Have you ever thought about the similarities between a gym membership and running a small business? You might think that they have nothing in common, but think again.
I’m sure you would agree that there is a lot of excitement and energy surrounding that new resolution to get fit. We buy new workout clothes, hire a personal trainer, and carve out time each week to ensure our success – we have a “plan” to get us to that target weight or fitness goal. The same can be true about starting a new business or a new position within an existing company. We purchase new ‘professional’ clothes to fit the image we want to project, we arrive early, stay late, and join various networking groups. But what happens as time goes on? The excitement diminishes, other commitments eat up our schedule, we tend to accept as success what little progress we’ve seen and stop being strategic. When it comes to the gym membership, the next thing we know our motivation is gone, the weight is back and we are left feeling nothing but frustration and disappointment.
Now apply this principle to that new business or position. Soon enough we start to see some success. We begin to cast aside the time we have initially dedicated to building relationships and increasing brand awareness – we stop working the “plan.” This lack of strategy slowly erodes what’s in our funnel – future prospects and future revenue. Whether you are committing yourself to that fitness goal or growing your business, you need to commit yourself to ‘working the plan’ every day to ensure long-term success.
Have you ever thought about the similarities between a gym membership and running a small business? You might think that they have nothing in common, but think again. I’m sure you would agree that there is a lot of excitement and energy surrounding that new resolution to get fit. We buy new workout clothes, hire a personal trainer, and carve out time each week to ensure our success – we have a “plan” to get us to that target weight or fitness goal. The same can be true about starting a new business or a new position within an existing company. We purchase new ‘professional’ clothes to fit the image we want to project, we arrive early, stay late, and join various networking groups. But what happens as time goes on? The excitement diminishes, other commitments eat up our schedule, we tend to accept as success what little progress we’ve seen and stop being strategic. When it comes to the gym membership, the next thing we know our motivation is gone, the weight is back and we are left feeling nothing but frustration and disappointment.Now apply this principle to that new business or position. Soon enough we start to see some success. We begin to cast aside the time we have initially dedicated to building relationships and increasing brand awareness – we stop working the “plan.” This lack of strategy slowly erodes what’s in our funnel – future prospects and future revenue. Whether you are committing yourself to that fitness goal or growing your business, you need to commit yourself to ‘working the plan’ every day to ensure long-term success.
Keep it Disciplined!
Ernie Dimalanta,
Founder of Out-&-Out Marketing®
