Many startup mindsets pop up at the same time. It’s almost like all the startups getting the same illness at the same time.

The most recent “illness” is something I’m calling “You’re a project, not a business.”

Businesses are where the customers pay you enough to potentially cover your costs. *crazy idea. A project is something where a group of people build something awesome with out the expectation of financial redemption. Or they expect it, however they never ask for it, they never push to cover their costs, they fall victim to their market.

Too many startups have been staying in project mode for too long. They may have dozens of customers willing to pay a small amount, but they are too concerned with the potential of losing the small customers and the potential of fundraising another round, that they stay a project… and stay frozen in perfecting the project to create progress rather than building the business to deliver value to their customers.

Founders undervalue what they have built, because they are the ones who built it. It’s a weird thing where their pricing comes from their head on what they deem “Fair” rather than what the market will pay.

Starting a company is hard. At the core of it is a customer. Are there enough of those customers? Do those customers pay enough money to cover your costs and more?

Tactical advice:

• Ask yourself: Do we know who our customer is?

• Ask yourself: Are we hesitating in asking for more money from that customer?

• Ask yourself: Is our project bad enough to be a good business?

• Ask for more, the worst thing that happens is they say no, and you get to ask them why, an it starts a conversation of what your product needs.