The Power of Compounding

In business, as in most of the rest of life, there are few forces more powerful than the power of compounding.  In finance it’s been described as one of the 8th Wonders of the World.  In a startup it’s much the same.

Think about that first customer you got in your new venture.  How excited were you to get those first few dollars in the door.  Then what did you do?

More of the same probably.  But then slowly but surely you naturally start gravitating to bigger opportunities, higher profile customers, and larger deals.  Am I right?

This is natural for everyone and almost everything in nature and it underlines the basic fact that the vast majority of businesses will succeed (and grow) once they’ve established initial traction.

There are tons of stats out there about the failure rate of new businesses.  But did you know that the vast MAJORITY of businesses that have paying customers on Day 1 actually SUCCEED?  What does that tell you?

Well it tells me one thing that’s very certain:  Get a paying customer, treat them like solid gold, and keep building on top of that early success.  Success begets success.  Success let’s you ask for the next sale easier, let’s you increase your prices, let’s you outsource parts of your business you previously thought impossible to let go of, and most importantly success makes you want more success.

So how do you go out there and get more success?  You keep compounding those early wins.

Your first customers are most likely going to be friends, people in your professional circles, and connections you have in your industry.  As you build that network up through your early wins you’ll start meeting people that are instantly trusting of you because they know you’ve had success and experience in this field.  You as a professional are now validated.

So the action to take here is this:  Get a first paying customer in the door as your first priority, but then quickly start doubling down on that success with more customers just like that one.  Once you have a cadre of customers you’ll start looking at your business in a whole new light.

Until next time, go make your future happen, Today!