How Long Will You PERSIST?

Persistence is often touted as a key skill for entrepreneurs and small business owners to be born with, or to acquire.

Not making any money?  Persist! Not making enough money? Persist! Not making money consistently? Persist! 

But, here’s the truth: only in our very well-meaning ignorance do we shout, “Keep Going!” when chances are good that someone is heading in the completely wrong direction.

Yet…. that’s exactly what happens in business! There’s something in us that wants to believe that if we JUST PERSIST, we’ll “get there.” This probably goes back to that business myth that convinces business owners that we won’t make money in the first 4 years of business.  The truth is this: if you’re not making money in year one, unless you change something, you won’t make money in year two.  If you’re not making money in year two, unless you change something, you won’t make money in year three. And so on.  That’s the truth.

And yet, we persist! We know that doing the same things and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.  But MAYBE — we think  — doing the same things LONG ENOUGH and expecting a different result is the key to our success. (???)   Let me save you the suspense. =) It’s not.

If you’ve yet to hire a coach or mentor for this business thing, let me throw out my BEST and MOST SIMPLE strategies regarding WHAT and HOW MUCH to change.  And, before I go, I’ll also lay out the top FOUR things that business owners — who NEVER MOVE FORWARD IN THEIR BUSINESS — have in common.

First, my BEST and MOST SIMPLE strategies regarding WHAT and HOW MUCH to Change in Your Business:

1. If you relate to the top four things that business owners around you — and detailed in this list below — are doing, STOP.  If 80% or more of businesses FAIL, you’ve got to look around you and DETERMINE NOT TO FIT IN WITH THEM.  You’ve got to commit to doing the opposite of what the majority are doing.  In the absence of a coach or mentor, just look around you and take notice of what most people are doing.. and then do the opposite. BEST strategy I ever learned and applied. (Thanks to Earl Nightingale, Dan Kennedy, and Steve Chandler for bringing this concept to light and to life for me.)
2. If you need to see a MASSIVE change in your bank account, you must MAKE massive changes in your business. Small, incremental tweaks will lead to frustration, discouragement and — ultimately — you staying right where you are.
3. However, if you’re “almost there,” and only need small increases in your bank account, don’t overhaul what’s working. … make small, incremental changes.  This makes common sense, folks. BIG changes demand big changes.  Small changes demand small changes. Business CAN REALLY be this simple!
4. Start with your messaging. When you’re wondering where to start to make these changes, start with your messaging.  Do some research of your competitors.  What do they SAY? How do they PRESENT their “wares” or services?  And how can you STAND OUT?  What you SAY about what you SELL is critically important.
5. Sales = money in business, so you want to sell MORE.  Give careful consideration to your sales process. WHAT does it look like? Where does it start? Where do people enter your sales funnel and how do you — with the finesse of a seasoned concierge — take them through this sales funnel?  I’m so thankful to Rich Litvin for sharing this video with me below… about how MOST SALES PROCESSES LOOK.  =) It’s hilarious, and maybe slightly offensive. But, take a look… if YOU’RE sales process looks like this poor guy… calling, leaving a message, calling back… maybe they forgot to hire you… calling back… and so on — you need to START MAKING CHANGES RIGHT HERE! =)

I hope you enjoyed that. =) I think it’s both FUNNY and VERY VERY TRUE!

Okay, back to this blog post.  What do people who continue to persist in their business WITHOUT MAKING ANY MEASURABLE PROGRESS YEAR AFTER YEAR have in common?  I’ve made my top four list below, based on my work with business owners for the past 8 or 9 years… For business owners achieving FAR BELOW their actual potential, 99% of them will share at least 3 of these 4 indicators:

1) They’ve had many, many, many business “reinventions” over the years.  Different business names, new brands, different websites, even “re-naming” themselves several times with cutesy titles, etc. I can’t IMAGINE the amount of money and time these guys are spending on website re-design, new head shots, new logos, etc. Although… they also have #2 in common — so maybe not so much! =)

2) They all rely on “barters” and “trades” to get work done on their business. Please take a moment to hear the irony behind what I’m saying.  They are RELYING on business, branding, copywriting, packaging and what-have-you gurus WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK FOR FREE to make changes to their business that THEY HOPE WILL MAKE THEM SOME MONEY. Ironic. If they are working for free, how do they know what to do to YOUR BUSINESS to help you work for money?  Gotta move on…

3)  They all talk about not having the money to hire a business consultant, but ALL of them eventually do.  Most times, they hire the “MOST FAMOUS” person in their niche that they can afford and  are shocked when their package isn’t a good fit and has little to no personal touch or follow up.  They feel broke and bummed.

4) They all have a HIGH EGO NEED attached to their business… often very hesitant to look their numbers in the face for fear they’ll realize that they have been building a house of cards. They are NOT building a house of cards, actually.  Most of them are quite good at what they do.  But they focus FIRST on maintaining their “successful image” and focus (as a distant SECOND) on actually creating the reality behind that image.  HIGH EGO is what leads us to accept all sorts of things IN LEU of payment:  att-a-girls, “fame,” association with the right people, adoration, martyrdom, etc. When you work for payments other than CASH, you’ll find yourself in the same boat as these business owners whose income is FAR BELOW their potential.

I give you all of this today as a gift…. not from a pompous place of judgement… but from a place of “I’ve been there!”  I’ve been in many of these four situations. When I broke out of them, so too did my income.  The same will be true for you!