If you want to enjoy massively better results from your business, you need to step back and look at the way things are right now. A great place to start, is to ask yourself the following question on a regular basis:
Am I making measurable progress in reasonable time?
I know business owners who are earning roughly the same today as they were 2 years ago. That’s not how you grow a successful business. That’s called stagnation. It’s stressful, unrewarding and 100% unnecessary.
Day by day, it’s easy to miss the fact that you are making little measurable progress. Small business owners who are working hard but getting little reward, don’t do so deliberately. They are simply unaware that they are repeating small errors, which are stopping their business from growing. They are like the guy trying to cut down a tree with a hammer. Lots of effort for very little progress.
The bottom line: If you are not making the progress you want, either figure out what’s blocking you or talk to someone who knows. Make the changes required and start getting the results your hard work deserves! Don’t make the mistake of hoping things will just get better. Hope is not a business strategy.
Jim Connolly can help you grow your business and achieve the breakthrough marketing results your hard work deserves. To find out more, simply click here!
And you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Sometimes you are making progress, but because you’re not measuring it, you won’t even notice. Finding the right way to measure is critical for progress.
A very good point there, Al. Thanks!
Well Hope is a business strategy – just not a very good one
Good sentiments in this post Jim. The challenge is often finding the time to take stock and figure out what’s happening (the good and the bad!). My approach is to set small achievable targets and measure there individual success which prevents the possibility of waking up after those 2 years and asking the question “what on earth am I doing this for anyway?”.
Thanks for sharing Jim
Hi my friend.
I think the key thing, Barney, is to look at the key measurables; revenues, profits AND quality of life.
As a wise man once told me, if you don’t know the numbers, you are running your business blind.
Hi Jim,
I’ve started a small business about a year ago.Of course my progress is not as I expected it to be after a year. The problem is HOW to detect what’s stopping you and what are the small mistakes that you are (me) doing.
Thanks!
Like every business owner on the planet, Jess, I believe you have 2 options:
1) Invest the time and money required, to learn how to spot and fix what’s wrong. (Expensive)
2) Hire someone who already knows how to spot the issues and set you on the right course. (Expensive, but you stay in business.)
Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for your answer. I’m not sure how in your first option- I’m not staying in business…? not sure I’m following….
Thanks!
Jess
Hi Jess.
In that first option, it can take you years to learn everything you need, in order to succeed. Most struggling businesses will have gone broke by then, which is why the majority of small businesses fail in the first 24 months. They don’t hire the help they need.
In the second option, you get the answers you need immediately, by hiring an expert who knows what you need to do. This gives the business owner the answers they need, when they need them and massively increases your chances of growing your business.
What is it that Jim Rohn said? “…You don’t fail overnight. Instead failure is a few errors in judgement, repeated every day.” At some point people need to realize that to be really successful, they just might have to reach into their pockets!
Yes, it certainly was Jim Rohn who said that, Claudia.
The truth is that there will always be business owners, who go broke because they flat refuse to invest in their own businesses. They would rather waste years of their time and countless missed opportunities, than hire someone to help.
My best answer is that it’s a form of natural selection. Some people lack the entrepreneurial edge required to put their money where their mouth is. They then fail and leave that hole in the market, for the true entrepreneur, who knows how to optimise for it.
Thanks for the feedback my friend.
Hi Jim, great article, thanks for sharing
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