So here’s a quick question for all serious aspiring entrepreneurs, (of the) following two choices, which do you think is easier. Seriously? Climbing Mount Everest or walking up the five flights of stairs at (either) a friend or relatives house? Huh? No, yours truly hasn’t gone off the deep end! Not yet anyway.
If you said the five flight of stairs. Very good. Or what about this one. Which is easier; to jog (rather slowly) around the block where you live or participate in a local ten K (that’s ten mile) run? Again, if you answered jog (rather slowly) around the block where you live. I’m definitely inclined to agree with you. In fact, you might refer to this little litmus test as the aspiring entrepreneurs “common sense” indicator.
Alright, so where is all this so called “common sense” litmus test stuff heading? Very simply, when asked virtually simple questions, (of a non techie nature) typically 110% of the aspiring entrepreneurs seem to possess the all important common sense thinking processes, needed to arrive at the correct answer.
However, when it comes to the practical application of this very simple principle, something rather odd starts to happen to (both) their immediate way of thinking and “how” they ultimately go about doing things!
Don’t believe it! Hang on and see for yourself!
So Why Do So Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs Consistently Do This One Thing That They Really Shouldn’t?
Okay, seriously here’s the deal. And you tell me if this scenario sounds all too familiar. A while back a local mastermind member and myself (this particular guy) currently owns three local Mom & Pop type of computer repair shops.
And he’s just barely in his early thirties! Yea he’s a real go getter! Anyway, after introducing him (and a couple of his key staff members) to the upsell/add on sell marketing strategy, he immediately started utilizing/testing it in each of his three stores.
And within three short weeks of inexpensively testing,tweaking and tracking, he reported back that he consistently added an additional $500 dollars in gross profit per week to his (all important) bottom line! Per store mind you!
Which means, he’s currently (on pace to) be grossing an additional $2,000 per month times three stores or an additional $72,000 dollars gross profit per year! ($2,000 per month x 3 stores x 12 months = an additional $72,000 dollars in gross profit!) For now. (If they continue to implement this proven marketing strategy.)
Pretty cool right? And I basically get free computer repairs and upgrades for sharing my battlefield tested marketing advice with him and some of his key associates on the regular! A pretty sweet deal for both of us! Right?
Now then here’s where the otherwise, common sensed based entrepreneur strays off the farm. Ideally, I would love to have him shoot a video testimonial and upload it to good old youtube and simply embed it in this (and or) future post! (Or simply add it at some point to my homepages sidebar.)
But rather than wait around for him to do that or wait until we do another Mastermind group meet etc., I just simply went ahead and wrote and published this post!
If Climbing The Five Flights Of Stairs Is Far Easier Than Climbing Mount Everest Why Not Tackle The Simpler Project First?
Here’s what the all too typical aspiring entrepreneur does. They decide they have to wait (don’t you know!) until they not only purchase a state of the art $400 dollar James Bond type of camera!
But then, the lightening and audio along with everything else has to be just so! Otherwise it’s not right! And guess what ultimately whines up happening? You guessed it! It never gets done!
Or what about this; they’ve got the opportunity to put together a potential money making project, that can or should take all of two days or less, from start to finish and they could earn a nice front end gross profit!
What do they opt for instead. A potential money making project that’s far more involved, with rather sophisticated front and back end sales funnels etc., (plus) it’s also dependent on other individuals to play a semi important role and (at best) it will take the better part of three weeks or more! So they opt for that and ten days or so into it!
You guessed it, the entire project (for a ton of reasons) gets scrapped altogether! More irreplaceable time wasted! Or they prefer (for some odd reason) to jump (or at least attempt to) jump the ten foot fence, when the gate is wide open! Go figure!
So in the final analysis, far too many aspiring entrepreneurs simply have a tendency to over complicate things! Don’t you agree?
(Hint: At some point, I’ll get my video testimonial from my computer guy and when I do. Guess what? It will simply replace the video that’s in the post now!) That’s not too overly complicated,right?
But it doesn’t make sense to stop continually moving forward in the meantime! Would you not agree?
Please share your extremely valuable comments (in the comments section below) that you can apply to your business, product or service in the next 30 days or less!
As always, if you got any value out of this post, please Digg or tweet this.Thanks!
And be sure you grab your explosive free 22 step small business marketing idea kit series, because it will
help you increase your profits by at least 25% in the next 90 days or less.
And help you master your effective communication in marketing skills.(No matter what your particular niche market is.)It’s a $97 dollar value and it’s free!
Mark, great idea to tell your friend, the computer repair guy, how to do upsells. Even better that he kept it simple and implemented right away! I think a lot of people get wound up in making sure things are done perfectly too, and they spend so much time, as you say Mark, trying to get it perfect, they never actually get it done. It’s frustrating to watch when someone does that, and hard to know how to help them.
