On a phone consultation a client he said to me, “I wish it was as easy to make an IT services sale as it is to sell what you do.” Ha! Hahahahaha! I laughed till I cried. He actually was sincere, so I took a little bit of pride in the fact that I make it look effortless. All true pros do. But EASY? Try selling raw, unwashed vegetables to chubby people addicted to carbs who truly, deeply do NOT want to diet, do NOT want accountability and would only be motivated to run if a bear was chasing them. Plus, there’s a taco truck and donut stand on either side of you giving away free samples.
Unfortunately, I have a stubborn integrity streak in me that just won’t allow me to sell easy-button porn which would make selling what I sell a lot easier. McDonalds puts sugar in everything. I’m high protein, high fiber. *Sigh* There ya have it. I’m the kale of marketing. It’s REALLY good for you, but it’s hard to chew, bitter and gets stuck in your teeth…but it IS good for you.
Here’s the point: A dangerous game to play that has no successful outcome is looking at the neighbor’s yard from afar and being jealous of how green it is, wishing it was yours. WORSE yet, assuming his success is “easy” or easier than what you’re trying to do because HIS yard get the sun, the rain, the right soil, etc. ALL grass looks greener from a distance. The key phrase is “from a distance.” When you get up close, it’s rife with weeds, drought, rocky soil, uneven growth, bald spots, holes from critters digging and wiz marks from the dog. ALL businesses have ugly.
I know many entrepreneurs envy the success of Elon Musk, but would cave in a hot second with the constant barrage of lawsuits, protesters, hate groups and constant harassment and outright disrespect from political leaders.
Bezos is HUGELY successful today, but spent years building Amazon with zero profits, high stress, TOUGH technology, people, legal, customer service and operational problems, all carrying massive risk, ENORMOUS risk.
An MSP client of mine who I shall not name, is running and growing a very successful multi-million-dollar business with multiple locations, doubling business, tripling MRR. On the surface, he’s killing it (and he is). But he is also on the road constantly, barely sleeping, working every waking moment, constantly dealing with customer service issues, staffing issues, sales issues, cash flow issues and operational problems. He’s handling it all, but as he said to me the other day with a ragged breath, “Robin, this is a HARD business to run.” I get it. Make sure you do too.
Nobody, and I do mean nobody who has a lot of success gets there via the 4-hour workweek. Anyone who’s trying to sell you that load of crap is either a con artist, lying through their teeth as they stand next to their leased Bentley in their rented mansion and photo shopped “private jet,”, grossly over leveraged, in debt, living month to month, NOT wealthy – or they’re disingenuous about the number of hours they’re putting in and what’s really going on. No, I’m NOT jealous. I am annoyed to no end with this kind of dishonesty because it causes genuinely hardworking and ambitious people to second guess themselves and feel like a failure because they haven’t been able to make their first billion poolside with a side hustle.
I DO lead a charmed life with a damned fantastic business. I work from home, make great money, doing work that I enjoy and find interesting with a solid team of great professionals (despite my p’ing and moaning about employees) working with clients I enjoy engaging with. But EASY? No. No. NO. Far from it. I did point out to the HE picked the business he was in, the clients he has, the employees he hired, so if it’s not having a good time, well…
So as we enter into “Thanksgiving Month” here in the US, I would suggest that you learn to not overlook the good in your own life and your own business. Instead of comparing yourself to another person, wishing you had their money, their life, their body, their family, their business (which is a futile exercise) take another look around and be very, very grateful for what you DO have.
Right now, someone is looking at you with the same jealousy for something you’re taking for granted. If you are going to do any comparison, compare yourself today to the version of yourself yesterday, a month ago, a year ago, a decade. If you’re hanging in THIS tribe, reading THIS blog, I assure you that you’re MORE put together and accomplished than MOST. But, if you don’t like what you have, get about changing it and accepting the work, sacrifice and discipline it will require.
Tired of comparing yourself to the competition? Ready to make your own grass greener? Join us for MSP Digital Connections, where you’ll not only learn cutting-edge AI strategies but also walk away with ready-to-use content to generate leads and grow your business. Stop looking over the fence and start building your own success. Sign up now!
