I had a conversation with an aspiring business owner the other day, and she told me that she wanted to build a soap empire. She asked me if that were possible.
Of course it is possible.
My mind jumped immediately to so many similar conversations I have had over the past year with ambitious but fearful business owners. Fearful in that they know some people are able to build massively successful business, but worry that it won’t be possible for them.
Why wouldn’t it be possible?
I am fortunate to know many amazingly successful business owners. I intentionally seek them out, and get to know their story whenever possible. I absolutely love to hear how it all started, how they got it off the ground and what they struggled with in the beginning.
Funny thing about those stories is that they tend to have similar elements.
1. Something was not quite right in their life or employment situation.
2. Decided to take action to fix the issue.
3. Came up against a bunch of challenges.
4. Refused to give up.
5. Learned new skills to overcome challenges and adapted.
6. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Occasionally someone will tell me that their business magically took off and was easy from day one. Honestly, I always take those stories with a healthy dose of skepticism because that is usually not the full story (if you are the exception, congrats!)
But aside from those six steps above, the uber-successful entrepreneurs that I know are not more gifted or smarter than other people. They don’t have some privilege or advantage that you don’t have. They just refuse give up. EVER.
That really is the core trait. A refusal to stop once it gets tough.
When we were babies we ALL had this trait. Think back to when you learned how to walk. That is a rough process for 99% of babies. My son fell down a million times before he finally learned how to balance & put one foot in front of the other without toppling over.
Imagine if you gave up while you were learning how to walk. After the 50th time of falling down, you said, “I can’t do this. It is not working”. And gave up. You could have concluded “I am not good at walking, so this is not my path”
Silly to think about in terms of that context, but the point remains the same. When something is TRULY important, the dedicated NEVER give up.
Imagine if you applied the same attitude to your business?
So, when people ask me whether or not they can build a successful business, the honest answer is “I don’t know”. It will be dependent on how resilient you are. How dedicated you are to pushing through the setbacks. How committed you are to NEVER giving up, even when it feels like it is not working.
As I wrote that last paragraph, I thought about the clients whom I have coached to become better marketers. For so many people, learning how to market is a struggle, and they are so quick to get frustrated at the first sign something is not working.
Imaging if you applied the same dedication to learning how to market your business that you applied to learning how to walk?
