Why Perfectionism Is Killing Your Business (and Your Dreams)

Today, I’m going to explain why perfectionism can be a fatal mistake in your early business development. Waiting for things to be “just right” or the best person to “just show up” is a horrible mentality to have in the life of an entrepreneur, and furthermore it’s not the mindset of the most successful people in business, as you will see.

Perfectionism Is Not Used By The Most Successful People

A lot of the people I see who are starting businesses are always waiting. Waiting for the “perfect moment” to introduce a product, the peak time when all of their personal skills are optimized, and when their website looks like a piece of art unto itself. These people hide their videos, they hide their blogs, they hide their own profiles, and nothing ever seems to get done. They’re not putting themselves on the line for their own future. The worst part of this value-deficient thinking is that they never feel “worthy” enough to actually get into business with clients, and often don’t get paid as a consequence.

I’m here to tell you that this is completely the wrong approach to business. Even a successful businessman, and I’ll use one of the most successful businessmen as an example, Richard Branson, won’t wait for anyone or anything before implementing an idea. If you look at Branson’s Virgin Galactic – a spaceship company – they don’t even have a spaceship yet. They have an airplane that flies pretty high, but it’s not a spaceship yet. However, they have already sold hundreds if not thousands of tickets… at $100,000-$200,000 per person.

Why Would You Wait?

So, why would you wait for your business to look “perfect”, whatever that means? Why would you have to wait that long to start getting sales, customers, and publicity if non-existent spaceship tickets can be sold at six-figures? No one who is successful waits like that. The most successful in this world go out, do their thing, and make adjustments as the business progresses based on the feedback of paying customers. This is the number one thing you should be focusing on – what are my paying customers telling me to change? As you calibrate your work towards their needs, you increase your positive results.

You can see many examples of booming companies beginning in a sort of rag-tag fashion. Let’s use me as an example. When I first started my business, I didn’t know what my niche was. I talked about all manners of random topics I had learned in my career and just hoped something would stick. I even did some public speaking to show my YouTube viewers that I’m legitimate, but I hadn’t found my stride just yet. On the other hand, I started coaching after week 2 of work. In just my second week, I posted on my Facebook profile, “Hey guys, what would you pay me for?” Within five minutes, I had a client.

Take Action, Then Adjust Based On Paid Feedback

Never, ever wait for your video, blog, logo, or anything else to be “perfect”. The only things you need to start a successful business are a phone, phone numbers, your voice, and to be awake. Sales are the name of the game for you, so get them fast. Base the changes in your business off of previous sales calls and what real live customers who pay tell you to change.

This is not to be confused with a survey where you just ask anyone mildly interested in your product what they think you should do. This is not how surveys work and it’s not how you do market research. Market research is done with your existing audience and your existing clients. Occasionally you can query your former clients and try to get them back, but in general the best way is have a direct line of communication with your current paying customers.

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So, do not wait for anyone or anything to begin implementing any part of your business. Changes come from action take after the fact. If you can cut down the perfectionism in your action-taking and implement first, you will see the dividends soon enough.