I would love to tell you that only a few years ago I was living in a one bedroom apartment, that I was struggling to support my family, and that I was living from day to day — but, that now I have the winning formula, a magical one, and I can show you how you can earn $10 million a year.
But I can’t!
Mainly because I think that this is the type of bullshit presented every day on the internet from so called “gurus”. These statements are dangerous. They will only make you feel worse, and they will set you up to fail. If this is what you are after, this article is not for you. I won’t be offended if you log out now — no bulletproof formula to offer, just some hard work and common sense.
I never lived in a one bedroom apartment. In fact, the day I got to Australia, I decided to save as hard as I could in order to buy a house (mainly because I realised, that it would only be a matter of time before, like in most countries, it became just a dream, and that renting would become the new reality.
After we bought our first house in a western suburb of Melbourne, we knew that the simple formula to pay off our mortgage in 8 years instead of 30, is simple maths and hard work. We had a few jobs at once, worked crazy hours, and at all times, one of our wages always went fully into our mortgage, including any bonuses. Oh, and we lived within our means!
I knew that if the bank saw the commitment and discipline we demonstrated, on top of the equity we had in the house that it would be a great start for when I was ready to start my own business.
I did struggle with the business at times. I had shareholders — they had demands, I had brand restrictions… But that wasn’t the real struggle — that was just the reality I had to deal with; and, I loved the challenge.
These are just some of the issues that really consumed me, but then made me who I am today:
- Finding affordable resources: in order to create a successful venture, you need extra resources. I was working on a tiny budget, but it made me a hell of a hustler!
- Balance — it took me years to try and find it, but I always felt like a failure not achieving it. Guess what! It doesn’t even exist.
- Sleep — I always thought of the business and things to do. I have always kept a little note book near my bed since someone told me to write my thoughts down, but then after any great ideas, I was excited about getting up in the morning and executing them, literally never shutting down.
- Office politics — not my strong suit. Toxic environments, especially in business, drain me and my creativity. It is hard to find the right balance of personalities, but never stop trying because sometimes when you get it right, it can be magical.
- Delegating — I was never in-between. In the beginning, I was a terrible delegator because I wanted to do it all. That way, I would only have myself to blame if the job wasn’t done properly. And when I got told off so many times by my partner, I decided to delegate and had too much faith at times, with not so much accountability from staff. You really need to find the right person for the right job.
- Reinventing — having brand restrictions means I couldn’t diversify as much as I wanted. That really frustrated me and at times killed my creativity. You really need to be working with products or services that you are passionate about, otherwise you will feel stifled and may come across as insincere.
The issues I faced in my business are really what brought me to this venture and encouraged me to start Business Consult Group.
Some businesses I worked with after I left my first venture, showed me that the same struggles continue to haunt business owners that have been running their own companies for over 25 years. Same pain, same sleepless nights, and same concerns. And to be honest, you can write a million procedures, buy great funnels, and still find that these struggles need to be dealt with on a much more human level. Trust me, there is no manual for that.
Businesses who struggle need to go back to basics. Go back to listening, back to liaising with staff, back to feeding their confidence and continue enriching their business even when they think they have reached their goals, because the second you let go and take your hand off the pulse, it will all fall apart.
