The Importance of Practicing Patience in Your Business

Isn’t it true that once we take that leap of faith and start our own business, we go out guns blazing ready to achieve any and all goals we set out for ourselves? Then, a few weeks go by and we aren’t as “successful” as those top Ladypreneurs we’ve been following all this time. This is a major downer, and most times this leads us to think that we’re never going to make it big, and we should just quit now, right? …Wrong!

When starting out it is great to have those big dreams and goals in place. However, we must not forget the journey it will take to actually get there! We should not dare compare our beginnings with the successes of those around us. Instead, we should go back and look at exactly how those women started out, follow their journey, and apply the knowledge they pass on to your own company.

Growing a business takes hard work and dedication. It requires countless hours of creating new content, promoting your services, and reaching out to others in your industry to build those critical networks.

Now what is the key behind all of this hard work? PATIENCE!

The Power of Patience in Business

Studies show that healthy, happy, and successful people all practice patience in both their businesses and their lives. Impatience has a negative effect on your mood, and also your ability to clearly make decisions. When I’m feeling impatient in my own business, I tend to be more impulsive. This impulsivity can lead to faulty launches, lack of market research, and not truly understanding your audience.

To help you avoid these negative consequences of impatience, here are 2 keys to building patience in your business.

1. Don’t Measure Yourself Against Someone Else’s Metrics

It’s so easy to look at others in your industry and think, “They have the perfect videos”, or “Look at the fancy design of their website. I need to have that standard too before I release anything else!” Now wait a minute, how long have they been at this? Is it only them producing their content, or have they grown to the point where they have a full time team working for them?

The answers will make it clear that you cannot possibly measure yourself based on their yardstick. You need to take a step back and do what you are capable of accomplishing at this point in your journey. The key is to be patient with your growth, stay true to your brand, and ensure that you are providing your audience and potential clients with as much value as you possibly have to give.

This focused value-added approach along with practicing self-patience, will challenge you and push you towards the next level in your business.

2. Set Methodical Goals and Deadlines

We often hear that saying, “If you wait till it’s perfect, you’ll be waiting a long time”. Now even though I agree with this in terms of taking that leap of faith and pursuing your dreams, there are times when you need to practice a bit of patience. Now this does not mean you get to be lazy and nonchalant towards your deadlines. No, you still have to hustle hard everyday to be more productive and more efficient with creating content, delivering products or services, and meeting the needs of your customers.

For example, when starting out with a blog, it is important to practice patience regarding your launch date. You want to allow yourself sufficient time to build up your content, so that you are not overwhelmed by the schedule you’ve set out to keep. When you’ve built up an archive of articles, it is much easier to supply consistent content and keep audience engagement high.

Another critical time to practice patience is during new product launches. A great way to do this is to go through a testing round with a few select clients before the big launch. This enables you to build confidence in your product and to find out where adjustments need to be made.

“Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.” – Joyce Meyer

I trust that these two techniques will help you to practice patience when you really need it, and to ultimately make better decisions for your business.

Now over to YOU!

Did you find these Spark Ideas helpful? How have you practiced patience in your business?
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As always, desire to inspire!