Turning your idea into a multi-million-dollar business before you hit 30 may sound impossible, but with the right attitude and commitment it’s just a long-term goal that you can achieve with the right mindset. Everything in life, from age to business success, is just a number – it’s what you do with that number and how you get there that really counts. Creating a company that has this hefty price tag isn’t easy, but here are five steps you can take to make it less of a dream and more of a reality…
Passion
This point cannot be emphasised enough. You need to be passionate about your idea and to be prepared to work 24-hour days, seven days a week, 30 days of the month to make it happen. Hard work is pretty much the only way that any business becomes a so-called ‘overnight success’. In fact, a quick Google search will reveal that most companies touted as quick wins and huge overnight success stories have had people labouring behind the scenes for years.
You also need passion for your customers and clients. This is critical. In fact, passion for your customer should come first, followed by passion for your idea. Don’t forget that your customer is the only reason why your business will succeed.
Scale
It may be that you have the passion for your idea, but you also need to mix in a dose of realism. Is the idea scalable? Will the business grow? Is your idea really big enough that it could achieve a multi-million-dollar success? If your idea has that potential and scale, then you’re on the right track, but you need to be absolutely honest with yourself, set specific targets and be prepared to adapt. Which leads to point three….
Adaptability
The idea that first had potential should not be the one that sees you past the multi-million-dollar finish line. You need to be open to reinventing your business model at each phase of development and growth because each one of these phases will introduce new challenges and demand different approaches.
Stubborn refusal to change your idea may work in movies or on increasingly rare occasions, but the reality is that every idea needs to be polished and refined by customer need, feedback and demand.
Failure
I fundamentally disagree with the idea that failure is a benchmark of success. You don’t need to see your business implode five times to say you’re successful. No. It is the ability to adapt and the willingness to adapt that defines success. Don’t be precious about your ideas – some work, some don’t.
Just be ready to identify the ones that don’t work because people who cling to their ideas often fail. That level of failure isn’t a sign that you’re on the path to millions, it’s a sign that next time you embark on a new business, you need to redefine your adaptability.
That said, every business is going to have a few failures. These don’t need to be earth shatteringly huge – small failures can be extremely beneficial in fine tuning a product, understanding customer requirements and truly taking advantage of opportunities.
Planning
It may sound tedious and repetitive, but there really is no way of getting around having a plan. You must define where you want to go (multi-million-dollar business), how you plan to get there (the market, the customer, the growth plan), and the measurements that define your success.
The last point is crucial – set short cycle goals so you can regularly determine if your business is still on track. These allow you to plan accordingly, make far more insightful decisions, and maintain a pragmatic approach.
Incremental goals not only refine the overarching strategy, but they give you the chance to recognise the smaller successes. It’s fantastic to have the multi-million-dollar vision, but set yourself short goals that allow you to taste success. The saying that success breeds success isn’t wrong. Allow yourself to build a highlight reel that showcases achievements along the way otherwise you run the risk of losing sight of the vision and the motivations behind it. Your multi-million is the final destination, but there is no reason why you can’t appreciate the moments along the way.
