Consistency is Key
Why a simple mindset shift is essential to business success
Before I started working on Adventure Based Businesses, I had a food blog. It was my first real attempt at starting a business and I learned so much from it. The biggest takeaway from that experience was the phrase: “1% times infinity”.
Bjork Ostrom, the founder of Food Blogger Pro has spoken and written about this idea many times.
This isn’t a new idea.
The Japanese have a similar idea called kaizen; which focuses on making small, manageable changes regularly to achieve goals, rather than aiming for drastic, one-time improvements.
Both of which are basically fancy ways to say……keep at it. Little by little, day by day and things start to grow and build on themselves.
Consistency is Key.
Whenever I am feeling down or frustrated with my business, I remember this principle and try to put it into practice.
Just moving forward and doing the work— even when it is hard. This is what is going to make all the difference in all aspects of life and building a business.
How does this apply in the business space?
Businesses are hard. There is a certain kind of person that is attracted to the ups and downs that come with operating a business.
In the adventure based space, not only do you have to deal with the basic business needs like budgets, marketing and acquiring customers; there are also the ever changing issues that arise like weather and safety.
It is easy to get discouraged, especially if there is little or no revenue or support.
When we first started SURFit USA, things were slow. Very slow. Aaron would drive across town to give a private surf lesson twice a week to a woman named Jackie. Jackie paid $35 each lesson and basically only covered Aaron’s gas. To me, it was a sign that the business wasn’t working and that we should give up.
But, to Aaron, it was a sign that business was working. He got up every morning, did the long drive and taught his surf lessons.
While the money wasn’t great—the experience was invaluable. Being consistently there for our clients and for our business was exactly what we needed. We needed to prove to our clients, our community, and ourselves that our business was there to stay.
In the beginning of any business, it is important to remember this. You might not start out with a roster full of clients and a full mailing list. But, keep going. Just a little bit everyday. You will amaze yourself with how far you can go.
Some tools and books that have helped us stay motivated and encouraged include:
- Motion AI Executive Assistant: This app has been invaluable to us in setting up tasks and events in a calendar and auto-scheduling them. I love being able to look at my Motion each morning and handle the tasks as they are scheduled for me. It takes a lot of the decision making about what is the next needed thing. Once you input the tasks, the calendar uses AI to schedule them for you. I schedule all of my tasks here, both for my businesses and personal.
- The War of Art: This short book talks about how to break through your blocks and win your inner creative battles. It discusses our blocks as “The Resistance”, and offers short tips and tricks to beat “The Resistance”.
- How I Built This: There is nothing that I love more than hearing how other entrepreneurs have built and grown their businesses. I love hearing the hurdles they climbed and how they got to where they are. These podcasts are great when you need a little bit of extra motivation but they can also spark ideas.
What are some tools that you use to improve consistency and keep moving your business forward? Is there anything specific you need help with?