More Steps 31-34

Wednesday, November 01, 2006
By Walt F.J. Goodridge
Special to the Saipan Tribune


The only way to take control of your life, raise your standard of living and move beyond merely surviving is to create your own unique product or service that you offer to increasing numbers of people in exchange for the things of value that you desire. This simple formula applies to countries as well as people. A self-sufficient economy has its own products or services of value to export to the world. Similarly, a self-sufficient individual has something of value to exchange in the global marketplace. That thing of value is based on your natural talent, skill, or interest—in other words, your passion!

The following is a continuing excerpt from a previously unreleased book entitled The 100 Steps Necessary for Business Success by Walt F.J. Goodridge. It is provided exclusively to Saipan Tribune readers!

STEP 31: ALWAYS have a Plan “B”

Any plan that relies exclusively on the input of any single individual, entity or segment of an industry for its completion is a flawed plan. For instance, if your plan to get your new invention to the market is dependent on a decision from a single retail chain, what will you do if that retail chain rejects your proposal? If your plan to get published relies solely on being signed by a major publishing house, what will you do if you receive nothing but rejection letters? Thanks to marketing and distribution options created by mail order, self-publishing, the internet, direct selling, and multi-level marketing, the inventor, artist, and business owner never has to rely on “traditional” or “mainstream” channels to get a product or service directly to the consumer.

Your “plan b” is essentially what you would do to achieve your goal should your “plan a” become impractical, unfeasible or impossible. In many cases, your “plan b” can be a plan you implement even while your “plan a” is being worked. For example, if you are an author, you can self-publish and market your books independently even while you seek to woo a major publisher.

Keep the “plan b” mentality at the forefront of your mind when you do business with suppliers, clients, and even employees. Do you have a contingency plan if one of your suppliers goes out of business or is otherwise unable to provide you with the expected level of service? What alternate channels of income exist if your clients don’t pay. How will your company’s tasks get done if your employees call in sick?

STEP 32: Simply Follow Through

According to the Tao of Wow:

“Nine per ten of all good men
will watch the world go by
nine per ten of all good men
won’t know the reason why

One per ten of all good men
their tasks they will complete
One per ten of all good men
will thus avoid defeat”


If you simply develop the ability to complete a task once begun, you will already be among the top 10 percent of all who aspire to greatness. In order to survive and thrive in business you must be able to produce results. You must be able to do what you say you’ll do, when you say you’ll do it.

STEP 33: DO it now! Right Now!

If you develop the habit of doing things right away, you will be in the top 1 percent of all who attempt to succeed in business. So, get it done now!

I’ve found that there’s often no good reason why a plan, once developed, cannot be almost entirely executed right away. Sure, there are situations in which success is a function of timing, the weather, the seasons and such, but for the most part, I’ve found that most people’s time frames for completing their plan is a function of their laziness.

Just Wednesday of last week, for example, a client and I were in his office brainstorming ways to harness his energy and expertise so that he might turn his passion into profit. A speaking tour? Great, but that would require too much time. A book? Good, but it wouldn’t capture his personality. An audiotape? Bingo! Here’s what happened next.

On that same Wednesday, we brainstormed on what would be covered on the tape. I developed the press release, and he started securing press coverage using his PR contacts.

On Wednesday night, while he created the outline for the tape, I developed the website.

On Thursday, we brainstormed on an internet domain name, found one that was suitable and available, and we reserved it.

On Friday at 2:00am, the domain name become active and the site “went live”.

On Friday at 9:00am, a mention of his site and product and sale price was sent to my mailing list of subscribers.

On Friday at 11:00pm we received our first order! (Remember the tape hadn’t been recorded yet.)

On Monday, the audio was recorded in an exhausting, but exciting 12-hour session in a local studio.

On Tuesday, the order was shipped! And then....

I’ve still got THIS book to write!

STEP 34: CREATE your own

While it’s possible to make money selling someone else’s product, my advice to the passionpreneur who wants to survive and thrive in business is to focus on creating something of your own. There’s greater personal fulfillment as well as more profit in being first in the creative totem pole. Beware the “lemming effect” of rushing headlong off the side of the cliff simply because everyone else is doing it. There are many new frontiers of business ideas and “flavor of the month” concepts and products that may be lucrative, but have no chance of offering any sustainable interest or passion. The more of it you own, the more of it you keep.

Next time in the 100 Steps, we’ll discuss Steps 35 to 40.

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Until next week, remember, success is a journey, not a destination!

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