Eight Misunderstood Cliches For The New Entrepreneur

Like all things in life, there are tested concepts and those that, well, may be a bit misunderstood.

We start learning this from childhood where we very quickly are taught that what Mom and Dad say is usually something you can count on but what you’re told by friends, is not always something you can take to the bank.

The same goes for cliches. Everyday we face tons of cliches covering a wide range of topics. Cliches by their very nature usually have some degree of truth contained within their day to day usage. However, cliches can kill you when you are starting a new business or trying to take your existing business to the next level. Let me explain:

Cliche #1: Success Is Just Around the Corner – Now on face value that is most likely true. The problem when starting a new business is that most people just never turn the corner. They stop just short and never see the value on the other side. This is typically due to the fact that the cliche doesn’t really tell you how many corners you need to turn before you find the all evasive “success”. I can tell you from experience that it is rarely just one corner…if that was true everyone would be a millionaire or better. The old story about Edison tried thousands of times before he finally got the light bulb correct. If he stopped short on the 999th corner, well we would all be in the dark.

Cliche #2: Overnight Success – We all know someone who was an ‘overnight success’. All of a sudden they’re flowing in dough. Well, there is no such thing as an overnight success unless maybe you just won the lottery and even there, typically it’s never on the first ticket. If you relax and just ponder what is going on, wondering how others became overnight successes, it is certain you will never have the opportunity to be one. The only answer to overnight success is hard work and long ‘overnights’.

Cliche #3: Once in a Lifetime Opportunity – In each of our lives there are many ‘once in a lifetime opportunities’. The only problem is that we never see them. We’re so busy with day to day activity that we let these opportunities pass by constantly. How often have you said to yourself, “If I’d only done…..”. Well, now is the time to do it!

Cliche #4: Look Before You Leap – Now this is a real killer. One of the differences between the truly successful and the not so successful is that the truly successful look a lot less often and for much less time. They review quickly, make decisions and take action. Failure is taken as only a form of education and not personally. If they fail, they just move on to the next event.

Cliche #5: Time Waits for No Man – Well, this is really true but, unfortunately, all too often is overlooked. We tend not to realize that time is finite. There is just so much of it. Sitting back and waiting for success to come to you is as foolish as spending a week in Vegas counting on going home with more in your pocket than you came with.

Cliche #6 – Success is a Journey and not a Destination – Well, this can truly be a killer. One of the most important things any new business owner can do is set goals. Now,each time you reach your goal, you have been successful. Not admitting that and giving yourself a ‘high five’ can be a real downer. You need to cherish success at all times. Kids do it in school, we do it as parents but we don’t allow ourselves to do that as business men and women. Now, once that goal is achieved, set a new one!

Cliche #7: Money Can’t Buy You Happiness – But it sure can make the sadness a lot more tolerable! Of course, money is not everything but one of our goals as business people is to cash in. One of the parameters we go by is financial. To deny that is not very realistic. When evaluating a new business, we need to be sure that there is a strong possibility of success.

Cliche #8: Opportunity is Knocking – Well, this one is great if you’re listening but how often do we turn a ‘deaf ear’ to opportunity. We use just about every excuse possible to avoid a challenge, to stop taking action for fear of failure etc. Opportunity knocks, but unfortunately for some, not loudly enough.

Now I could go on and list several others but the truth of the matter is you’ve got to ‘take the bull by the horns’, ‘grab the golden ring’ and most, importantly, in doing so take action. Nothing can possibly happen without action. If you’re sitting on the fence waiting for success to come to you, you’ll get nothing but splinters!