Running a business….
In one of my seminars for The Societies Convention 2013 I explained why running a business is very much like running a marathon…
Planning
To run a marathon you need a plan, this plan takes you right from the start to the finish. You know EXACTLY what you aim to do (complete 26.2 miles) and you know WHEN you want to achieve it.
Your plan is then split up into manageable chunks (a week at a time) and at the end of each week you review your progress.
This is very much like running a business. To build and run a business yo need to know what you are aiming to achieve, without knowing your “destination” then you don’t know if you are heading in the right direction or even if you have reached your destination ! You also need to split this down in to “chunks” and review your progress.
Motivation
You have got to WANT to do it, and I mean REALLY want to do it. When you are training for a marathon you will run approximately 500 miles in training. When it is dark, wet, cold and miserable the only thing that is going to get you out of the door is your own determination to succeed. This is the same is business; there are the things that just need to be done. They are not the exciting, glamorous or public things, they are the day in day out need to get done things.
When things go wrong you have to keep going. In marathon training things do go wrong. Last year in training I hurt my knee. The choice is either give up and pull out or deal with it. Sometimes an injury is so bad you have no choice but to pull out but this should only be a last resort after trying physio, doctors etc. It shouldn’t be the first thing that happens. It also means that you have to carry on running even when it hurts.
In business things will also go wrong and try and knock you off your path. It can be things with the business or things within your personal life but it is your determination and motivation that will keep you going and keep your business on track.
Crowd Support
When you are running a marathon the last 26.2 miles are great ! it is YOUR lap of honour. You have the crowds on the streets, shouting your name. People passing you drinks and food and a BIG SHINY MEDAL at the end 🙂 For the previous 450+ miles you have been on your own. There has been no-one out shouting for you on a cold frozen sunday morning when you run past other peoples houses smelling the bacon cooking. There is no medal for a training run.
The same is true within a business. Sometimes you will do things in your business that will be quite public and you will get personal recognition for what you have done. Most of the time you won’t (and you won’t always get a medal !)
Personal Achievement
I cannot explain the feeling that you get when you cross the finish line of a marathon. For me it is one partly of relief, but also an immense feeling of satisfaction. I have to confess that I cried for the last few hundred metres. I suddenly realised I was about to achieve the one thing that I had been training so long for and I had really done it !
You will have similar feelings about your business, sometimes it will hit you quite how much you have achieved and how far you have come on your own particular journey. It is also worth taking time now and again to look back at how far you have come. It is very easy to carry on looking forward and where you want to be on your journey, it is also important to look back and recognise what you have achieved so far.
Funny isn’t it, the similarities between running a business and running a marathon 🙂