The bizarre headline above highlights the business philosophy I’ve observed in many successful entrepreneurs. Yes, it flies in the face of conventional business school teaching and “best practices” taught by the gurus who write all those self-help business books. (If you take any Business 101 class or seminar, they’ll tell you that starting a successful business always begins with a detailed business plan. The more elaborate and well researched the plan, the better.) But I’ve discovered that while at an EO event, it’s wiser to find successful entrepreneurs who will confide in you over a beer. For me, that’s how I learned what it really takes to crank up my business one more notch.
I tend to ask other successful entrepreneurs point blank if they had a business plan when they started their business and whether they’ve updated it recently. Chances are, they’ll sheepishly admit that they didn’t and don’t, while admitting that they probably should. That doesn’t mean they hadn’t researched and thought about their business idea prior to launching the venture. But once they did enough research, they jumped on the opportunity.
Successful entrepreneurs tend to have a penchant for action. They forge ahead with their idea based on their own belief that it will work. Unfortunately, unsuccessful entrepreneurs often do the same thing. The unsuccessful will leap in, mortgage the house and risk it all on blind faith without doing the hard background work. The difference between success and failure seems to be more than just luck or better vision.
The characteristic I’ve observed in successful entrepreneurs is an incredible work ethic. That’s the key. With this added quality, if they jump in and discover a quagmire, they simply work their way out of the mess. Most entrepreneurs have stories of incredibly long work days and weeks when they started their business. It’s this work ethic that allows the business philosophy of “Ready? FIRE! Aim” to work. Why? Because if I don’t hit the target the first time – and if I wasn’t aiming well, I probably wouldn’t – then I still have time and energy to refocus, aim and then fire again.
The other day, I helped a retired entrepreneur friend of mine drill a well on his property. The project involved hand digging some pits for the drill mud. This was an older guy who made his fortune in real estate – not physical labor – so I was absolutely amazed at his stamina. I would put him up against any manual laborer, and I believe he’d keep up through sheer will power. In retrospect, I think I merely observed a common characteristic of successful entrepreneurs: Give them sufficient motivation, and they’ll work until they accomplish the task, or they’ll drop trying!
The “Ready? Fire! Aim” philosophy doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs fire in any old direction. They do have a very good idea what they need to do, even if they haven’t committed it to writing. So, when new business owners ask me for a few secrets to my success, I don’t start with, “Create a written business plan.” Instead, I tell them: 1) Make calculated risks, 2) be willing to work harder than those around you, and 3) Ready? FIRE! Aim.