Guest Post by: Tumi Frazier, founder of Tumi Frazier International
Have you ever had a brilliant idea for a new project or business only to discover later on that someone else has already implemented it? The truth is that excellent ideas are not enough on their own because they do not move you forward. Unless you do something proactively to realise those ideas, they mean absolutely nothing. A fair idea developed and acted upon is far better than a brilliant idea that never comes to fruition.
I know of people who have always wanted to start their own businesses or study further but have never got around doing so, stating lack of funds or economic recession. Whilst these types of reasons may be valid, they should not be enough to deter you from achieving your goals.
It is true that effective planning, analysing, synthesising and organising are important ingredients to the success of your business; yet they must be kept in perspective as too much analysis can lead to paralysis.
As an author, I have learnt that if I continuously re-read my manuscript in an attempt to perfect it, it will never get published. In fact, the more I read it, the more mistakes I’m likely to find and the end-result is that I may end up doubting myself and rewriting the entire book in search of perfection.
Sometimes we want to wait until we’ve developed a perfect product or service before we take it to the market. This is the mistake most of us entrepreneurs make; we wait until we find investors to start our businesses.
When I launched my first book Your Moment, I used “negative working capital” as a business model to get started. This is when you gain access to customer cash in advance, or upfront payments, as a financing mechanism for the project. It works effectively in service sectors such as consulting, legal and so forth, where upfront retainers are the norm. It can also work in the fashion industry.
So, my strategy was as follows - I created interest in the book and pre-sold it before it went to print, because money was tight.
"Don’t wait until everything is perfect before you take action, because to wait for the perfect conditions is to wait forever."
It is important to create interest in your services or products before investing too much money, effort and time in them. This way you get an opportunity to gauge customers’ reactions and most importantly get feedback; such feedback is critical in terms of fine-tuning your concept to suit your customers’ needs.
The famous American author, salesman and motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar, once said: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”.
Wise words indeed!
Tumi Frazier is a South African entrepreneur, professional speaker, author, TV personality, consultant, and founder of Tumi Frazier International, Tumi Leadership Academy, and Tumi Foundation. Tumi is an internationally acclaimed Leadership and Change Management expert who has worked with high profile clients and organizations across Africa, United States and Europe. Tumi has authored 4 books: Courageous Stories of Inspiration; In the Midst of the Storm; Stepping Stones to Success; and Your Moment. Follow Tumi Twitter | LinkedIn