Are You Making This Crucial Misspeak?
Yes, I meant to type "misspeak" and not "mistake."
I wanted to be sure I had your attention, because THIS is important.
A local business here in my town just closed up. Sure, I know what you're thinking. That's not unusual in this day and age, but here's the unusual part: they were open less than 6 months.
I was itching to know what happened. Who opens a business and then closes up shop 6 months later? What happened?
What causes folks to give up so soon?
In this case, I had a conversation with the owners, a lovely husband-and-wife team who seem remarkably nonchalant about closing.
When I asked what happened this is what they told me:
1. The economy. (But c'mon, it wasn't looking too bright 6 months ago, when they 1st opened)
2. People don't read books anymore. (The Twitter syndrome -- if it's longer than a Twitter post, forget it.)
3. People don't spend money on books. The owner told me he's seen countless people come in, pick up a book or two (priced low -- under $5), walk around the store, then put the books down and walk next door and buy a $5 coffee. Hmmm, somehow I don't think that's it because I have to stand in line to check out every time I go to Borders, so some people are definitely buying books.
4. Troublesome marketing. (I won't bore you with the details here, but let's just say based on what I learned from talking to them, it sounds like they really did give this part the ol' college try)
5. Location. Other shops in the shopping area had recently closed, which meant less foot traffic in and around their store.
Now, when I asked them why they opened the store to begin with, what drew them to this idea, this is what they told me:
1. They like books.
2. They thought it would be fun to own a book shop.
3. The town didn't already have a used bookstore (but what they didn't know, is that the 20+ year old used+new bookstore in town had closed up about 3 years ago AND the Borders Outlet at the outlet mall in town had also recently closed its doors)
Then this is the part of the conversation that still haunts me -- the whole reason why I had to share this story with you.
The wife said, "We knew we wouldn't get rich -- but we figured we'd make a couple of bucks."
See anything wrong with this scenario?
Setting aside the obvious question (who goes into business to make a couple of bucks??) look at how low the bar was set.
And look at the motivation for going into business in the first place.
I'm not feeling any passion, any drive, any intuition, not much planning, and very little risk/investment.
Where's the factors pointing toward their certain success? I don't see any.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've seen this sort of thing. I've seen folks close up shop in less than three months in my husband's business -- and that has a MUCH lower overhead than a retail storefront! Sure, there are certainly folks who produce "microwave" results in his industry, but talk to many of the top earners in his company (including him!) and most of them will tell you how many times they ALMOST gave up -- but didn't. And they'll also tell you how grateful they are that they stuck with it.
Many of the self-help books today will tell you that tenacity and stick-to-it-iveness are critical for success.
But is that just a collective belief? Do we really have to persist, persist, persist before we can grab that brass ring?
Yes. If that's what you believe.
And if you believe it has to be hard, or you "most likely won't get rich" then you can bet your boots that's what you'll see show up.
If you're an entrepreneur, or an aspiring entrepreneur, ask yourself this: what do you believe about business, work, your ability to succeed and whether or not you need to "earn your stripes." You just might find some beliefs that surprise you.
And if I can be of assistance to you in clearing your limiting beliefs, let me know.
(And if you want to be an entrepreneur who doesn't have to go it alone -- who gets to be mentored by people who are actually producing results, then visit this website.)
BTW, if it seems like I'm blogging less these days, I AM. After all, I've now got 3 audio programs going -- 1 recorded radio show, 1 recorded podcast, and 1 live radio show. Plus all the YouTube videos I've put out lately. I've still got plenty to say, I'm just doing most of it via audio and video, and less of it via typing.
posted by Amy Scott Grant @ 5/14/2009 10:05:00 PM
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