Metabolism, growth, the ability to reproduce, and the ability to respond to stimuli are factors that distinguish life from death. Biologically speaking, we do not stand still. We have life and are moving toward a state of disease, or we have life and are moving toward a state of thriving. We are moving toward one or toward the other.
Life relies on the body’s ability to get and use energy, reproduce, grow, and respond to change, but living is the action of life. Living takes effort. Living is the act of remaining alive. Life and living are similar, but they are two different things. The quality of your life depends on the amount of effort you are willing to put into living.
“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.“ – Margaret Thatcher
Whether opportunity-driven or need-based, you have made the decision to start your own business. Yes, it is a daunting task, but it is a possible task. I know you have heard that a high percentage of businesses fail within their first five years. However, 80% of new businesses survive for at least two years after initially opening their doors. Establishing yourself and achieving growth will occupy a large percentage of your mental real estate during those first two years.
So, how do you ensure success after the first two years?
What’s the difference between success and failure?
Is it knowledge? Is it skill? Is it determination?
Or is it just plain luck?
Well, in a manner of speaking it is all of these things. Still, there are a few things that you can do to control the outcome. Keep in mind that your new venture has various stages. The most successful entrepreneurs are aware of the various stages of their business and are able to act as the business transitions through those phases. The needs of the business are different in each stage. And it is a high probability that your behaviors will also need to change. Therefore, anticipate the changes and be flexible enough to evolve with the needs of your business.
Better still, plan the changes! Create a business plan that includes the inherent changes that all new businesses must go through. Create a timeline for when you would like your business to transition out of one phase and into the next. Set goals and benchmarks that you must achieve for success in each phase. Also, be proactive in re-writing your role, in order for your behaviors to align with each phase of your business. Your talents/character will determine how you manage to and through the changes.
“Celebrate small achievements, because they are milestones of your future success.“
Reaching 50 blog posts may not seem like a huge accomplishment for some, but this is a big win for me. And I wanted to share it with you here. I haven’t gotten to 500 posts YET, but this is a huge accomplishment for me.
I have struggled for a long, long time to create a blog that had deep meaning to me. I considered blogging about health, fitness, finances, and parenting, all things that I am eager to learn about. However, I always got writers block when it came to putting content out there. I recently started blogging about the business side of fitness, and things seemed to come together. And even more recently, I decided to blog about music. Instead of doing two separate blogs, I decided to combine the content all on one blog.
Getting to 50 posts is HUGE for me. More is definitely coming! I look forward to hitting the 500 and the 5,000 posts milestones.
I encourage you all to Celebrate Your Milestones! And celebrate them publicly. It is a good way to hold yourself accountable. It also serves as a reminder of how much progress you have made in your journey toward building something phenomenal. That’s motivation!
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.“ – Tim Notke
Develop your entrepreneurial talents like an Olympic weightlifter. Olympic weightlifting is a highly technical sport composed of the snatch and clean & jerk. Both lifts challenge the athlete’s ability to overcome inertia explosively, while maintaining core stability. Beginners are taught the complexity of the lifts in phases. Most coaches will not allow a beginner to use any weight. A single training session can focus solely on one phase of a lift, using only bodyweight. Weight is added proportional to improvements in skill level. Each lift requires decades of practice to perfect. And expert lifters will continue to practice drills that they learned as a novice. After many, many years of hard work and dedication, weightlifters become very-powerful, highly-skilled athletes capable of making these complex lifts an extension of their core muscle groups.
Like weightlifters, entrepreneurs should develop their entrepreneurial talents in phases. Embrace your natural tendency to get lost in a task. That is your core talent, but be able to explain your process in steps for others. Dedicate yourself to performing those steps on a daily basis. That talent will become a strength. Also, practicing these steps will help you identify your other talents. Adding additional talents to your daily routine is equivalent to the Olympic weightlifter increasing weight during their training session. Your hard work and dedication will make you a very-powerful and highly-skilled businessperson with a business that is an extension of your core strengths.
“Success without duplication is merely future failure in disguise.” – Randy Gage
You may be able to sale $10,000 worth of goods and services in a week, but how productive is your team? Do you have a team? As a leader, it is important to DO. You must lead by example and produce. However, it is just as important to share what you KNOW. Sharing what you know with just one team member could equate to doubling production. Sharing your knowledge with 10 team members could equate a hundredfold increase in production.
Developing talent can increase sales, but it will do more. It also increases the competency and confidence of the staff. Confident team members typically share their knowledge more, in essence acting as informal leaders that share what they have been taught…by you. That is the art of duplication. That is the importance of multiplying yourself.
Desmond Pugh 