Have you ever noticed Instagram is a collection of photos where people are “living the dream”? The images are perfectly stylized as the person posting boasts about their successful business.
Let me be clear, I don’t take issue with marketing. After all, I do it too. As I often teach my students, you have to meet your audience where they’re at. A lot of the time, that means showing them what’s possible.
However, I do take issue when I go to a marketer’s website and I see nothing about their struggles. Instead, they make it seem like building a successful business is easy.
Here are three truths no one is going to tell you about building a successful business. My intention is that you don’t feel behind if you are experiencing any of this.
It takes time.
For most people, their successful business didn’t happen over night. Mine certainly hasn’t. Nor has that been the case for any successful business owner I know.
The problem is we tend to want to see progress and results right away when that’s not at all how this works. To make matters worse, when we go online we see a lot of success stories. Before we know it we’re comparing our mediocre results to someone’s edited Instagram posts.
So if something is taking way longer than you want it to, then you’re probably on track. This is especially true if you have an idea that perhaps the rest of the market hasn’t caught on to yet.
You will need to make tough choices.
While interviewing my web designer for my podcast, she mentioned how she made difficult choices when she started her business. She moved to another country, was living in a hostel and ate rice and beans while she figured stuff out.
While this is a bit of an extreme case, the truth remains that you’ll need to make some touch choices. I lived at home for seven years. Colleagues of mine downsized their living situation. Business owner friends took scary risks.
Granted, it won’t always be like this. But, you will need to make some sacrifices in the beginning.
Whoever is out there most makes the money.
Here’s a truth people hate hearing. The people with a successful business aren’t even necessarily the ones with the best skill. They are just the ones with more visibility.
I often coach clients who are trying to be perfect with everything. The reality is while they are busy trying to be perfect, someone else is already out there marketing and making the money.
So rather than trying to come up with the best copy, just put yourself out there. Does this mean you shouldn’t prepare? Of course not! But you have to realize there’s a difference between preparing and perfection.
Final Thoughts
Business success isn’t as glamorous or as easy as people make it out to be. It’s just a bunch of regular folks putting in hard work over time. That’s all.
[Related: 9 Uncomfortable Truths About Money Only Rich People Understand]
