Did you know that 80% of businesses fail within the first two years of their existence?
Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll all tell you the sad statistics: Nine out of ten new ventures won’t make it. If you were to gather 10 entrepreneurs who have just started new businesses, how many would agree that their venture will fail?
We are like this: we have a tendency not to see the big picture, don’t let our guard down, and keep moving forward in all of our ventures regardless of what happens. We are the builders, creators and makers that our economies rely on.
These are three ways by Building Great Businesses that you can stack the odds in your favour, and give your businesses an unfair advantage.
1. Don’t Look For All The Answers
We are constantly connected and overwhelmed by ideas, thoughts, and advice about how to make our lives and businesses more productive, efficient, and better. Although this advice is not intended to be misleading, it can divert your attention and cause you to lose your progress.
To gain an unfair advantage, you must have confidence in your ability to think, act, and work differently than others. As long as you do it for yourself, it is the right thing to do.
Confidence in oneself and their decisions and actions is a key ingredient of successful entrepreneurs. They can accept the fact that they don’t need to be productive at all times. They can work when they are ready and take breaks when they need them. They can take breaks as needed and work on weekends if they have work to do. It allows them to listen to themselves.
It is important to remember that confidence will lead to you not looking for other people to solve your problems. You’ll be the person others turn to when they need advice.
2. It’s Okay To Be Bored
We think of business in terms of large funding rounds, record sales months, and flying across the country for networking with brilliant business minds.
How about bookkeeping, hiring (and firing), innumerable meetings, mind-numbing spreadsheets and copywriting? Contracts, lawyers, accountants, auditors? Although these are not the most exciting aspects of business, they are essential for any company to succeed.
Here is where boredom sets in – and where one succeeds while the other nine fail.
It is not easy to run a business. Entrepreneurs who succeed can work through boredom and get things done.
3. You Can Work For Months
You want to create something that can change your life. You move from one idea to another, but you never get closer to your goals.
After coming up with an idea for a new venture, you feel excited and elated and jump into the project. However, your enthusiasm and momentum quickly wane after a few days to a week.
It will take months to complete anything worthwhile that will make a difference in your life. You can’t just buy a ticket to suddenly be successful by building a business. Although people may try to sell tickets to the lottery, they know that it is a losing sport.
You can eliminate the desire for instant gratification by planning to work over months. You’re also ready to settle down and get to work.
It is time to get on with the job and forget about the distractions that distracted the nine failed entrepreneurs.