[DAY 60 OF THE DEEP END PROJECT]
I’ve never run a Marathon. But I’ve run many Sprints.
Back in the days I was a track and field athlete, a good 2 weeks of practice was enough to keep my school’s honor in the Annual State-wide Sports Competition.
The expectation wasn’t much. Just do your best. Win or Lose, who cares.
We were picked for the competition a mere 2 weeks before.
We practiced all day & loved it.
What’s not to love?
In order to train for the competition, we had to miss most of the periods and then whole 3 days of school on the days we had to compete.
But a marathon? It’s not like the Sprints I was used to.
Not that I have any desire to run, but I’ve had friends who have.
They didn’t do it on 2 weeks of practice.
My friend started training for it 9 months before the Marathon.
After I congratulated her for the feat I can never even imagine accomplishing on my own, she thanked me and said “I am training for the next year now. To beat my time.”
What does this have to do with business?
A LOT.
We live in a “Sprint” world.
Everything is a 100 meter dash race. It’s over before you start and if you’re not the first one at the crossing line, you say “dammit, I lost. I am never racing again.”
The “I made a million dollars in 6 months” kinda messaging has not done us any favors.
If you haven’t reached 6 figures in the first or even 2nd year of business, you start feeling “this isn’t for me. Maybe I should quit. Maybe I suck at this. Maybe I should take up a job at the Barista down the block.”
The cold stone plain truth is that Running a Business is a Marathon, not a Sprint.
I am entering my 4th year of business. I am still very much at the beginning of my Marathon but I’ve had the privilege of working behind the scenes of entrepreneurs who have been doing this way longer than me.
There’s one thing common among all of them.
They are in it for the long game. They know it’s a Marathon. They don’t give up when one launch doesn’t work. Or one strategy fails.
They keep perfecting it. They keep working at it.
They know that their current success is just a mile marker. They stop, they fuel up and they go again.
Every aspect of your business is a Marathon.
Lead Generation. It’s a long game. It takes on an average 4-12 months for a lead to go from subscriber to sales. Yes, this process can be short or longer. But, it’s true for my business and I know it’ll be true for you too, your best clients didn’t find out about you today and paid a high ticket price by afternoon.
It’s likely they’ve been in your orbit for weeks, if not months.
Launching is a long game too. A successful, well done launch takes months. I suggest ramping up at least 4-6 months before.
Not only that, when you launch the first time it may be a super hit. The next time you may hear crickets. Most entrepreneurs give up at this juncture.
Businesses that have longevity keep perfecting their launches, systems, strategies. They look at failure as feedback.
When I shifted my perspective from “quickest way to cash” to long term legacy, impact and wealth, I took a deep sigh of relief. I am not racing against anyone anymore. I am carving my own path, slowly and meticulously.
This changes everything about how I run my business, from services and programs I create to the kind of support I bring on & who I collaborate with.
Whatever stage of business you are, this is true for you too.
Take a Deep Breath.
Shake off that stress.
Say it to yourself “This is a long game”
How would you look at your business differently now that you know this?
Would you send regular newsletters?
Would you look at your launches as not one and done, but launch 1.0?
Would you look at your leads as people and keep nurturing them, even if it means they won’t buy tomorrow?