Julieanne van Zyl recently posted…Then There was Mud,Mud, and…More Mud
Here, here Julieanne!
And you of all people, being the totally fantastic teacher/Coach that you are!
Unfortunately understand and witness this same sad scenario, on an all too frequent basis!
When it comes to business, far too many otherwise extremely talented and gifted
entrepreneurs, get caught up in the surface appearance of things and not
the real bankable substance of it!
And as a direct result, as you mentioned, they get sidetracked over and over again!
When it they instead, just learned and really dedicated themselves to consistently taking baby steps daily,
learning as they go and systematically adjusting as they are strategically failing forward.
They would begin to look back over the last 3-9 months and definitely experience some noticeable (and in some cases)
real lasting bankable progress!
Thanks so much for stopping by Coach! I’m always glad to see you and absorb what you have to share!
And I whole heartily encourage all serious, and dedicated entrepreneurs to to pay close attention to the proven
real world advice that you so freely share!
Because if they consistently apply it, they will be so much better off, so much sooner!
Mark Newsome recently posted…So What Powerful Marketing Message Can You Possibly Learn From The Classic Movie Cool Hand Luke?
Oh this does sound familiar Mark, in fact as a “recovering perfectionist” I’d be lying if I didn’t cop to waiting until I had just the right bells and whistles to do something.
One strategy I particularly like when it comes to launching anything for the first time is do a soft launch to get feedback, testimonials and see where you need to do some tweaking before you invest in a major launch promotion. I’m in the process of doing this now with a book and several products for my new resilient living gift shop and the experience has been invaluable.
Has it delayed the projects, maybe a little, but it’s worth it to me because I made the decision when I started this journey to make my name my brand so I want to make sure that what ever is out there with my name on it is the best I can make it. Great stuff as always!
Marquita Herald recently posted…6 Tips to Effectively Manage Interruptions
No M, what you’re doing from both a business, branding and marketing standpoint
makes perfect sense!
And I so applaud you for it! BTW, I love that term “soft launch”, anyway.
I’m addressing the all too pervasive mindset that says, before I can even do a “soft launch” I’ve gotta
be 100% sure that my header is just so!LOL!
Or before I can do my very first tweet, I’ve got to be 100% sure that the background color on the page that
I’m sending them to is the perfect shade of X!LOL!
And on and on with the excuses and or rationalizations!
M, as I mentioned in my last comment, I just embedded my very first animated gif image
into my post!
And it won’t be the last, but I could care less if the image itself is way too big or if the text
is to close to the images border etc!LOL!
I did the main thing I wanted to do!LOl! And I feel great about it regardless!
Let the nit pickers critique it all they want! I really could care less!LOL!
I feel awesome about it I tell you! Freaking awesome! Sorry, I got a little carried away there!LOL!
Thanks as always for stopping by and sharing some of what goes on in the real world!
Your awesome feedback is always welcome here!
Take care and continued success! I love your gift shop idea BTW! That’s too awesome!
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Hi Mark,
This is definitely one among the posts I like in your blog. I enjoyed your story very much. It’s a simple illustration but a great lesson for anyone not only for entrepreneurs but to all people in general. At some point, we tend to complicate things. Why would we make it hard for ourselves if we can in fact take things slowly and gradually in a less complicated way? Right? We need proper planning. And as entrepreneurs, we should always possess this so-called “common sense”.
Financial aspect really plays a huge role in a business specially if you are still on the start-up phase. You can’t just ran a business, most specially online business, if you do not invest some amount of money. No matter how huge or small your start-up money is, for as long as you know how to handle and plan it properly, and you are very cautious on your spending, you can eventually make the most out of it.
Dennis Seymour recently posted…7 Actionable Search Engine Optimization Strategies You Can Do Today
Absolutely Dennis!
And you make and stress a truly valid point! However, more times than not,
our tendency to procrastinate and or over complicate things arises from some other deep seeded issues, that
we for the most part, simply haven’t or don’t truly know how to effectively deal with just yet
and or don’t wish to!
But I definitely hear you and agree with your assessment about the necessity to be extremely cost conscious,
especially in the initial start up phase of things.
But beyond that, real entrepreneurs are about formulating that initial plan and then constantly moving forward
and adjusting (often!) as you go!
Because no matter how much initial knowledge and care to detail to show going in, those first few dry runs are not
al going to be perfect!
So this “one and done” mentality has got be quickly put in check! Because your first few attempts are going
to be bumpy at best!LOl!
Thanks for your extremely valuable feedback and your continuious support!
Both are greatly appreciated!
Mark Newsome recently posted…One Thing Far Too Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs Do That They Really Shouldn’t!Part Two
Hi Mark
That’s a great story, and I love your “crooked fence beats no fence” tip.
