If you watched last year’s Superbowl, you may have been a little disappointed…
The game was pretty slow, not much happened (especially in the 1st half) and in my humble opinion, the commercials were not as good as they normally are.
But I took 2 lessons from it which apply directly to my (and hopefully your) own business:
1) Preparation is so, so key
Why do I say this?
Because both defences played great against what were known as very good offences (especially the Rams offence). It seemed like both defences had done a TON of homework, had great game-plans and executed them well.
This is, of course, a great strategy for running a successful business in many different ways, but long story short: do some homework, make a plan and then stick to it (and adjust if needed).
2) Sometimes things won’t be as exciting, and that’s okay
To be frank, the game was pretty boring unless you love watching defences and punts. But when I woke up today, looked at the pile of emails I had to attend to and some of the tasks on my to-do list, I realized that like for small business owners, not every day is going to be sunshines and rainbows.
Some games won’t be as interesting. Some scores may be low. Some players will have off-days.
And when working on a new business, some days won’t be as interesting. Some months may have low revenues. And you definitely will have some off-days.
All you can really do is embrace it, love it, and enjoy the ride.
This also leads me to another business idea or lesson that many might not consider when getting into how to start a business or thinking of getting started.
It’s a small sacrifice now that can give you a better chance for success down the road, and something I did (almost by accident) that I’m really happy about looking back.
It’s this fancy term I like to call “living frugally”.
What in the world does this have to do with entrepreneurship, you may ask?
Well, if you are or were anything like me, you were working a 9-5 that you wanted to get out of. You wanted something more, and not to have to go into someone else’s office every day and line their pockets.
There’s two ways to fix the problem:
1) Quit
2) Start a side-hustle and wait until it’s grown enough to quit your 9-5
In my situation, my contract was coming to an end at a set time and I knew I wasn’t going back to a 9-5. I also knew that if/when I started a small business of my own, I likely wouldn’t be rolling in dough (money) for quite some time. I also knew that I enjoyed being able to eat food and pay rent…
So I cut costs and saved whatever I could.
Why?
To be able to cover my costs (duh), but more importantly, to give myself a longer runway to try to grow my own business – whatever it may be.
Long story short – by sacrificing now (eating out less, traveling less, cutting costs, etc.), you give yourself a longer runway, and better chance at a successful business, with starting or growing a new business – because it will likely take you months/years to get your business to a steady, supporting revenue.
This wasn’t the most positive blog post of all time, but hey – I just call it how it is. For blunt of the ups and downs of solopreneurship, make sure to join the email list here.
