It’s not always easy to judge whether you are doing things right when there are so many people (“consultants”) hovering in the wings to tell that the steady ker-ching! of money arriving is sure sign of success. Ergo, if the sales aren’t coming in at a steady rate, you must be doing it WRONG. (And if you’re doing it wrong, guess what? There are “consultants” standing by to sell you the secrets of how to do it right.)
Some people do have a rags-to-riches, overnight success story. If we’re honest, most of us have gone into business with a secret longing for that to happen; you may be questioning why that hasn’t it materialised for you. Well in my book, the overnight success story tends to happen:
IF you are in the right place at the right time.
IF you get a particularly lucky break.
IF you happen to have upwind of a new trend.
IF you’re doing something the world has never seen before and they take to it like a duck to water.
IF you’re coming in armed with the resources, experience and connections that will allow you to start ahead of the learning curve.
That’s a huge amount of “Ifs” and sometimes all those lucky stars do line up to make it happen, BUT it’s not an average day in business.
So back to you – do you think you are growing slowly because you’re doing things wrong? I would say it was highly unlikely because new businesses take three to five years to bring in a profit.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a guaranteed formula you can buy that will create fame and fortune and have the whole world falling at your feet. You have to work hard and see what happens. Some of your trajectory will be based on chance but your eventual success, however, isn’t. Remember:
- The harder you hustle, the higher your chances of getting a lucky break.
- The more seriously you approach your learning curve, the shorter it will be.
- The more you learn from what’s happened along the way the more you’ll be able to course-correct so that you follow the best path.
- Growing slowly doesn’t mean you’re unlucky. It means you’re normal.
It’s been said that you shouldn’t compare your behind-the-scenes to someone else’s highlight reel. That’s brilliant advice. Here’s some more for you:
Don’t look at where you think you should be right now. Instead take a look at what you’ve done so far and what results you’ve gained.
If it’s not working at all, then THAT’S a sign you might want to rethink your approach.
But if it’s working – even slowly – it’s WORKING. That means you’re doing it RIGHT.
There’s no doubt that you can always learn to do it better. But having room to improve is different from doing it wrong.
Don’t forget that.
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