One of my worst business traits is being too much of a perfectionist. I tweak and fiddle and over-complicate, when I should just get on and promote what I have already.
Thanks for this great reminder – and I look forward to seeing your computer repair shop man’s video testimonial.
Joy
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That makes two of us with regards to my eventually getting that video
testimonial!LOL!
BTW, we actually did do a recording of it inside one of our mastermind meeting places which
is more like a combination sub shop/coffee house etc.
But the sound quality was so poor we decided to scrap it until we had better microphones.
But thanks for that nice compliment just the same.
And don’t get me wrong, I’ll fidget here and there, mostly around the edges, but by in large, I’m more
of the let’s go ahead and use the flip cam to make some type of video, as opposed to waiting until we
can access the $2,000 dollar “James Bond” type of camera!LOL!
And at least get something going and improve it later!LOL! Where as, like you mentioned
far too many other aspiring entrepreneurs just have to wait until this are “just so” before they’ll even begin!
You’ve got a ton to offer anyone that’s truly Coachable Joy! And I said that to sort help kick
start you, that you don’t need to overly concerned about getting your products and services out there!
Trust me I get it, we’re all a little hesitant, but you don’t have to as overly cautious when you’re truly
providing value!
As clearly is the case with you! great to hear from yo and thanks so much for stopping by and sharing
your extremely valuable thoughts!
I truly appreciate it!
Mark Newsome recently posted…Five Incredibly Simple Things That All Extremely Savvy Bloggers Just Seem To Know!
Hey Mark,
Great story with you and the computer repair entrepreneur.
This is definitely done by far too many entrepreneurs. They would rather wait to purchase some complicated instead of using the simple tools to progress their business further.
I believe the ultimate reason for this us out of fear. They want to present themselves so well that they render simple tools as being useless which is far from the truth!
Now this person has to put in more time to learn all the bells and whistles of the video tools where he can start off branding his business with what he already have to get some traffic coming.
Great post Mark! I like hiw you made the point you made here!
Sherman Smith recently posted…8 Copywriting Formulas To Engage Your Blog Audience
Bingo Sherman!
I couldn’t agree more! It’s like you said, they never seem to grasp and or calculate the extended
learning curve (and potential) frustration level(s) involved in the additional upgrade approach!
And if things don’t fall neatly into place right out of the gate, the frustration levels quickly boil
over and more times than not.
They simply abandon what might have been a completely doable and profitable project just ahead!
I’ve definitely been there and done that!LOL!
And you’ve definitely given me a nice angle for a follow up post and
maybe a video too! Thanks!
Mark Newsome recently posted…Five Incredibly Simple Things That All Extremely Savvy Bloggers Just Seem To Know!
Hi Mark,
As a perfectionist I really battle with over complicating things and demanding that everything must be perfect and just right.
Starting my business has helped me a lot because if I made everything perfect all the time I would never get my work done. plus, you always have to test new projects and ideas out so what you think is not perfect, may actually be spot on!
Thanks, Naomi
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That is so true Naomi!
Thank goodness, I’m more of the, a crooked fence beats no fence at all mentality!LOL!
Meaning, I’ll gladly start with free and or near free software just to get up and going and then
hopefully improve it as I go and hopefully grow!LOL!
But I can most certainly appreciate where you’re coming from! Thanks for stopping by
and sharing your extremely valuable thoughts! I definitely appreciate it!
Mark Newsome recently posted…Five Incredibly Simple Things That All Extremely Savvy Bloggers Just Seem To Know!
Hi Mark,
Love the story about the computer guy and how he increased profits. I’m sure you will get your testimonial with him!
Business is a funny thing. We need to focus and use our common sense. In the video here, financial issues are discussed. We don’t need a huge start up money to do what we do online, but need to have some money to do so.
It does cost money to make money. Now as long as we know our business well and can relay it in a sentence or two we know where we are going.
Also, when we are at the point to set up a sales funnel, we have to be totally focused on that project and not be distracted. We put it on the market and test it. If it doesn’t work well we tweak it. But we always have to keep our eye on the game!
-Donna
donna merrill recently posted…Should Bloggers Give Away Their Best Information?
That is so true Donna!
And the real world wisdom you’re sharing about focusing as you’re initially
building that all important sales funnel, is simply priceless.
Because far too many otherwise extremely capable entrepreneurs/markets continuously
get tripped up and or distracted far too easily!
And the really important stuff just doesn’t get completed and or receive the all important attention to details that it
definitely needs and deserves!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your extremely valuable thoughts! And for your continuous
support!
I definitely appreciate both!
Mark Newsome recently posted…One Thing Far Too Many Aspiring Entrepreneurs Do That They Really Shouldn’t!