One of the BIG differences between successful business owners and those who struggle, is preparation. The average business owner doesn’t prepare very well. They want their business to succeed or their marketing to generate bankable results, but they fail to do the heavy lifting beforehand. They fail to prepare correctly, in advance.
Preparation
Last Monday, I launched a new project via an announcement on this blog. Just 7 days after launching Creative Thinking Hub, it has over a thousand subscribers, a Google Page Rank of 3 and more daily traffic than most older sites get. Here’s what people didn’t see: For 8 weeks before the launch, I invested around 100 hours to get the preparation right. I hired 2 designers. I spent money where it was needed and did the right things, correctly.
Conversely, I hear from business owners regularly, who have sites that are over a year old and still floundering, because they refuse to hire the expert help they need and prepare correctly for success. This strikes me as an odd attitude to have toward your own business: Like drowning and refusing to call for help.
Unprepared
There are many excuses why business owners refuse to prepare correctly. These range from those who say they can’t afford it, in a message sent via their iPad from the coffee shop where they blow a grand a year on coffee – To those who have settled for lowering their lifestyle aspirations, to fall in line with their under performing business results.
Ultimately, we have the freedom to start from nothing, prepare correctly and build something amazing. I started off with nothing, as the son of an Irish immigrant family with no connections and no money. I took the decision at age 21 to prepare for success and as soon as I could, I paid for the expert help I needed. I planned well and then worked the plan. It worked. Beautifully. I do the same today, like every successful business owner I know.
In short: Professional preparation is to business, as carbon is to steel. Don’t expect to wing your way to success in the worst economy in living memory.