Matthew Turner reminds us what it really takes (and means) to be successful, free, and happy in business.
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As someone who suffers with anxiety, self-doubt towards business failure, and bouts of depression, I fight my way through each day of this entrepreneurial adventure.
You may not suffer with anxiety or depression, but I’m 100% certain you fight self-doubt, insecurity, and utter terror towards business failure each day.
How do I know this… ? Because I’ve yet to meet an entrepreneur or business owner who doesn’t fear business failure (and I’ve interviewed A LOT… 163 to be specific).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting each day is a painful one, because as you already know, this entrepreneurial rollercoaster is full of ups and downs. But even during the high times, that self-doubt and worry remains, right?
Of course it does, but I’m here to say. . . YOU. ARE. NOT. ALONE!
Each successful person you admire and look up to suffers the same fate as you. They worry. They fail. They make mistakes. In many ways they’re exactly like you, but along their journey they’ve figured out a few secrets that define what it means to be successful, free, and happy.
1. Make a Bad Hire
If there’s one topic that cropped up more than any other during my research for The Successful Mistake, it’s hiring and recruiting.
It’s a minefield to say the least, and depending on your business, it may be a fundamental aspect of what you do. But no matter what your business involves, hiring people plays a role in your entrepreneurial journey, and EVERYBODY makes a bad one at some point.
Not only will you make a bad hire, I believe you NEED to.
That may sound strange, but there’s two reasons for this:
- A bad hire means you’re hiring, which is always an important thing to do. If you’re not hiring, you’re doing too much yourself.
- A bad hire helps you appreciate what a good hire looks like, and how important it is to find the right members for your team
Rameet Chawla heads up one of New York’s finest mobile and app agencies, and he knew from the beginning how important it is to build a high-quality team.
As such, Rameet went above and beyond to make sure he hired the best people for design and development, but figured other roles (like admin and sales) wouldn’t be as important. So, what did he do? He hired junior workers and those who demanded a lower salary.
Big Mistake, because Rameet soon discovered how costly a poor hire can be.
You see, one junior employee couldn’t keep up with the workload, so he soon had to hire a second. After a while, he realised he paid more for two junior people than one experienced member of the team.
But even worse, a bad hire in the sales department not only cost Fueled money (through salary, desk, computer…), but tens-of-thousands in potential revenue when they unearthed how poor this person’s conversion was compared to the rest of the sales team.
A tough business failure to learn from, but one that showed Rameet how important every hire is.
TURNDOG TIP: Start small and consider an everyday task you find yourself spending five hours each week on. Hire someone to do this for you by creating an advert on a site like Craigslist or Elance.
2: Promise Too Much.
Due to your dreaded self-doubt and insecurity, you may find yourself approaching a big launch worried nobody will give a damn – let alone buy.
Whether this is a valid concern or not, most people overcome this insecurity by adding more features to the offer, making it an absolute no-brainer.
Fantastic… people love it… people buy it… and then people expect you to deliver on everything you promised.
Jeff Goins did this during his first launch, building an offer nobody in their right mind could resist. And because Jeff had built a solid audience and delivered high quality, lots of people bought it and shared it and placed money into his bank account.
Wonderful, right… ?
The thing is… Jeff promised to give each person a Website Review, which takes time and effort.
As the months ticked by, Jeff let these people down, delivering on most of his promise, but not on all of it.
He over-promised and under-delivered.
This taught Jeff a lot about himself, his audience, and what it is he offers. He now approaches each new launch with a mindset of providing great value, but not promising too much. This way he’s able to over-deliver and create those wonderful wow moments when a reader opens their package and says, “Wow!”
TURNDOG TIP: Create a limited quantity offer for your audience (something small like only 10 available) and create a huge amount of value for a very small price. Fulfil your promise to each person, and develop new appreciation to how much your time/product/skillset is worth.
3: Say Yes to the Wrong Client
As an entrepreneur, you come across new opportunities, people, partners, and clients each day.
You’re programmed to say yes to new customers because these are the people who help you grow, but the fact remains your customer isn’t always right.
At some point, every successful entrepreneur says yes to the wrong client. You become blinded by the impressive brand or large sum of money, giving far too much and placing too great a strain on you and your team.
Evo Terra agreed to partner with a new client, despite his gut warning him against it.
Something didn’t feel right, but he chose to say yes because the project offered great potential. Evo worked and worked, delving deeper into the project, but it soon became apparent it would never work. It left him out of pocket, let alone rather frustrated.
But this also taught him a big lesson about when to say yes and no… how much his time is worth… and what type of project he desires to be part of.
As an entrepreneur, this is a tough balance to master, but I’ve yet to meet someone who hasn’t suffered in this way.
TURNDOG TIP: Reply to an advert for work (or go to a low quality networking event) and agree to a job despite the fact you know it isn’t worth your time. Make a note of every aspect of work you do and what it’s true value is. Do you now have a better understanding of who your right customer is?
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4: Assume You Know Best
Nod your head if this sounds familiar: you have a new idea for a product or project, make a few notes in your notebook, get all excited and ask a few people for their thoughts, and once you get some thumbs up you dive straight into it.
Sometimes this works, but more often than not you end up working hard, spending money, and wasting your resources on something you’re unsure anyone actually wants.
I’ve done this… my guess is you’ve done this… and don’t worry because most people who appear in The Successful Mistake have done this, too.
Before Mirasee (formerly Firepole Marketing), Danny Iny built a software business that taught kids to read, and although Danny and his team built a high-quality product that served a purpose, he didn’t step into his audience’s shoes. On the one hand this product served children, but on the other it’s their parents who bought it.
They had to learn to communicate and build something for both, but in the end failed to serve either.
As the money ran dry, this venture failed and left Danny with a large amount of debt. But it’s from here he built Firepole Marketing and developed his keen appreciation of the entire operation and platform; let alone that no matter what else happens, your products and services most fulfill a purpose within those you serve.
TURNDOG TIP: Write a list of 10 ideas you could create and implement within a few days, and choose one to fulfil without asking for help or feedback. Offer it to your audience and see what type of reaction you get; listen to their feedback and learn about what they truly need from you.
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Your mistakes and business failure do not define you
You’re someone who’s taking a risk, putting yourself out there, and making shit happen. Do you really think you’ll get to where you want to go with out a few stumbles and falls?
Of course not, and every single business person and entrepreneur you admire goes through the exact same issues as you.
They make mistakes. They fail. You will fail from time-to-time too, but this DOES NOT define you.
It may sound counter-intuitive to write an article about mistakes you should make, but after interviewing 163 successful individuals with big businesses and impressive portfolios, I’ve learned everyone makes them – often, it’s these mistakes that kickstart your great idea in the first place.
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Photo: Getty Images
This essay originally appeared on Matthew Turner’s Successful Mistake.
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