Are You Preventing Your Own Success?

Are you standing in the way of your own success?

Do you set your goals so low - with a back-door planned - so you can escape the responsibility to make a commitment or achieve success?

I was reading a newsletter from Michael Port of Book Yourself Solid fame. He referred to the statistic that 80% of small businesses close within 5 years. He doesn't believe it's because of an overly competitive marketplace. He said...

I think 80% of business owners fail in the first 5 years because of one of two reasons. Either they haven’t made a non-reversible, do whatever it takes, no holds barred, beyond a shadow of a doubt, absolutely no going back, stick to it like super glue commitment to finishing what they start - to make their business work. Or, maybe they have. But, they haven't found a system that is proven to work so they can replicate it and succeed.

Recently I was speaking with a small business owner - another marketing consultant in fact. This lady is very experienced and switched on. She knows her stuff. I've known her for some years.

But in talking with her I perceived that her business success wasn't absolutely critical because she and her husband were well established. And her husband had a well-paid career.

This issue came up because my marketing consultant friend was wondering about setting revenue targets, and what to do for her own marketing activity.

I made the point to her that unless the revenue from your business is 'essential' to your personal situation it is easy to become too relaxed and not really commit to doing what needs to be done.

Developing a small business into a sustainable revenue stream is hard work. You need to be persistant. You need to learn. Only a rare few have a 'dream run' and reach their targets easily.

What I'm suggesting here is to take a reality check...

** Are you doing what you're doing to develop a serious business?

** Or, are you doing what you're doing as a part-time occupation, never really expecting it to take your full commitment?

Either decision is OK... just be realistic about what you expect to achieve.

Then make sure you put in the appropriate effort to learn, try, test, learn again.

The Trading Post Newspaper Bites The Dust

For years the Trading Post newspaper was 'the' place to look when buying or selling any number of goods. It was famous - a market leader, published weekly. Now it is dead. The last issue will be published on Oct 29.

Killed by the internet and the growth of online shopping.

In the space of a few years this iconic print publication has seen its usage decimated.

But it's online version has skyrocketed in popularity. The Trading Post lives on, online.

The publication's readership dropped by one third to 469,000 in the last year.

But tradingpost.com.au, which launched in 1996, averages 1.8 million unique visitors a month. The publication's mobile site, launched last year, attracts around 140,000 visitors each month.

In the past two years, The Trading Post's number of print ads fell by 70% but the number of ads placed on tradingpost.com.au grew by 30%.

The lesson for your business... stay vigilant of trends. Your clients want an easy life. They will take whatever option they think will make it easiest for them.

Of course quality matters. But people want innovation, ease of use... and quality.