Written by: Susan Van Staden, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Anyone can be an entrepreneur. It’s what you believe, whether it’s achievable that counts, your perception of business success. But business is not always straightforward, and over the years, the popularity of certain assumptions has become the norm in business, clouding the obvious natural way of doing.
Assumption: You will be able to make an impact once you are known or are influential. You need to be popular in the business world and have thousands of followers on the internet to succeed.
Truth: It may be helpful, but you become known or influential because you have already impacted. Anytime you interact with another person, no matter who, the first words in your head should be: How do I help this person? Imagine how a single life transformed starts a butterfly effect. If for the next year, you touch 52 lives by reaching out to help. Fifty-two individuals touched. That is one life a week, absolutely do-able. Those 52 people are going to talk about it… thus you are helping yourself by doing well to others.
Assumption: You need to be a Genius at marketing yourself and do it constantly to be successful. There are no two ways about it; marketing is important for growth. But constantly talking to the masses won’t necessarily bring results. “Going viral is not an outcome. It’s only a happening”– Lori Taylor.
Truth: Hundred bad products won’t sell with good marketing. Good products create their own marketing; you only need one. Speaking earnestly about it, believing in your product will sell it. In the late 1800s, a man named Samuel Fay was looking for a way to attach claim tickets to fabric. He didn’t want to use a pin because they’d pierce the fabric. In a moment of inspiration, he picked up a piece of wire nearby that bent it into an X shape and slid the ticket and the fabric together. He didn’t create the paperclip to become rich but to solve an immediate problem. His product proved to be ingenious, and today everybody uses it.
Assumption: You need to be perfect, better than your competitor. It is called Social Comparison. “Social comparison theory states that individuals determine their own social and personal worth based on how they stack up against others they perceive as somehow faring better or worse.” The danger of social comparison is the feeling of not doing enough, not being enough, of not being successful, which is not true.
Truth: Marie Forleo, businesswoman and author, wrote: “You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to get it going”. Every small victory is a success, your success, not someone else’s. Once you start comparing or “stacking” these successes, comparing YOU to your own successes, over time it builds your confidence, you will slowly but surely find enough evidence that you ARE good enough, smart enough, very successful!
“Successful people are the ones who do obvious things once they decide what they want to do”
In the book “Obvious Adams” published in 1916, Robert R. Updegraff - traces the life of Oliver B. Adams, who began his life in a grocery store and became known to the world as “Obvious Adams”, a successful businessman. At every step of his life, Adams, once he decided to work on something, did pretty much the obvious thing that people might not even think about and went about in a complex way.
When Adams decides to work for a world-famous advertising agency James B Oswald, he does the obvious. He arranges a meeting to meet with Oswald directly, at first reluctant to talk to Adams, Oswald gives in when he realize Adams’s logic of doing the obvious. Once employed in the firm, Adams solves most of the problems through a simple, common-sense approach.
The takeaway from the book – Picking out the obvious analysis of thinking for yourself. Hence taking obvious decisions that lead to success is not all that easy, but at the same time, it is one of the most crucial factors for a great business. The book concludes with: “There is no secret to success. Just do the obvious.”
Your beliefs are tripping your success, turn your assumptions into truth. Success begins with the power of thinking for yourself.
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Susan Van Staden, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Susan is a Reformer, People of this personality type are essentially looking to make things better. Susan started Efficio Business Consulting wanting to offer her over 25 years’ experience to reach and help Coach as many Start-up Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners with a with a program that concentrates not only on the business and growth, but helping the owner step into that roll—building a bridge between builder and business. She lives in the beautiful scenic George, Garden Route, South Africa and has two successful adult daughters, her inspiration, pride and joy.
