One of the things that never ceases to amaze me, is the number of small business owners and entrepreneurs, who are always looking for the next new thing; without ever finishing whatever they had previously started.
I spoke with the owner of a start-up business earlier this year, who had very limited resources. He was planning to develop his new business, in an extremely competitive market, YET he was just about to dilute his meagre resources, by “looking into a great opportunity”, which was clearly about to rob his new venture of what little resources he had. He sent me several emails over the coming few months, telling me about more new opportunities. When I last met him, he confirmed that he was now back in salaried employment. For him, as he put it; “the ride is over!”
In similar fashion, I had a chance meeting with an entrepreneur earlier this month. This guy was just about to start up a new business, in an industry he knows absolutely nothing about. A mutual acquaintance later told me that this guy starts new ventures all the time, and runs out of interest when they don’t make him rich after a few months. He believes everything he hears from the guys who pitch these ideas to him, never once thinking he’s heard it all before. It seems he finds it hard to see past the fake testimonials and promises of easy riches on these people’s websites.
Now, as I write this, I am thinking of another entrepreneur, who emailed me yesterday with a question about her latest business idea. She has (literally) dozens of disused websites littered all over the Internet, for various online business ideas she has started and abandoned. She always starts them off with a great deal of optimism and energy, before quitting them for the next new, shiny thing. I have known her for 2 years and never known her stick with anything for more than a few months. One of her ideas looked like a sure-fire winner, and I believe could have made her a wealthy lady, had she actually worked at it for more than a month or two.
The worst part? I can think of dozens of people who have spoken to or emailed me, who will be certain I just referenced them in this post. That’s how common it is!
Focus and persistence
Focus and persistence are 2 keys to business success. Once we have done the research and chosen the kind of business to get into, we need to maintain our focus on what’s important, and then persist until we have at least given our business the oxygen it needs to survive, then thrive.
By constantly moving onto something new, each time we reach a sticking point, we rob ourselves of the lessons we need to master, if we want to succeed. That’s why these people keep failing at the same point in their business ventures each time!
It’s great to diversify, but first we need to get to the stage, where our core business is financially robust enough, to afford us the time and money required to branch out and explore new, exciting opportunities.
By constantly quitting, before we even get started, it’s hard to achieve anything of lasting commercial value.