We all know analysis paralysis and the dangers of over thinking something, most often this comes from knowing too much, not too little. What if you truly didn’t know what you didn’t know? How different would your life and your business be if you didn’t stop because failure might happen, rejection might occur, it might not work? Imagine operating instead from a place where you knew the risks (or didn’t) and went ahead anyway. You would step out of your way and let success in (and when not success it would be lessons learned.) This is what Sue* did.
She is one of those crafty and creative types of people who always have a dozen or so projects going on. As a family, she, her husband and her two boys had just gone through a big change. Their eldest son entered a private military academy. He is thriving on the discipline and they are thrilled with his progress but it is a big financial commitment and Sue wanted to add to the family income. She’d last worked as a waitress before she and Dave got married. Dave has a secure, (and stressful), job in management at the local cable company and wasn’t keen on Sue working at all. So she had to make this work on her own and within the confines of being a full time Mom and wife.
She began with juice cans and a variety of empty smallish containers that were going to be trash, then she found bark bits, mosses and such and covered these containers and planted each with bits of fern, impatiens and the like. They are really lovely and perfect for mountain and rustic decorating. First she was going to go the traditional route of selling at art and craft shows, and it seemed expensive what with entrance fees, booth purchase and more. So Sue came up with another plan, one that for most would seem bold and even daring. She’s take her barked containers to targeted (important to note) local retailers and see if they wanted to buy them.
This is where it gets interesting, because she lives in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains and there aren’t that many perfect fit retail shops to approach, not only that but she had no contacts whatsoever to make this easier. She found her first shop the first day she went out and achieved a degree of success quickly. It was the second one that she approached that stepped her up quantum leaps.
There is just one high end, luxury inn with a newly awarded 5 stars by Conde Nast Traveler, Sue walked in the door of their botanical shop, no appointment, no contacts, with a boxful of her bark containers with plants. She was an instant hit. They sold out that day and re-ordered on the spot. Sue is thrilled not to have to do shows, and is very happy with the income from just these two shops ordering. She has time for her family and the business is just big enough for her to manage easily and add to the family bank account. The two shops are excited to have original and native decorative containers (they are skipping the plants which makes it even easier) to sell to their stream of both daytime visitors and second home owners. While the business is seasonal as everything is here, it is still exactly the right fit.
Having spoken with hundreds of business owners and wannabe business owners over the years, there is a general belief system that you will achieve success in a step by step fashion. That you have to go about it a certain way because that’s the way it’s always been done. You start at the bottom and work your way to the top. What if you changed that?
What if you started at the top? Why can’t you? Who is holding you back? Is it your beliefs? Is it tradition? Examine your presumptions and assumptions closely, I bet more than a few are based on inaccurate data and incomplete research. Stop analyzing and just do it.
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Blast through the gates of success, banish your limiting beliefs, and move your business and your life rapidly forward, grab the secrets at www.superchargesuccess.com. *Names are changed for privacy.
