a large amount of confidence in yourself and your idea. This means trying to poke a ton of holes in your own idea. To me, this comes a little too naturally as I tend to weigh others' criticisms more heavily than they perhaps deserve. After systematically going through criticisms that you or others come up with, if you still think it's a great idea stop worrying about it. You've already done the homework, so now run with it.

• Be emotionally fine, if not happy, about failing in public. Yeah it sucks to have spent time on something that didn't turn into a raging success. People like us IHers, who can understand or have experienced failure, will only respect you more for having tried. The only true failure would be failing to learn from our failures. Be okay with failure because you can be genuinely happy that you've learned from the process. Take what you've learned to your next ideas, jobs, and relationships. Handled with forethought, to paraphrase Nietzsche, failure will only make you stronger.

From the outset of a major decision, I like to view this as my future self. Would my future self be okay with me never trying? Future me would obviously prefer a massive success, but would future me prefer that this failed, or that I never tried at all?