The second hardest part in business is making your first sale.
The hardest?
The grit to push through when sales no longer come easily.
I encounter many individuals who aspire to start a business or have a moneymaking idea either their full-time job or a small side hustle.
Most of the ideas are great, and with guidance, they can become a very successful business.
Yet, most business ideas hardly get past a few weeks of crisis-inspired enthusiasm, with the same short burst of energy you get from a Red Bull. Reality hits hard. The idea might take off, even have a few sales, before ending up as nothing more than a “404 – Page not found” error and a dormant domain name. And maybe it’s for the best. They don’t survive long enough to clutter the market further with poor service delivery, half-baked products and uninspiring mediocrity.
The idea is only half of the equation. Maybe even less. The rest is all about the person driving the idea. It takes a ton of grit, real hard work and a drive to push through countless hours to make a success of any business idea.
The end product might differ from the initial idea, but that is the very proof that you are driven for success. You learn from your mistakes, adapt, change your approach, and try again. You iterate. Here, it’s worth noting that without the humility to receive criticism, take feedback, acknowledge mistakes, and seek advice, you are either going to get stuck or waste a lot of money on your ego.
As an example, creating and selling online courses is incredibly easy these days. Yet so few people do it successfully. The second hardest part is publishing your first lesson. The hardest part? To publish the second course or lesson when you have little to no traction or sales on the first course. And then to continue and push through until it is successful. While the tools make it easy to start, real success takes hard work and a ton of grit.
Only you stand between yourself and success.