Do the things your competitors aren’t willing to do and do them now. Don’t wait. Always be looking for ways you can implement and get things done faster.
George Cloutier in his book Profits Aren’t Everything, They’re the Only Thing says: “[If your sales and profits are down], It’s easy to blame the economy but the underlying cause is the business owner’s unwillingness to do the obvious: get out there and hustle.” Doing the hard things is what separates those who achieve greatness and those who settle for mediocrity. There are great opportunities all around for those who commit to making it happen and giving a little bit more every day, especially in areas where your competitors aren’t willing to put forth the effort. If you see an opportunity and don’t act, you may be left in the dust. Abraham Lincoln once observed: “Good things may come to those who wait, but only those things left behind by those who hustle.”
Here are some characteristics of those who are willing to do the tough things and implement more (even at the risk of making mistakes and failing):
• They get things done. They do what they say.
• No one around them can outwork them.
• They don’t let their failure define them. They seek to fail as quickly and as early as possible to learn what doesn’t work. Consider some of the early failures these individuals had that didn’t stop them from becoming what they are known for today:
- Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear on his first automobile.
- Michael Jordan was cut from his high-school basketball team.
- Elvis Presley didn’t make the glee club.
- Napoleon finished near the bottom of his military school class.
- The Beatles were turned down for a recording contract by Decca Records
- John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and a dozen publishers.
- Post-It Notes, Jell-O, and Timex watchers were all failures until perfected or reformulated.
Author James Dale makes this note in his book The Obvious: “The average entrepreneur fails 3.8 times before achieving success. Clearly, he or she learns something in those first three plus busts that lead to the ultimate success.”
• They aren’t paralyzed by decision paralysis. They decide and do. You can measure a person’s ability to hustle and implement by the time that passes between decision and action.
• They are accountable to themselves and accept responsibility for what needs to be done. Things are delegated, but never abdicated. In other words, those who get things done don’t get so busy running on the treadmill of business that they forget the big picture. They constantly look for ways to improve training and system implementation.
• They don’t take no for an answer. They keep looking for new ways to get something done until it is.
If you hustle and act quickly when you resolve to do something, you don’t have to be the smartest competitor in your market. The ability to take action and implement is one of the most powerful ways to ensure that you will beat your competitors as the economy shifts and changes in the months and years ahead. Be one who is known for always tackling new projects with fervor and enthusiasm and being committed enough to work until they are done. It is very difficult for even a very entrenched competitor to beat you if you are smart about how you work and work harder than they are willing to. Rising costs and inflation have forced many entrepreneurs to reawaken to this reality. You can’t afford to be complacent. You must be willing to do the hard things and do them now. Don’t delay.
Author James Dale puts it this way in his book The Obvious: “Did you ever wonder how overnight business sensations got to be overnight sensations? One thing is for sure: It isn’t overnight. It’s over a lot of nights and weekends and years….They don’t call it a ladder of success for nothing. There are rungs. Climb them.” There aren’t any shortcuts. Those you see who have succeeded quickly have done so because they hustled. They worked harder than those around them were willing to work. They implemented quicker, faster, and better.
Famed beauty entrepreneur Estée Lauder once said: “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.” Is it any wonder that with this determined attitude to always be selling (day or night, even in social situations) that she built one of the largest cosmetics empires in the world?
If you’re experiencing difficulty in your business and feel like you’re getting beat by your competition, don’t wait it out. Waiting for things to be different most likely means that you are in for a long wait and will probably miss the opportunities that come to those who hustle. Don’t take no for an answer. Estée Lauder once reminded her sales force that “I didn’t get there [to the sale] by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it. She was described in her biography as “a woman you simply can’t say no to…the real reason Lauder has succeeded where others have failed it that she simply refuses to give up.
Here is an assignment for you. Make a list of what you could be doing or doing faster at your business to beat your competitors now. Then, once you have that list in place, act on it every day. Do something every day on this list and you will gain more market share from your competitors.
Remember, the real difference between financial success and mediocrity in any business is action and implementation. There is no question that work is a verb. All of us know more than we do. If you’ve been sitting on a great idea that can help you accelerate your business and beat your competitors, now is the time to get up, get started, and make it happen. Don’t make excuses. Just get it done (and don’t forget to hustle).
