What does it take to build a successful business?
Photo by Cameron Clark
If you want to be an overnight success, you do the work day in and day out.
You do the work that everyone else gives up on.
You do the work that everyone else has mistakenly labeled a waste of time.
You do the work even when you're convinced that everyone on Instagram has figured out some foolproof system that they haven't clued you in on.
You do the work even when it is boring.
You do the work even when you don't feel like it and would rather curl up under a blanket on the couch with Nespresso and Netflix.
Then one day, out of nowhere, you will be labeled an overnight success. A door will open to a new hallway with new doors bearing new opportunities. You will still have to do the work to open these doors, but they will swing a little more freely.
Everyone will want to know how exactly you got so lucky. How you found the shortcut to that hallway with those doors.
And you will smile because you know the answer isn't one they want to hear.
The shortcut is doing the work.
Originally published January 2013
Written by
LIENE STEVENS
Liene Stevens, the founder and CEO of Think Splendid, is an author, speaker, and award-winning business strategist. Armed with $2000, a healthy work ethic, and an undeserved dose of privilege, Liene bootstrapped Think Splendid from a scribble in a notebook to a successful wedding business consulting firm with a client list spanning 94 countries.
