In the September/October
The Costco Connection magazine,
entrepreneur turned venture capitalist
Robert Harjavec
talks about his secrets to success.

“Success is the million little things
you do every day.
It’s the way you answer your phone,
how clean your office is,
how shiny your shoes were
when you went to make that presentation.

That’s what makes business hard;
it’s not a one-time thing you do,
but a lot of stuff
that you have to keep doing every day.
But that’s how you build a successful business -
with a million well-considered actions and decisions.”

Yep, the small stuff
REALLY does count.

An author buddy of mine
commented on how she wished she was like me
and be so eager to write every day.

WTH?

I’m not eager to write every day.
I have to force myself
every single freakin’ morning
to sit in that seat
and type.

But I don’t often share that
because readers like to believe in
the ‘magic’ of stories.

You see,
professionals are expected
to make their often difficult jobs
look easy.
That we supposedly know
what we’re doing
can be reassuring to customers.

Unfortunately,
we often forget that with
the proteges we are mentoring,
we should be sharing
that exactly the opposite is true.

If we don’t,
our proteges will believe
they aren’t good enough
or gifted enough.
They won’t realize
that talent isn’t enough,
that talent needs to be paired
with hard work
to pay off in success.

So, yes,
show customers only the magic
but share the inner workings
and the blood, sweat, and tears,
with the people you’re mentoring.

One of my buddies told me yesterday
that she’s too old to start a business.

Another friend told her daughter
she was too young to write a book.
She should gather life experience first.

Age is a bullshit excuse.

I buy products every day.
I don’t know the age of the founders.
I read books every day.
I have no idea how old the authors are.

If you want a goal to be achieved,
why wait for the perfect age?

It takes an average of 10 years
to get a novel published.
If you’re too young today,
in 10 years, you’ll be older.
Same novel, different age.

If you’re too old to start a company now,
tomorrow you’ll be one day older.
When do you plan to achieve this goal?

If you want to do something,
do it.
If you fail due to lack of… something,
figure out how to partner or obtain or…
that something.

Stop making excuses.
Get out there and do.

Dr. Susan L. Reid has a great post
on the too old excuse.

A friend of mine
has been researching for a story
for over six months now.
She tells me about
all the cool facts she’s learned.
She thinks she’s doing something.

She’s not.
She’s preparing to do something.

I’m the opposite.
I’ll do enough research
to know my story premise is possible.
I write the story,
with blanks for research gaps,
and then I fill in the ‘facts’ later,
doing only the research I need
to finish the story.

Researching may be necessary
(or it may not be)
but it is not doing.
Doing is doing.
You only get paid when you ship.

A friend of mine
has ever minute filled with noise.
She always has
either the tv on
or the radio
or…
She is constantly being entertained.

She is also
the least creative person I know.

When I’m plotting
(a story OR to take over the world),
I need quiet.
The tv isn’t on.
I often don’t have any noise.
My brain fills that empty space
with thoughts,
sometimes crazy thoughts.

For many people
(and there are always exceptions),
if you fill every space,
there’s no room to be creative.

If you want to raise problem solvers,
if you want to encourage creativity,
leave some quiet time,
some open spaces.

I belong to a group of five authors.
Almost every day,
we email each other
and talk about what we did
writing-wise that day.

We have measurements
words written,
manuscripts submitted,
that are short forms for progress.
Not surprisingly,
our group has achieved
great things this year.

One of my entrepreneur friends
does the same with three other entrepreneurs.
They email each day
and mention what they did marketing-wise,
what sales they made,
what products they produced.

My friend is beginning to have success.
She tells me,
that if not for these other women,
she would have quit long ago.

Consider finding others
at the same stage you are
and create a support system.
It can be as simple
as having someone you need to be accountable to.

I don’t watch tv shows
unless a legal copy is available online.
I don’t care if there are commercials.
I simply want to be able
to watch the show whenever I want.

Many of my friends feel the same
except they aren’t as fussy
about the legal part.

So they go to the pirates
if the legal content isn’t available.
These shows lose out
on advertising revenue
and access to these viewers.

There’s been some buzz
about Taylor Swift’s new song Mine.
The official video isn’t available yet
on YouTube
(my listening station of choice).
I don’t care about the video.
I just want to listen to the song.
And the song is available on YouTube
from ‘fans.’

It would take very little
for Taylor Swift’s people
to put the entire album on YouTube
(with the album cover)
and earn advertising revenue off it.
Instead, the ‘fans’ get the advertising revenue.

If you don’t offer your content
in a way viewers or listeners or readers want it,
they WILL go to the pirates.
Doesn’t it make sense
to capture these potential customers yourself?

Seth Godin has a great post
on Foundation Elements For Modern Businesses.
He lists 15 new elements
for new businesses.

I love the list.
I also find it disturbing,
especially # 7
“Rely on unique individuals,
not an easily copyable system.”

You see…
I have always thought
a true business,
one I can build to large scale
and have operate without me
(i.e. a business I can sell),
can’t rely on individuals.

If I build a business only I can run,
well, only I can run it.
I’m a prisoner of that business.

I’ve seen people try to sell these businesses.
It sure isn’t pretty.

There are happy mediums.
The CEO who transitions into a spokesperson.
The writer who puts his ‘touch’
on books written by ghost writers.

It is, however, the greatest challenge
on Seth’s list
for new business builders.

Rafi Mohammed,
author of
The 1% Windfall:
How Successful Companies Use
Price To Profit and Grow,
advises to use
different product versions
to appeal to a wider range of customers.

“Consider offering
good, better, and best versions
to allow customers
to choose how much to pay
for a product.
For example,
many gourmet restaurants
offer early-bird, regular and chef’s-table options.
Price-sensitive foodies
come for the early bird specials,
while well-heeled diners
willingly pay an extra $50
to sit at the chef’s table.”

The key is,
of course,
to have three very different options
for the three very different price points.

Can you offer
good, better and best versions
of your products?

One of the key habits
of happy people is
they enjoy the present.

That doesn’t mean they don’t set goals.
As
Tal Ben-Shahar,
author of
Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment,
states
“The primary objective of goals
is to liberate you
to enjoy the here and now,
the journey.”

You are likely not yet
at the stage you ideally wish to be
with your business building.

The thing is…
if you’re an ambitious person,
you likely will NEVER be
at the stage you wish to be.
As you reach your target,
you make a new target.

So enjoy where you are.
Enjoy start up pains
and that crazy growth period
and all the other stages of business building.
You may never experience this again.