Business Built With Strategy

Perfect is the Enemy of Started: Your Business Growth Wake-up Call

• With Victoria E Strange • Season 1 • Episode 8

Share episode

Send us a text

We explore why waiting for perfect conditions is the biggest obstacle to business growth and how taking imperfect action creates momentum that perfectionism never will.

• Fear of failure, perfectionism, and comparison trap us in endless waiting
• Your first version will never be perfect but it's your ticket into the game
• Waiting feels safe but costs you time, money and confidence
• Comparing yourself to others is comparing your beginning to someone else's highlight reel
• Action creates clarity – test and then refine rather than waiting for perfect
• Momentum is more powerful than being ready
• Every successful entrepreneur started before they felt ready

Free resource coming soon – four steps to turn your idea into a foundation plan you'll actually follow. Sign up for the email list to receive it directly. Follow the podcast for weekly Monday episodes. DMs and emails always open for questions or topic suggestions.


Speaker 1:

Hello everyone. It's Victoria here and welcome back to another episode of Business Built With Strategy. So today we are going to be talking about why waiting is stopping your business growth. Massive, massive topic, and one that's actually really, really interesting, and I think that also something that we have all been through or are going through. So how many times have you said I'll do it when I'm ready, I'll do it when everything's perfect? Now that could be a new business idea, could be pivoting in your current business launching a new offer, even posting that first video, that first reel, posting anything.

Speaker 1:

Truth is ready never comes. Perfect certainly doesn't come. You don't feel ready first. You actually get ready by doing. In this episode, I'm going to show you how waiting for ready and for perfect is actually really costing you growth and what to do instead of waiting. So why do we actually wait to feel ready? Or why do we hear ourselves saying, yeah, yeah, I'll do it when it's perfect.

Speaker 1:

Everything's got to be perfect and, honestly, that could be anything it could be. You're waiting for the kids to grow up. You're waiting for the kids to go back to school. You're waiting. So things are a little bit more even in your life. You're waiting for this, this you're waiting for that. You're waiting until you move. It could be anything. It could be something big, it could be something small.

Speaker 1:

Fear of failure what if it doesn't work? You know we wait for this. We think, oh yeah, I know, but what if it doesn't work? And what if I fail? But what if you actually do bloody well, perfectionism, waiting until everything looks perfect? As I said, it's never going to look perfect. It really isn't. There is no such thing as perfect. What there is, though and I can tell you this from experience there is your own personal perfect. Now, your own personal perfect might not be perfect to another person. You know, your next door neighbor, another entrepreneur. You might tell them your idea of perfect and they're like really, that's perfect to you, but that's okay, because then what they're perfect is to them might not actually be perfect to you.

Speaker 1:

Comparison I mean, we've all done it, I've done it, I've done it definitely. You compare yourself to others, thinking, oh, they're more prepared, they're at this level or they're at that level. This is definitely something I did, you know, 20 years ago, when I first started my business. I would, I would look at other people and think, oh god, yeah, but that that looks so good and I'm not there. But the thing is and then this doesn't get taught and it should get taught when you're in business is so important because you could be comparing your first day, month, hour even to someone's first year, second, third, fourth, ten year plus show reel, their highlight reel. And what you're not actually thinking is when they started, when they started their business, they would have been messy, they would have been in exactly the same position.

Speaker 1:

So, comparing waste of energy, comfort zone oh, it's good to be in your comfort zone, it feels good, but actually it's not good. We tell ourselves, oh, we're researching or or we're planning, but actually what we're really doing is stalling. And of course, don't get me wrong, you know, you know I'm a business strategist. You need a plan, you need your strategy, but what a lot of people get caught up in is they'll plan forever and time goes by. It's lost time. Months, years go by with no progress, lost opportunities. Someone else launches first you and you're still thinking oh yeah, I know, but that was my idea, I was going to do that. Does it mean you can't do it? Of course it doesn't. Remember to try and be authentic, be different, because that's your superpower.

Speaker 1:

And also, when you're waiting you lose confidence because the longer you wait, the harder it feels to start, because it's building in you. You're thinking, oh, I'll just wait a little bit longer. And the weeks turn to months and sometimes you know, as I said, the months can turn to years. Businesses that pivot quickly can often thrive, while those who waited, they just, they just unfortunately get behind. I've seen businesses out there where people have just started. They start messy. Who cares? Because all they can do then is improve. But if you don't start at all and you keep waiting, you're not going to give yourself that chance to improve because you haven't got to the starting point yet.

