Check Yo’self, before you Wreck Yo’self!
The American Dream is so attractive even for those that live outside the US. Why is this? Well, there is something ultra sexy about building your own business and becoming an overnight success. In the US alone, there are some 26 million businesses registered today. Imagine how many start up on a global scale. The number is huge, right?
Now I’m going to share a stat that most don’t know – 96% of US registered businesses fail in the first 10 years. That’s right 9 out of 10 fail. As a business owner of nearly 20 years, I believe there are a few reasons – owners often underestimate the amount of time it takes to make a business work, they underestimate how much work it takes to reach success and profitability, and they underestimate how much it will cost. Beyond this, they may not have a vision or purpose other than lining their pockets. They do not understand how important mindset and habits are.
Okay, so there are some negative facts and data, but I am not here to scare you off. My goal, however, is to be brutally honest with you and give you the tools you need to reach more success than you can imagine. Really, my bigger goal is helping you to get into the top 4% that are successful. I am trying to create a movement that fills the 4% and with time have the movement grow that success rate to over 10%.
For us to reach our dreams, we need YOU to be successful.
So how are you going to be successful and make the top 4% of successful business owners if you are just starting out? Well, step one is helping you understand what success is and setting the right expectations for how to get there. Now, let’s talk about you. There are many things that are needed in order to be able to make it in business. You’ll need to understand business, sales, marketing, operations, and finance. How can you learn to master that stuff? This takes time and practice and a lot of reading and studying if you are new to business. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber might be a great place to start understanding that business is a SYSTEM and you need to build a business you can sell before you build products you can sell, but I’m getting ahead of myself, here.
For real success, it has to be in your core as an individual.
This means commitment, habits, attitude, and mindset.
Early on I would recommend reading as many books as you can get your hand on. Our facebook group is currently reading and reviewing Start With WHY by Simon Sinek. This might be a good place to start planning your business. You see people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. This is a great way to get started building success into your business no matter if you are starting today or even if you have 5 or 10 years under your belt.
People have to KNOW, LIKE and TRUST you before they will buy from you so a WHY is important. On the tactical side of YOU though, you might like to take this quick easy 10 question Self-Employment Aptitude Quiz we created to help business owners get an understanding of what it personally takes to be great at business ownership and self-employment.
Keep in mind, early on, the business revolves around YOU.
This means you will be the biggest bottleneck to reaching success. Once you understand your strengths and weaknesses, you can leverage all your skills and then find ways to overcome your weaknesses (preferably by outsourcing or delegating them to others instead of doing work you are extremely unqualified for).
Are you ready to test Your Self-Employment Aptitude?
Okay here is the deal, click here to take the Aptitude Quiz. Once you get through it evaluate where you landed. Are you on the higher side and perfect for starting a business? Jump on it, we need more innovators! Or are you on the lower side? If so does this make you second guess things? If so it might be best if you chase another dream. If you are on the lower side and it kind of fires you up and you do not like ANYONE telling you what you can and can’t do… well then, you might be perfect for being a business owner, but might have a tough road ahead. No matter where you end up, this is one quick easy tool to help point you in the right direction.
Click Here To Take Aptitude Quiz
If you like this tool, feel free to share your results page on social media and/or leave a comment on this article to give us feedback on your thoughts.
Thanks and here’s to much success!
Photo by frankieleon
