Overnight Success Is Bullshit
Literal “overnight” success is impossible. No one wakes up one and sees their company in the multi-billion-dollar column. It just doesn’t happen. It takes hard work and dedication to get a company up to that status. It takes years of hard work, sweat, and discipline to make it happen. Just like the old cliché that says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Neither were successful businesses. You are not going to wake up one morning and be a million or billionaire. It just doesn’t work that way! It takes time, so expect to pay your dues before you are on the top!
“Overnight Success” is a Relative Term:
Some companies will become multi-million dollar companies in just a couple of years, whereas other will never grow to that level. It’s a matter of the brand, the demand, and what is needed on the current market at that time. It’s also down to how dedicated the employees at a company are to make the company work in the way it should. A couple of years may be a very quick timeline for a company to become successful, but at the same time it’s not literally “overnight”. That’s more like 100s of nights!
“Overnight Success” is Not What it is Cracked Up to Be:
Of course, you dream of your startup immediately being successful, or taking in millions in a couple of years, but for many businesses it can be a “curse”. A curse? How? Well, simple, the relatively quick success goes the company’s head. They get lax with their policies, quality control, and quality of their customer service. They let the company slowly slide in standards and in services or products offered.
This generally happens when success is “handed” to a company. This is when they don’t have to work hard as they should have to for the success other companies may have and people get complacent. They think this success is “owed” to them. The customer experience suffers, and business slumps. Sometimes a company can be pulled out of these funks and sometimes it’s too late for the bottom line.
Sometimes Smaller Businesses Work Better:
In many industries, you will find that smaller businesses work more smoothly than massive corporations. There are less places for communications to get tangled, and less people to cause problems. There are more intimate “face-to-face” interactions with customers and more time can be made for employees to help each customer individually, which can drastically improve customer service. Many times, people prefer to shop at smaller businesses as the “family” feel is much more vibrant than in massive multi-million or multi-billion dollar corporations. While there are some huge companies that indeed thrive, and do well, some have their downfall faster than the smaller brands in small cities across the world.
It’s Not a Competition:
It’s not just a competition with other companies to “steal customers” and be “bigger than they are”. In the end, the best way to go about it is to make the best of what you have. If you have a smaller business, continue to focus on the customers you currently have. Treat those customers well and you will have a steady, lifelong support system that will keep your company relevant well into the future at any size. Those customers also speak up to others about great experiences they have with your company, and are likely to even help grow your business into the future.
Slow Growth Is OK:
If your company is not growing at record rates that doesn’t mean you are not successful! Oftentimes, frustrating as it may be in the moment, the smaller steadily-growing companies are the ones with the most success in the end. The employees there understand the value of each customer they bring in, and want to keep them happy so they recommend the business to more people. Customers are treated well and respected, and they come back again and again. Repeat business keeps a business strong from its foundation. It can also help ensure the business’s longevity well into the future.
Conclusion: Overnight Success IS REALLY BS:
In the end, as you can see, building a business too fast can be dangerous as not being able to get clients to buy the service or product at all! It can cause complacency among employees, and it can also cause mismanaged resources to be overextended and it can cause the company to fall rapidly as it rises. In the end, focus on a slow, steady growth into the company you want to be part of. Celebrate your successes, learn from your failures, and realize that bigger sometimes may not always be better after all!
Originally Published on Bittu Kumar’s Blog