The dream begins

How to overcome inertia

For many, the path to entrepreneurship begins not with a grand vision but with frustration—with an employer’s limitations, with bureaucracy, with the gnawing sense that you could do better alone.

At first, the prospect is intoxicating. Your mind races with possibilities: a thriving enterprise, independence, success. Yet between this initial euphoria and the reality of launching a business lies a treacherous gap—one where many promising ventures stall, and where some quietly fade into nothing.

Indeed, after founding Hogarth, I was struck by how many people shared a familiar tale. They had once been seized by the same enthusiasm, sketched out ambitious plans, and then… nothing. The idea withered, a casualty of inertia.

For me, the stumbling block was stark: I had no clear idea of what to do next. My early efforts at drafting a business plan proved futile, entangled in uncertainties. When I abandoned planning in favour of action—compiling a to-do list—I soon found myself drowning in minutiae, with no sense of progress.

The solution, paradoxically, was to return to first principles. Before strategies and spreadsheets, before lists and logistics, one must revisit that initial moment of inspiration. The task is not just to dream, but to refine the dream—to distill its essence into something actionable. Only then can real momentum begin.