There is one ingredient that absolutely makes all the difference to success with your small business, and that is perseverance.
The power of hanging in there is never to be underestimated. How much do you really want to make a go of your business, how great is its hold on you? If it can keep your interest for all this time, chances are you can figure out how to lasso the interest of your market. If you have maintained for a year or more, avoided going under, continued to enjoy the work, noticed some (even if minuscule) growth – then it may well be worth continuing. With perseverance, you’ll succeed.
There’s a law of economics I learned about recently: the “Rule of 72 (or 70 or 69).” (The variations seem to depend on which formula works best for you.) Anyway, the Rule shows that it is possible to predict 100% growth of your investments if conditions stay roughly the same. If such predictions are possible in the world of finance, they may well work as effectively in our own little businesses. The Rule is reason to persevere, to hang in there, work hard, love your customers and eventually come out on top. If conditions change drastically, maybe you lose, and probably a lot of other people do too. But if the world doesn’t turn upside down, if the economy does not crash and burn to cinders, you’ve made a very smart move. In a few years, you’re in the economic driver’s seat. You can see the doubling of your investment, and then more.
That’s what I picture perseverance in business to be. A doubling of your investment at some point, which inevitably leads to more growth.
What a heroic effort to continue to persevere, though! Believe me, I know. The only thing that keeps me slogging away at it is the horrifying image of having to go back to some miscellaneous job, getting dressed up at the crack of dawn every morning, commuting, wasting time, watching the clock, juggling office politics, exhausting my days and having no energy left. Nope, can’t do that anymore. Okay, back to work.
Perseverance. It can become a pleasant mantra. It’s the support, the scaffold of your days; the inspiration to make it through the next hour, the next day. When you’re wiped out, ready to quit, recall the word, perseverance. Let it push you one more mile, one more inch.
Your commitment to your mission makes possible the commitment of others.
“Oh, are you still there? Well then, you must be real, I guess. I guess I can safely buy from you.” That’s what people say of those who persevere.
The flow of time on the internet is challenging and confounding in ways. Online communications are instant and yet it can take many months for link building, SEO, and social media efforts to pay off in terms of increased traffic and significant ROI. While the medium leads us to expect immediate returns, the process of branding actually takes a long time. Once the internet (Goggle / search engines) recognizes you, your listing has a lot of staying power. But until then, you’re on your own. And maintaining your top listings once you get them requires constant, if less frantic, diligence.
Anyhow, the point is that consistency over time means more than any other ingredient in establishing your business, and your internet branding is no exception to this rule. Whatever you do, do it faithfully and you’ll find your return.
