Starting as a small business owner, I remember seeing established, successful businesses and thinking that they had achieved a status that was far from my reach because of my lack of resources or capital.
Knowledge... check.
Passion... check.
Endless funds to make all of the marketing/creative dreams come true... big, fat NOPE.
When we were first starting our businesses, we considered ourselves incredibly blessed to be able to pay our minimal bills and buy enough groceries each week. In those days, there wasn't enough meat on the bone to think about hiring employees, building new offices, buying new or better equipment, etc. We were just trying to survive and feed our family. We didn't have savings or investors. It was just us and our determination.
So, if we didn't have significant funds, how did we grow our businesses?
One. Step. At. A. Time.
We started small. We did the next small thing and then the next small thing and then the next small thing. Has our growth been as fast as we wanted it to be? No. Are we where we want to be? No. We have not arrived. We are not huge. But we are steadily growing and adding to our businesses in both value and capability.
Don't buy in to your self-inflicted feelings that you have to take giant leaps toward your dreams in order to be successful. Your goals may be unattainable overnight, but that doesn't mean they are unattainable, period. Small steps are a great place to start. Forward motion, even if it is so incremental that no one else sees it, is still a step. And it turns out, small steps add up over time.
