YOU ARE NOT!

You are not too old or to young. The length of time you have been in your current business does not matter. The important thing to remember is that customers are increasingly choosing vendors on the basis of long-term value, not long term history.

Customers buy and pay for benefits, yet almost on a daily basis I meet business owners that say “I am too new in the business” or “I am a very young business owner and people don’t respect me.” These are their excuses for not being successful.

The reverse is a situation where a business owner tells me that he is to “old” to change the outdated marketing and internal operations of his business.

Change is still the only constant in our business world, and I don’t buy any of the excuses I mentioned.

Look at all the new high tech companies that are being started by very young people. In almost every field, insurance, legal, real estate, etc., there are awards given to young people who have excelled in a short period of time. Their success is due to their persistence, their consistency in effort  and in their belief in themselves.

Old doesn’t mean that your brain no longer functions. I find that the “old” excuse is a result of someone who doesn’t want to do the hard work, again, just as they did when they first started the business. Running a business is always hard work and that includes finding people to do the things you cannot or don’t want to do.

Success does not depend on age or even on experience. It depends on the passion and knowledge that a person has when presenting the benefits that were promised.

“It is impressive to recognize that all of the great business men, in all walks of life and during all periods of history, have attained their leadership by the application of the abilities behind a definite major purpose.” Napoleon Hill

As I tell everyone who complains about not being able to do something: “Don’t tell me why you can’t do it, tell me how you can do it.”

Advice and tips provided by Nick Petra – CFP, Mentor, and Founder of Strategic Duck and BizQuack