Happy Tuesday!!! If you live in an area where the Mega Millions is run, you probably know that the jackpot is up to $1.6 Billion (est. 900 million after taxes). Now, I’m not gonna lie – I did buy $6 worth of tickets, on the off-chance lightning strikes. Here are some interesting odds: chances of winning the $1.6 Billion dollar drawing – 1 in 302,575,350. It’s like that scene from “Dumb and Dumber”….
Juxtapose these odds against the lottery… 50% of small business make it by year 2 or year 3. Think about that, the odds of winning a jackpot are clearly not in favor of the consumer, yet I heard that over $1 MM have been spent on tickets for tonight’s drawing. Yet you have a 50-50 shot at making a business work – and people are afraid to take that risk. It got me thinking about why something with infinitely better odds is seen as something people don’t want to attempt.
Easy Money:
Let’s be honest and frank now – walking to the convenience store and buying $20 worth of lottery tickets is easy. All it takes is a the simple action of getting to the store to purchase the tickets. Starting your own business and cultivating an idea takes time and energy. It requires, like my blog last night, working from 5 PM to 2 AM. It takes dedication. People in general would rather take the easy route over the road less traveled.
However, the flip side of that coin is money easily acquired is easily lost. With no real work put into acquiring something, we tend not to value it as much. When you are working on building a business, there is a sense of accomplishment every step of the way – getting the State approval for your LLC, launching a website, the first customer, the first payment – and you are building a sustainable income – not just a one-time hit!!! It’s more than just making money – it’s about building a vision and self-confidence. The more success you see – the better you feel.
Fear of Failure:
This is one I know very well. We all have ideas and crazy dreams that we keep hidden from the world. It’s like we can envision opening up our own marketing firm, cafe, bar, auto repair shop or whatever motivates you – but when we start to look at the steps it takes to get there, we are afraid. Afraid of failing. This is a completely understandable reaction.
Recently, I began looking at failure in a whole new light. Failure is not a bad thing – it’s actually the world’s best teacher. We learn what not to do, if we want to accomplish a certain end goal. By carefully retracing each step, we can see where the slip up occurred and know that in the future – a different tactic is needed to be successful. We can learn from our failure – if we only allow ourselves to!!! I mean, if you buy $100 worth of lottery tickets, there is no chance for failure – because you are going in expecting to lose.
I can’t… I don’t…
Two phrases that should be removed from everyone’s lexicon are I can’t and I don’t. Here is fun fact…. The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. … Yet neurons combine so that each one helps with many memories at a time, exponentially increasing the brain’s memory storage capacity to something closer to around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes). Imagine that, the most powerful smart device you own is right between your ears… and it is FREE. No buying memory upgrades and no new device needed!!!
When I started this venture in May, I had no idea on how to build a website. My knowledge of MS Access was rudimentary at best. You know what I did – I went to Go Daddy, bought a URL (www.bedfordstmarketing.com) and learned how to build a website. I needed to learn how to build a database… I walked my ass down to the public library – took out two books, plus a day or two of overdue fees, and learned how to use MS Access. I didn’t know how to build a website – I taught myself. I didn’t know Access – I taught myself. There is nothing that you don’t know – that you can’t teach yourself, if you are motivated.
In closing, easy money, like the lottery, is something we all dream about. But it’s only a dream – there is nothing actively we can do to make it happen. Starting a business is a known commodity and we can affect that outcome. I implore everyone to take the steps to make whatever dream they have a reality.
Bedford Street Marketing Insights 