One of the most common excuses I hear from people about why they haven’t started a business is, “I just don’t have the time.” It sounds reasonable, right? Between work, family, and everyday responsibilities, who has time to start something new?
Here’s the blunt truth: everybody has time. You have time—you’re just choosing not to spend it on your dreams.
Let’s be honest. If you binge-watch Netflix, play video games with friends, scroll endlessly on social media, or spend your evenings passively consuming content, then you do have time. You’re just not allocating it toward building something meaningful. Watching TV may be entertaining, but it doesn’t bring you any closer to building a business, gaining freedom, or achieving financial independence.
It’s Not a Time Problem—It’s a Priorities Problem
Another reason many people don’t start a business has little to do with time. It has everything to do with fear. More specifically, the fear of failure and the fear of looking foolish if it doesn’t work out. Instead of admitting this, people mask their fears with what sounds like a legitimate excuse: “I’m just too busy right now.”
What they’re really saying is, “I’m not willing to fail,” or “I don’t want to risk my ego.” The lack of time is a shield—one that protects them from vulnerability. But it also keeps them stuck.
Waiting for the “Right Time” Is a Trap
Another variation of this excuse is, “I’m planning to start… but I’m just waiting for the perfect time.”
Spoiler alert: that perfect time never comes.
You’ll always be too young, too old, too broke, too tired, or too uncertain. Life never clears a path and says, “Now is your moment.” There will always be obstacles. There will always be “something.”
The best entrepreneurs aren’t the ones who have all the time and resources in the world. They’re the ones who started anyway. They worked on ideas after their kids went to sleep, on weekends, during lunch breaks, and in between gigs. They didn’t wait for perfection—they embraced progress.
You don’t need to quit your job or invest your life savings to get started. You just need to take one step. Write an article. Sketch out a product idea. Talk to a potential customer. Learn how others turned side hustles into scalable businesses.
The key is momentum. Once you take that first step, the second becomes easier. Then the third. Eventually, those small actions compound into something real.
“Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.”
The same goes for entrepreneurs. Don’t wait to be an expert. Don’t wait for the stars to align. Just do something—anything—to get started.
Replace Consumption With Creation
Imagine replacing one hour of TV each day with an hour spent on your business idea. That’s 365 hours a year. That’s over 9 full work weeks. What could you accomplish in that time?
Could you build a masterclass website?
Could you interview a bunch of your ideal customers and validate your business idea?
Could you start selling a digital product or offering a service?
Time is your most valuable resource. If you’re not using it to build the life you want, you’re letting it slip away.
Protecting Your Ego Costs More Than You Think
Most people underestimate how much emotional protection plays into their procrastination. They don’t want to risk the embarrassment of failing publicly. But the irony is this: not trying is a guarantee of staying stuck.
Failing at something you tried is honorable. It teaches you, strengthens you, and makes your next attempt better. But doing nothing—out of fear of being seen as a failure—ensures that your dreams remain exactly that: dreams.
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
Final Thought
Time isn’t your enemy—inaction is. You don’t need more hours in the day. You need more intentionality in the hours you already have. Start small. Start messy. Just start.
What excuse about time is holding you back from making your dream a reality?
