How long do you think it takes to build a successful business? Answer: a long time. Another answer could be, however long it takes. Or what about eternity. Because surely that’s how long it feels it is taking while working at it.
We have learnt to expect instant results. We have grown up getting everything as soon as possible. We are living in a ‘hurry up’ society. Everything has to be immediate whether fast foods or ownership of a home. We want it now.
Business however doesn’t quite work like that. It takes a long time to build up a successful business. We tend to look at powerful businesses and think they have been instantaneously established.
Take for instance the fast food chain McDonald’s. The business itself began in 1940 with a restaurant. In 1948 the founding brothers of McDonald’s introduced the ‘Speedee Service System’.
It was in fact only on April 15, 1955 that Ray Kroc opened a franchised restaurant, the ninth McDonald’s restaurant that the real growth happened. That’s fifteen years and a new owner later that the real success story of McDonald’s actually started.
Many businesses don’t take fifteen years to get somewhere, they might take less or even more. There is no benchmark for any business. Many circumstances and factors determine the life cycle of a business. Each one has its own pattern.
Don’t get discouraged if your business isn’t making you multi millions within the first year. Everything takes time to grow. If it’s going to be a worthwhile venture that will generate a solid income for you, expect it to take time. Patience is required.
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on Mar 28th, 2009 at 7:33 am
I can agree with this article!
Ironically the first two years of my business where I threw A LOT of time and money into the business didn’t yield the success I had wanted.
In the third year, we stepped back and let the business plod along while we took some more formal employment only to find that when we suddenly started picking up enquiries from our other business…
It was very unusual - stopped our mainstream marketing, did a bit of blogging and let the business basically tick over and suddenly we started to see some opportunities come our way…
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 8:45 am
@Marc. Sometimes when we try too hard, it just won’t move. Too much focus can make one miss peripheral opportunities. Great point.
on Mar 28th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Blogging has really taught me the value of lag. ‘Lag’ being the time that a blog or a business seems to be doing nothing at all.
The lag time is important because it allows us to gather new skills for our venture.
Lag also weeds out those who are tentative about their goals and leaves the truly determined!
on Mar 31st, 2009 at 2:38 am
There’s no set mark for when a business becomes successful. There are a lot of factors that contribute to success- your individual goals, the effort you put in, the tipping point at which the word begins to spread, and much more. Patience and dedication are important, and you gave great examples. Hopefully some future entrepreneurs take note!