Patience is a business virtue even in this age of instant gratification
The age of instant gratification is truly upon us with every business laying the greatest emphasis on speed. One minute noodles, pizza home delivery in less than 30 minutes; grocery, cabs and food on demand etc are the in thing.
Every entrepreneur and business prides itself on its marketing professionalism, speed, agility and the ability to serve its customers in the quickest turnaround time. Yet, there are certain aspects of the business that take their own sweet time to fructify. And success is one of them.
There is nothing called as an instant success in business
Every success story hitting the headlines today has been crafted over years of toil, patience and perseverance. Success is neither overnight nor smooth. It has taken nearly 40 years for Apple to reach its predominant position that it is in today and even such an iconic company was just 90 days away from bankruptcy in 1997, as Jobs himself had said years later.
So every business has its own ups and downs. There is no straight line of growth. Never try to conquer the world in a day. You should focus on a long-term horizon to build a solid foundation for your business and work professionally towards achieving your goals and targets.
For the first-time and small entrepreneurs, the immediate worry on setting up a business and even afterward is how to grow. Their sustainability depends on acquiring new businesses so that they can grow.
After all absence of growth equals death for business especially new and small businesses
But this anxiety to build up their business in double quick time leads to frustration as no matter how quickly you want results every process has its own dynamics. The huge financial cost of setting up and running a business does take a toll on an entrepreneur’s way of thinking. But be patient and you will not only get new business but will also build your brand and relationships.
But what is patience after all? Does it mean to remain idle till the opportune time comes or is to remain in an inactive mode when the tide is unfavorable? Absolutely not! As American author, Joyce Mayer says “Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting”
To be patient means to properly utilise your time especially when the going is tough. Prepare yourself and get adequate knowledge of clients’, markets, competitors, customer segments, production processes, beneficial ideas like Outsourced CMO and inventions in related fields etc in times when business is slow so that you are well prepared to crack the market when the opportunity arises and can help you achieve your goals.
Do not lose sight of your ultimate goal
You will invariably come across obstacles and setbacks in your entrepreneurial journey. Do not get quickly distracted by them. Lack of traction in the market often leads startups to change their price-points or business models quickly as time is the essence for them and rightly so. But is it always a right decision? Is it really that the lack of traction is due to unproductive business model or could it be that you have not given the market adequate time to gel with your concept. So step aside and instead of taking a decision under pressure and in a hurry patiently go over all your options and decide accordingly.
However great product or service you may have, success will come only if you display patience over a long period of time. Patience leads to positive recognition and increased customer satisfaction resulting in great bottom line for those who can stay invested in their idea for a considerable period of time.
