On Expectations || The Truth About Timelines to Grow A Business
It took me 10 years to go from a solo consultant to a 10-person business, and I’m happy with the achievement. Yes, I called it an 'achievement'. Something less than hundreds of millions of dollars or a 'unicorn' company or being on the cover of Forbes could still make you happy.
It took a good friend of mine over 5 years to grow her fashion brand from scratch to now being featured as one of the top emerging designers in the country. Note that even after 5 years, we are still talking about an 'emerging designer' status only.
Were we lazy? Ask any of our friends and they would say we are pretty much working every waking hour of our day.
Are we less intelligent than other entrepreneurs out there? I would hope not. Some of you might be asking...why has it taken SO long? Others may judge and say that's not good enough to call an achievement, at least not to today's standards as portrayed in the media. Not earning 6 figures? Not good enough. Not earning 7 figures? You must be doing something wrong.
There’s no shortage of motivational posts out there. I saw at least 10 yesterday that promise one-month courses to turn you into a pro videographer, or 3 months to turn you into a content creator with over 100K followers, or 10 things you can do to earn your first million dollars in one year.
The truth is, for most businesses, growth is organic and it takes time. If you are a solo content creator, your brand is your business, and growing takes time. From the initial jobs, I did for free to build my portfolio, to the first paid job I took that paid me enough to buy maaaaybe a month of Starbucks morning coffees, to earning enough to hire a contractor, to bringing on my first full-time staff member, to saving enough to bring on my second staff member, to get us into a small office... it took years, and I want to share with those of you who all want to be 'successful' that it's okay to take your time to get there, wherever THERE is for you.
It may take years to build a solid foundation for your business before you can really grow it. It’s a long, steady climb, and I like to think that slow and steady wins the race.
There are upsides to your path taking a while because you'll create many memories along the way. There was the memory of the first time I tried pitching for money and the 100th time I pitched for money — where I got a signed cheque. In between the first and 100th time, I broke my ankle and hopped around the city on crutches going to investor pitches. The struggle was real and it still is, but I have many stories from my experiences. Sometimes when you reach your goal you feel kind of empty, and it's those memories and stories you'll look back on in the long term.
We all hope to win the lottery, we all want to rocket to stardom, we all dream that whatever we do will leave a legacy remembered by all. Not only do we want to be great, but we also want greatness to happen fast and all at once. It's like the American Automobile Association's study that showed 8 out of 10 people thought they were above average drivers. We all think we're special, and we were likely told we are special by our parents ever since we were children. We believe it, but when we compare our lives to social media's highly staged 'real life' content or some teenage prodigy on the cover of TIME or FORBES or other renowned publication that's years ahead of us in their accomplishments and career — we feel we aren't good enough — but how realistic is it for everyone to be above average?
In business, just like swimming, everyone’s got their own pace and method.
Ask yourself this question: if you turn out just fine and enjoy a comfortable life where you have enough to feed the family and a roof over your head but you're not a billionaire or even a millionaire, can you come to terms with that and not beat yourself up? Can you adjust your timeline for growing your business from 3 years to 10 years without feeling like you've failed? I know that it used to give me anxiety thinking of taking even a year to reach a milestone, but then I realized that I needed time to find my groove, to hit my stride. To be honest, 3 years is actually how long it takes to build a foundation for a business, and that's JUST the foundation. Once you've found the right pace and approach for your business, that's when you will start to steadily, and in some cases where preparation meets opportunity, rapidly grow your business.
Comparison is the thief of joy. Instead of always looking at other people and envying what they have, how fast they achieved their goals and wondering why you don't have what they have, start thinking about the things you do have and appreciate the unique path you've been travelling on. It's okay to take your time. As my mentor always said: take the time to stop and smell the roses.
