Your Reputation Precedes You
Monday, July 27th, 2009The eternal ‘they’ say that a business will need to run for three to five years before becoming stable. I’ve heard that, and SAID it 1000 times if I’ve said it once. Why is that? I’ve recently had some experiences with other countries and learned some interesting things. A good friend of mine from Argentina that was visiting over the last little while tells me that if a business doesn’t take off in under two years there that you consider it a failure and put it aside. What’s also interesting is that their small businesses work a lot different. A company isn’t considered a real ‘company’ for the first few years. You pay no taxes, and have no liabilities to the government except for a fixed rate nominal fee you pay so they know you have a business. After you’ve been running a while then you have to start paying normal fees. Imagine if we could do that here? Imagine what a difference it would make if we weren’t jumping through hoops all the time and could actually concentrate on our businesses?
So how do we do it here? We follow the rules when we have to and we build ourselves to a point where there are fewer calls being made asking people to hire us. After a while the phone just…rings. Amazing to us, it’s a customer, THEY have called US, and they want to give us money! Are we dreaming?
The question is, how does this happen? at what point does our reputation start to take hold and do we find that we are in demand? Apparently here it’s 3 to 5 years. The question is.. if that has to happen in under 2 years in other places… are we stuck to some sort of growth rule or statistic? Or is it just some kind of societal stigma instead? Tech companies start here and inside a couple of years can be making tens of millions. Some of that has to be the fact that when you’ve got more money to start with, it’s a little easier to get the word out.
How do those of us with little more than an iron will and a dream do it? Should it take longer? I think not. Of course, what i think SHOULD be the case isn’t always real anyway… I think that a positive attitude and the willingness to put everything you’ve got into your dream makes a big difference. Sometimes other things can slow that up, but strong support from the ones you love and a persistence that only an entrepreneur could have will get you going. After you have kept that up and you continue to give everything you’ve got to every job, you’ll notice that at some point you reach a tipping point. You’ll never need to stop looking for work, not if you want to grow, but you will notice that the blood sweat and tears you’ve put in up front start to pay off.
Don’t forget, no matter what business you choose to start, that this is a commitment of a long time. and remember corny lines from old movies, even if a few people think you’re a little nuts along the way..
If you build it, they will come.
