YOU CAN’T MAKE MONEY AND EXCUSES AT THE SAME TIME

I went to an awesome seminar today. It was the “Get Motivated” seminar at the Georgia Dome. The speakers were an “A” list of people from all types of backgrounds. Rudy Giuliani, Bill Cosby, ZIG ZIGLAR, Gen. Colin Powell, Lou Holtz, Goldie Hawn, Rick Belluzzo, Brian Tracy, Gen Stanley McCrystal, and Steve Forbes were all there IN PERSON. Needless to say I was MOTIVATED!

As the speakers were talking I was jotting down ideas that I thought would help me in future training and also give me topics for future blogs. As you can see from the title of this blog, I got some really good stuff!

Every business in every industry starts with an idea. Either one person thinks of it or a group all brainstorm to come up with it, the idea is the first step in starting a business. This first step is usually easy. IT HAPPENS in most cases all by itself. The second step is always the hardest, TAKE ACTION! Making things happen, getting up and doing something to start the process is always hard, but until you make the first move, nothing else can happen.

You may have the idea for the next computer, or the next hit product like a better Snuggie. You may have a service that the world is waiting for, or the elusive better mouse trap. It doesn’t matter what you thought of, if you don’t go into action and move on your idea you will never make a penny off of it. Let me give you an example. My first daughter was born in 1980 on my 5^th anniversary. Jackie and I had moved into our first house 3 years before this and our closest friends lived 4 doors down the street. When Alyson came along we wanted to find a way to go to each other’s houses while she was asleep and still be able to know she was OK. I had a great idea. I went to Radio Shack and bought a pair of walkie talkies. I took a big rubber band and keyed one of the walkie talkies. By placing the keyed unit next to the crib, I could hear every sound my daughter was making while at our friends house. This was an awesome invention that I did nothing with. In 1983 the first baby monitors hit the market. Do you think I could have made a few dollars with my idea?

NO ACTION, NO MONEY! I knew it was a good idea, but I made all the excuses I could think of, someone else has this already I’m sure, who would want to carry a walkie talkie around with them, it only works for short distances and even if it could go further you wouldn’t want to leave your baby alone that far away. This is only the short list that I remember. The point is, instead of acting and making money, I made excuses. You can’t do both.

In your business you either need to take action on every opportunity to make money, or make excuses why you didn’t take action. You can’t do both at the same time. Maybe it is a customer you already have and you think of a new way to get more products into their business, or maybe it is a new business you are trying to open. Maybe it is a new industry you are trying to break into or maybe it is a revolutionary new way to perform an application in an existing industry. ACTION OR EXCUSES, one makes money, one helps you rationalize failure.

You decide!

Lorin