This is a great article and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I recently started a web software development company, BrightMix, with a friend of mine, and I totally agree and can identify with all four of the hurdles you’ve pointed out.

On the subject of telling other people about your business. I had a similar experience where my family just didn’t understand what it was that we were doing, and, furthermore, why had I left my cushy corporate job for this? Was this some kind of joke or spur-of-the-moment decision?

It wasn’t until we got an office space and hired our first employee that they started to figure out that we meant business, for real. So, at least for us, attaining an actual physical location (outside of our homes) that could be denoted as our “office” really helped our outward appearance as a legitimate business.

Also, one thing that helped us overcome the lonesomeness of being entrepreneurs was immersing ourselves in local entrepreneurial communities and befriending other business owners around town. There’s likely no shortage of people around you who are, or at least were at some time, entrepreneurs; finding these people and chatting with them about entrepreneurship and running a business can be incredibly insightful!

That’s about all I’ve got – keep up the great blogging!