When it comes to business, consistency is absolutely a key to success. Becoming and staying as consistent as you need to be to achieve your goals is not always easy, but it is a behavior that anyone involved in business would do well to learn and apply.
The truth is that more businesses fail than succeed. Statistically, the odds of any new business actually ‘making it’ and becoming profitable enough to sustain itself are slim. But how can you overcome the odds? What can you do to propel your business to a place where it can not only be successful, but also grow and prosper? To accomplish success on this level, you need to embody several behaviors and habits, but one of the most crucial of these is consistency.
If you can learn to be consistent, then your talent can be fully realized and your ideas can be given a fair chance of working. You would be amazed at how many businesses, started by talented and intelligent people, fail because they neglect to continue in their good habits, day in and day out. A lot of factors come into play, but there is no substitute for being determined, reliable, and consistent.
Becoming the ‘Model Of Success’
One of the key concepts to understand, as it relates to consistency, lies in the idea that you need to ‘become what you desire to become’. In other words, don’t just hope that your business will succeed. Instead, start living it on a day to day basis. Embody your ideas to the point where you make them real. When you believe in you and in your business enough, you can only succeed!
If your company was really busy and successful, then you would most likely need to do things a certain way to generate that result and outcome. But for a new start up, for a business that has not grown to that point yet, or even for a business that is older but hasn’t grown a whole lot in past years… a lot can be accomplished by, for example, showing up to work and putting in the hours that you would be required to put in if your business were incredibly busy and successful.
Being consistent in a way as simple as showing up to work, day in and day out, is often overlooked. Many people do not realize how much good a consistent presence on their part can do for their business, even if they have employees who can manage things while they are not there. For example, showing up to work and having little in the way of business actually going on might seem like a waste of time, but you can utilize down time to further your ideas in other ways, which in turn can help to expand and increase your success to the next level – and we all have a next level. For example, you could work on networking or marketing to grow your client base. You could also get into social media marketing or do more in this area, and utilize that to reach out to possible new clients who can use your products or services.
There is also a need to be consistent in the areas of marketing and advertising, especially as they relate to any online ventures. Consistency in these areas has, time and time again, tied itself to successful businesses. In fact, a lot of successful people have said that it is not actually talent or a natural affinity for leadership that sets a profitable businessman apart from one that is not. The only real common denominator among those on incredibly successful levels is the fact that those who remained consistent in their endeavors, and stuck it out when things got tough, often ended up creating a more profitable business. Overnight success stories might sound fun, but you would be AMAZED at how much went on behind the scenes that the public will never know about. A lot of ‘overnight success stories’ were only made possible because the businesses involved remained consistent in their day to day activities, even when things were not going so well.
The Benefits of Consistency
By remaining consistent, you will be ready to jump at any opportunity that might come along. The restaurant owner, for example, who consistently stays open on Mondays when he is never very busy, could very well find his restaurant the most popular place to eat on Mondays if he is the only one who will commit to staying consistent by staying open on such a slow day. The entrepreneur, who is attempting to market his business online, might be tempted to miss a few blog posts here and there… but if he does, he will cause readers to notice that content is not as ‘regular’ as it used to be, and this will result in a loss of interest on their part.
Think about the types of businesses that you utilize every day. Where do you buy your groceries? Where do you go out to eat? Where do you buy clothes? Who is your dry cleaner? Have you ever tried to do business with a company that never managed to be reliable? There is nothing more frustrating than needing something, only to realized that the business you planned on using is ‘closed’ for the day due to ‘personal reasons’. This is the kind of inconsistency that will really drag a business down.
In the end, consistency is all about keeping things steady, regular, and reliable. Consistency is going to be one of the most important assets that your business will ever build for itself, and building it will result in increased sales, clients, and success!
If you have been struggling a little bit in the consistency department (as most people do), then I challenge you to put new energy into making your part in your business as reliable and as consistent as you can. Don’t misunderstand that consistency means that you are set in your ways and that you never look outside the box to try new things that can help your business grow even more. You will no doubt soon realize how many opportunities such an attitude will open up for you!
Starting today, commit to being consistent in at least one area that you have struggled with lately. Try to isolate the most inconsistent parts of your business, and concentrate on making that the most reliable part of your operation. You would be amazed at how much of a difference this will make for your company!
Copyright Anne M. Bachrach. All rights reserved.