Don't Build Your Business for a Lucky Break

Are you waiting for your lucky break? Sitting around the phone waiting for Oprah to call? Banking on that 3-page spread in Real Simple magazine? Holding out on an endorsement from a big player?  It's oh-so-tempting to think that an "if only" break is the thing holding you back from massive success. It's just as tempting to build a business that is dependent on that kind of break. How do you know if you're dependent on a lucky break?

 
• Your profit margins are razor thin. Walmart works with razor thin margins. Are you Walmart? Banking on volume - the only way to run on thin margins - is only going push you into pursuing lucky breaks and away from serving your clients with value & generosity.
• You aren't cultivating return customers. Great businesses have great rates of repeat customers. Does yours? Do you have opportunities to buy again? Is your customer service impeccable? Is your product spread built for repeat business? Don't rely on an influx of new customers.
• You're waiting to invest time, energy, or money. You can do a lot with very little in today's business world. But at some point, it comes time to invest in what you're doing. That time will be well before your "lucky break" comes. Rest assured, if your website, product, or message isn't up to snuff, that break ain't happening.

  Create a business model that allows you to be profitable at the size you're at now and then make plans for both incremental and massive growth. When you've thought out the possibilities but live - and thrive! - in the present, your business is primed for success over the long haul.  One final note: you control your opportunities. While I believe you should design your business for where it's at now, I also believe you can create opportunities for massive growth. In other words, create your own lucky breaks.  

What lucky break have you been waiting for?