Many people dream of running a business that becomes a major success and gives them a life filled with all the good stuff.
Many people start businesses and never make their initial investment back.
What makes the difference? Is it really just luck?
In all the years that I’ve been coaching business owners, I can tell you with absolute certainty that luck has little to do with success.
There is something that successful business owners do that the rest don’t do, or certainly don’t do often enough, and that’s to ask for help.
I’ve often said that the curse of the entrepreneur is that we love to do it all, control it all, and be the one wearing many hats.
But it’s unreasonable to think that one person would have all the answers.
If you have seen the movie “The Social Network” one thing that is abundantly clear is that Facebook as NOT a one-man creation. It took several people to make that web site a hit.
And the group of people grew and grew as the site grew and grew. Each person filling a specific role that was needed to build the company.
Contrast that with the way most Internet entrepreneurs go about their business. They usually go it alone. They sometimes attend seminars. They may collect a few business cards, but rarely call anybody. They often never participate in mastermind groups, and almost never ask for help when they run into something they don’t understand.
It sounds silly, but it’s very real and it’s how many would-be successful entrepreneurs sabotage their success right from the start.
And if you ask them, they have every excuse in the book for not asking for help, for not reaching out, for not doing anything other than stew in their own challenges.
I know this first-hand because that is how I used to be. Today, I regularly reach out to people who I know have the answers I need to solve the issues I run into in my business.
So instead of having to work for hours, days, weeks, or even months to get past a challenge I’m facing, I make a few phone calls, get the answers I need and I get back to the business of building my enterprise.
My favorite excuse has always been that I didn’t know who to call. I had no network. I had no names, no phone numbers, and who would talk to me anyway? Turns out none of this was true, and I know it’s not true for you either.
There is a certain joy that people get when they are able to lend a hand to help out a fellow business owner. And if they can’t help, they may know somebody who can.
Heed this warning; you will not be able to get to where you’re going on your own. You will need the help, guidance, and assistance of other people.
Look around you and you’ll see that every business owner who has created a successful business also has people around them that support their efforts.
Most every one of them has a coach. I’ve got several because I realize the incredible value in getting past obstacles quickly, which is what they do for me.
Most every successful business owner is part of a mastermind group. They share ideas. They reach out to help other business owners. And in the end they thrive as their business grows.
You’ll never get ahead unless you get the information, the help, the guidance, to get past the hurdles that come up for all of us in the process of building a successful business.
Reach out, ask questions, get answers, and get back to building the business you have been dreaming about.