Entrepreneurship is often a lonely road, plagued with downers and statistics that just seem to work against us. Whether you listen to conventional wisdom that tells us that anywhere between 50% and 90% of business will eventually fail, how can we possibly hope make sure that our hard work lasts for the long-term?
Instead of sweating the small stuff, look at the big picture and understand that you’re not alone when it comes to starting your own empire. Inject some inspiration into your entrepreneurial spirit with some solid advice from go-getters who faced huge struggles themselves.
Adopt a DIY Ethic
Serial entrepreneur and marketing guru Neil Patel worked at an amusement park and sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door before establishing an online empire. After hiring an Internet marketing firm that produced no results, Patel took it upon himself to learn the ropes of marketing on his own.
Fast-forward to present day and millions of dollars later, Patel advocates for newbie marketers to adopt a sort of DIY mentality by starting a blog that makes money by yourself versus hiring someone else do all of the legwork for your business.
In short, you should strive to become self-sufficient whenever possibly and rely on yourself versus hoping that others can find shortcuts for you. The more blood, sweat and tears you put into your business, the more valuable it becomes for the long-term.
Move Forward by Preparing for the Worst
Online entrepreneur and author of Dotcomsecrets Russell Brunson built a similar empire online through coming up with sales schemes that just plain worked. However, prior to founding ClickFunnels and making millions, he almost went bankrupt twice along the way.
How did Brunson recover?
By preparing for the worst and accepting the realities of failure.
Brunson personally advocates preparing for the worst case scenario as means of getting your head right both mentally and financially in the business world. By being able to confront “the worst that can happen,” you can take risks accordingly and understanding “what-ifs” from a realistic standpoint to help alleviate your fears
For example, if your business fails, what happens? Do you go bankrupt? Do you lose your house? Are you out a few thousand dollars? If you can confront such fears and live with them, you can move your business forward without being paralyzed by “what-if.”
Don’t fear your business. Instead, understand the risks involved and you may be surprised how you can move forward if you don’t have to worry so much about falling backward.
Work Ethic Counts
Not all success stories start from nothing, nor do they rise out of a fear of failure.
Copywriting legend David Oglivy was essentially born with a silver spoon in his mouth and went on to found one of the most successful copywriting firms of all time in Oglivy and Mather. However, before he was writing copy that generated millions for brands such as Rolls Royce, he found himself working as an apprentice chef where he arguably learned his most valuable lessons as it pertained to sales copy.
Under his master chef, who valued customer satisfaction above all and was quick to discard any employee under him who offered less-than-stellar service, Oglivy came to understand the value of hard work and creating a company culture that puts the customer first. Putting in eighty-hour weeks was nothing foreign to him as he learned to lead by example when it came time to start his own advertising firm.
Likewise, Oglivy knew that his grueling shifts as a chef weren’t going to represent his entire life. Similarly enough, you should expect your hard work to pay off and understand that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Entrepreneurship can be incredibly daunting, and few will argue otherwise. That being said, by understanding how to rely on yourself, face the realities of the business world and have a willingness to work hard, you have all the potential in the world in terms of your company.