Start, and Then Move Forward
Founding a business is relentless. Constantly having to think of everything all at the same time. Having to generate leads whilst serving the customers you've got. Every month's successes are used to prove that you can do it and also prove how difficult it will be for this month.
It's a wonder why we even bother.
And yet, you talk to entrepreneurs and there is almost nowhere else they would rather be (except maybe on a beach somewhere). The thrill isn't just in the success, it is in the journey. But you have to remember - it's a really, REALLY hard journey.
You will need to be clear about what you can add to the market. And why you started in the first place.
Knowing why you started in the first place is the absolute best fuel to keep you moving, even when the road gets a little more tricky.
Do You Really Want To Rule The World?
When starting a business, one of the most common worries founders have is whether there will be too much competition for them to succeed. They naturally think that less competitors will be better for them and so many will base their business model on pushing others out of the market.
However, to keep the market economy thriving, and to keep it fair, most countries have strict anti-monopoly rules, which will fine companies whose activities have made it too difficult for others to compete.
These two views seem to conflict – businesses want to be the only one providing their product or service, and regulators want there to always be fair routes to market for all.
But it is argued that competition is a necessary and good thing for businesses – even if it does keep you on your toes.
Competitors in your industry tell you that there is definitely a market for what you supply, and so having others trying to sell similar items confirms to you that there is an active market (after all, if there wasn’t, who would try to join?)
It is also worth remembering that part of the thrill of business is to work out ways to sell your products or services so that people want to buy them – and part of that challenge is how you get them to buy your things over that of your competitors.
Without that challenge, where is the thrill?
Remembering Your Why
Running a business is a lot like running and finishing a marathon… and then as you get over the finish line, being asked to run one more.
There are so many demands on your energy and it gets taken up with starting your business, dealing with a lack of sales or dealing with too many sales.
Founders are typically pretty bad at taking rest and time off seriously, and so their energy gets depleted very quickly and it is not long after launch that they are really pulling on their reserves to keep going.
Obviously, if you have immediate demand for your products or services, that’s what you want, but it can also mean you get lost in the busy-ness of the business and forget why you started it in the first place.
Until one day, you wake up and want to do anything other than run your business.
So how can you get your motivation back if it has somehow got lost in the noise?
I always recommend that, close to your working area, you keep a note that says “I started my business because…” and then fill out your answer.
I have worked with enough founders that I recognise that many of the challenges you can face can be linked to a reduction in motivation and that in turn can be linked to a disconnect with your reason for starting in the first place.
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It might be a vision of your dream house, holiday, car. It could be a picture of your family. It could be all about the challenge of running a business and how it will test you.
Whatever it is, you need a little reminder every now and then of what got you up and running.
And it will do one or two things:
It will either immediately trigger your resolve and motivation, and you will recharge with a renewed determination to keep going.
Or it will show that you – and your reasons – have changed and so a more thorough review of what your new drivers are might be needed.
Either way, you won’t get much farther without it.
Adviser In Your Pocket is my very new and shiny subscriber platform! It replaces the original subscription of a session plus access, and is now a host of online resources for you to learn how to think, feel and act like a business owner and includes being able to talk with me directly if you need more specific advice for your business! And instead of it costing as much, the monthly subscription starts at just ￡5 for content access only!
There is new content being added all of the time, and the plan is for it to transfer to a mobile platform sometime in 2024, so it is a great time to join and let me know your feedback - if you had an award-winning, international adviser and speaker with over 25 years of business experience in some of the biggest organisations in the UK and beyond - what would you want from them?)
Register here: Adviser In Your Pocket
Organising A Retreat or A Revolution? The Founders' Retreat
I want to take you away from your business and get you to think about your business in somewhere with only limited wifi.
I'll be taking a small (and I mean small) group of founders away from it all to go deep, deep, deep into their business design for the rest of the year and beyond.
We are talking:
And a 100 day plan that will have you slipping out at the end of the second day because you just can't wait another 24 hours to start it.
Except I would hang around, as the last day is when it all comes together and we strategise a group campaign that means that everyone who was there will be forever tied to one another's success.
I'm taking the first cohort in July to a beautiful country house in Hertfordshire, UK and I want founders who are truly ready to take this to the next level.
If you want more information, then join the waiting list.
But you'd better be ready.
Till Next Week!