Speaker 1:

Now there's two scenarios. There's an aspiring entrepreneur. You've got an idea in your head, but you're waiting until it's ready, it's perfect. And the thing is, what happens then is that you have this idea in your mind but you can't pull it out of your mind because you're thinking well, it has to be the perfect time and I have to be ready. And you know, in a lot of circumstances, in a lot of situations I should say probably better word to use that idea. It doesn't get pulled out of people's minds, so it stays in your head as a dream. It's only tangible, it's only a plan. It only starts to maybe look like a business when you pull it out of your head and you start putting it onto paper. That's when the dream becomes a plan.

Speaker 1:

And you know, you have to remember, isn't it terrible, actually, isn't it terrible, that all of those amazing businesses which are locked in people's heads just because they weren't ready or things weren't perfect, isn't that? That's such a shame? And you have to remember your first version will never, ever be perfect. It's not going to be. It's not going to be your version of personal perfect, but it's your ticket into the game. You're giving yourself that ticket. You're saying you know what? I'm going to give myself this ticket because I'm worth it, and that's what you have to do. But taking that step can be difficult. It can be Now, if you're a business owner.

Speaker 1:

This is second scenario. You've already got the business, but you want to pivot, and this is something that I did. You want to change direction, or you want to launch something new. You wait for the right time, but again it doesn't exist. And the thing is. The worst thing I think with this is that you know, because you've already got a business. So I would say you've probably already been in a position where actually you have had that thought process of, well, I'm not ready, everything has to be perfect. But actually you've moved past it because you have got a business. But then all of a sudden it's like imposter syndrome, I suppose. You get to the point where you're like you know what, I either need to pivot, I want to pivot, I want to launch something new as an add-on to my business. You know moving the needle effectively. And again you wait for the right time. But you know, you know it doesn't exist. And the thing is, reinvention is part of the growth. It is part of the growth.

Speaker 1:

Pivot small now, instead of waiting for that perfect overhaul, because a lot of the time you can do the perfect overhaul, but your personal perfect. Don't do someone else's perfect overhaul because it won't be your perfect. It might be perfect for them, but it won't be yours, it will not be yours. So what do you do instead? You shift from ready to prepared enough, in inverted commas Just got to be prepared enough. Action creates clarity, test and then you refine it. You know this because you already have a business and you focus on minimum viable version. What that effectively means is launch the offer, make the post run the beta version. It's fine to do that, and you know that if you can take one imperfect step today, do it, because momentum is more powerful, much more powerful than being ready. You know, let's just think about that for a minute.

Speaker 1:

Feeling not ready and feeling that you have to be perfect, does that make you feel powerful? Now, I know for one million percent it would. It would not make me feel powerful. It would make me feel a bit crap. Really it would. It would. It wouldn't make me feel great. Now. If I was then to, instead of having those feelings, move the needle, just do something. It doesn't need to be perfect. I would I feel really, really powerful to try and do that today. If you can do it, just do it. Doesn't matter if you put something out there that isn't great. Done is better than perfect.

Speaker 1:

So let's recap on just what we've said waiting feels safe, but costs you time, money and definitely confidence. You don't need to be ready, you just need to start. Just, for goodness sake, just start. Every successful entrepreneur you admire started from before. They felt ready, probably, I would say every, every successful entrepreneur started probably feeling quite a bit nervous, like, oh god, should I do this? No, no, I'm just going to put it out. Believe me, that's where they started from. And what's the thing? What's the thing that you're waiting on right now? What is it? Ask yourself as you're listening to this episode today. Now, say to yourself what am I waiting for right now? What are you waiting on right now? Take one step forward towards it today, before you feel ready, before you feel perfect. Who cares? Just move Now.

Speaker 1:

If you're serious about turning your ideas into action, I have something really, really exciting coming soon. It's actually free and it will really really help you, and it is my four steps to turn your idea into a foundation plan not a full plan, but a foundation plan and you'll actually follow it, because it's not making things difficult. What I'll do? It will be out very, very soon and then I will start to link it in show notes for you. If you are not on the email list, sign up for the email list, because then you will get that through into your email box. Okay, that's really really important. And also, what's important, I always miss this bit, always, always miss this bit.

Speaker 1:

If you find these episodes helpful. Follow, follow, like, share, but follow, and then you will get an app notification every week and we release every Monday. Have a great week. My DMs are always open, as always. My email, you know, is always open, so any questions, anything you're stuck on, anything that you want me to talk about on here, let me know, because I love hearing from you all. Take care, everyone. Have a fantastic week. It it the 8th, yeah, it's the 8th of September today, so we are into the second week of September. Make this your week, take care.