27 Jun Be Patient
I have the privilege of interviewing 20-25 business leaders each week on my primetime TV show, Create, Build and Manage Daily. The guests are the star of the show. It is so fun to hear their stories of how they have turned a passion into a business or non-profit.
One of my favorite questions to ask is what advice they would give their younger self. In other words, if they could go back in time and give themselves any advice, what would it be?
There is no such thing as an overnight success.
I get a variety of answers, but the number one response I get is to be patient. There is no such thing as an overnight success. I am sure someone can find the one or two exceptions to that rule, but I’m willing to bet that behind every success story are moments of despair and maybe even complete failure.
By the time you hear about most brands, they are already successful. In our minds, we think about the time we first heard about a brand and when that brand went global. It seems like an instant success.
Most of us signed up for Facebook around 2008 or 2009. In just a few short months we were connecting with old friends from high school and college. What an overnight success. But was it? In our research for my book, Media Matters: How to leverage the media to grow your business, we discovered that Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook with some of his Harvard classmates in 2004, and it was made available to everyone over the age of 13 by 2006. In business terms, going from launch to full rollout in two years is a great success. But if you look at their financial numbers, Facebook did not turn a profit until 2009, and it was only a modest profit. Do the math and Facebook lost revenue for the first five years of business.
Google was founded in 1998 but didn’t see any measurable profit until 2002. I could go on and list several examples, but the point is that there is no such thing as overnight success.
According to the Small Business Administration, 20% of startups fail in the first year. After five years, only 50% of startups are still in business. Go out to year 10 and only 33% survive to stay in business. I believe more startups fail because they stop trying. They believe the lie that if you are not an overnight success you should give up.
So, if you are struggling in your business, don’t give up! You are close to turning a profit and living your entrepreneurial dream! You might just be one or two decisions away from making it big. Perhaps it’s as simple as coming up with a marketing plan to spread the word about your idea. We can help! Click on the “Contact Us” button for a free discovery call.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.