What Season Are You In?
In all of life, there's Seed Time and Harvest Time.
These times vary for different plants, animals and people; the same rules of nature also apply to business.
Whether you like it or not, you're going to have a seed time in your life; a time of planting only i.e. studying, researching, building your business or career, personal/business development, building your profile, etc.
During seed time, people won’t know who you are. However, do not fear, it’s a very crucial time for your business, where you build the foundation blocks for everything else to stand one. The longevity, durability and grit of you and your business is dependent on the things you do during this period.
This is the time where the fairy tale of starting your business meets the reality of WORKING on your business; a time where a lot of entrepreneurs either give up or become stagnant due to lack of the RIGHT action.
Most entrepreneurs start their business because they’ve seen a need or a gap in the market. They’ve noticed that a need isn’t being properly addressed or that they can do better and so they think this business is the next best thing and will be a money-maker.
This is a great, awesome feeling, one that propels us to think BIGGER than we’ve probably ever done before. We start thinking about how our business is going to be, the products and services we’re going to create, how we’re going to serve our customers, etc. We have a picture of a business fairy tale 😊.
So, we start doing the work to make our fairy tale a reality – setting up the business, creating the products, service, getting the website, business social media pages, etc. Then the proper ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’ work starts:
the marketing your products,
getting your customers and serving them,
getting feedback and working through the feedback,
the money issues,
the daily actions and admins you take concerning your business, etc.
These are what I call the business grind, the reality of business. This is where most entrepreneurs begin to think they’re in the wrong business or selling the wrong products and they get angry that no-one is buying from them, so it becomes a vicious cycle that causes overwhelm, frustration, and makes them want to give up or at least stop taking action.
All of this feeling is because entrepreneurs don’t take the time to address the most important aspect of their business, which is their marketing.
In my years as an entrepreneur and a business coach I’ve learnt a lot of things, three of which are:
Most entrepreneurs create and are selling products/services that they value, products/services that have made a difference in their lives BUT the products/services DO NOT have the same impact and value in their customers lives.
Over 70% of entrepreneurs are selling to the wrong audience
What you think about your product is important but it’s not as important as what your customers think.
The above lessons are CRITICAL to the success of your business and working with my clients on these points in their business has taken clients who weren’t earning an income in their business to start making several thousand pounds a quarter in their business…within the first 12 months.
I can confidently say that your business can NEVER succeed if you don’t address these points. And the quicker you deal with these the sooner you move from the ‘Seed Time’ (planting season) to ‘Harvest Time’ (reaping the benefits).
Success-minded entrepreneurs use the Seed time to build a super strong solid foundation, because they know that the level and quality of their Harvest time (their success), is dependent on what they spend their Seed time doing.
Be prepared, Harvest time comes with WEEDS - haters, detractors from people you've never met or from people who knew you before your success and feel you're now behaving 'above your station'.
Your foundation must be solid enough to know that they'll ALWAYS be people like that, and to keep explaining or defending yourself is to be distracted from your purpose, because you have an empire to build!
It’s important that you don't resent or be ashamed of your planting season, as long as you’re taking the necessary action, you’re developing yourself and your business.
It may take longer than others, never compare yourself to them. Be diligent, have your vision in mind at all times and keep taking positive action towards your goals.
So, what season are you in?
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