Many persons start a business thinking that they will immediately see some success, but many times the pace at which success may come is overestimated. Success rarely ever happens overnight. What is more, many do not really understand the ingredients that are necessary for success. It usually requires work, discipline and commitment. The process can be long and tiresome. Along the way, you may find well-meaning friends, family members and even colleagues attempting to discourage you from going after your entrepreneurial pursuits, probably saying you should not give up your secure, good-paying, day job for something unsure.
Entrepreneur,
Managing Director,
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While writing this, I thought about my own entrepreneurial journey – the ups and the downs and even now, one of the things that makes me head for the office on days that I would rather not, is the principle of the compound effect. The compound effect highlights that small seemingly insignificant steps performed consistently overtime will create a radical change.
Darren Hardy, publisher and editor of Success magazine is the author of the Compound Effect, one of my favourite books. In it, he provides principles that can help guide entrepreneurs and business leaders to success, in what he calls the microwave mentality, where there is a lottery winning expectation in today’s society and persons pine for quick fixes and instant results. ` One should realize that there is no homegrown successful person, athlete or entrepreneur who did not put in the required work. Take a successful athlete, while he or she may have raw talent, it is necessary to have a rigid training regime and he or she would get up early and keep training long after others may have stopped. The athlete does this consistently each day. Likewise an entrepreneur’s path to success is full of the mundane, unexciting, difficult daily disciplines. It is however these consistent things that will lead to success. To illustrate this I will use the Magic Penny. If you were given a choice between $2,000,000 and a single penny that doubles in value each day for 30 days, which would you choose? I guess most would instinctively choose the $2,000,000 without thinking because that is instant money and what is a penny compared to $2,000,000? However, when you do the math, taking a penny and doubling its value every day on a compound basis for 30 periods, will result in $10,737,418.24 on the 31st day. That is mind boggling, but it is true! I am not suggesting that there is some business that you can double in value or growth every day for 30 days. What it is highlighting is that consistent incremental change over time can lead to significant outcomes.
So, in business, do we think of the instant return or do we plan to grow with small intentional consistent effort? As an entrepreneur this is always a question to give thought to. Are you prepared to put in the work to get the desired results? This work that you put in must include that of developing a plan that articulates your end game. It must include the systems and the operational procedures that are focused on achieving those incremental and intentional changes for growth in your business and personal life. Yes, don’t forget that as an entrepreneur, your business life is often very wrapped up with your personal life, so those small incremental changes also apply to you personally – personal development.
In keeping with the compound effect, every entrepreneur should take immediate action making a deliberate choice to allow it to work. Starting today will you change or improve their personal life and business incrementally, one day at a time? Remember, setbacks may come as there are external factors you have no control over. But even in those situations, always aim to make small, smart simply choices consistently. That is what will make the big difference in your businesses. So think about how every choice and every decision you make is going to affect your ultimate business goal.
In a subsequent article, I will discuss some of the factors that go into ensuring those small incremental changes that lead to success.
If you have a question related to this article or just a general question on entrepreneurship, write to us at guyanabusinesswise@gmail.com. Your question may be addressed directly or in our next article.
