why MOST small businesses FAIL... or have LOW PROFITS!

So this type of video isn't gonna get a lot of views on YouTube, but it's probably the most important video for any small business owner and is the number one reason why most small businesses fail. It's also the number one reason, in my opinion, why small businesses become successful. They grow and become extremely profitable. And it comes down to speed of execution. And the reason speed of execution is limited is your speed of execution is limited by your ability to gain momentum. What I mean by that is think of it as a runner. When they're running a 50 meter, 100 meter dash, the first several steps, gaining momentum is the part that takes the most effort, the most caloric burn, the most energy in their muscles is changing direction, is getting started, it is getting momentum. Once momentum's achieved, once they're running that 80th meter of 100 meter dash, their muscles are like they're just rolling. They got so much momentum behind them and speed behind them, like it's not taking a lot to execute the next step of their 100 meter dash. What is hard is those first few steps. And that's why most people don't ever get started in business or they have an idea and they never execute on it. Because those first few steps, getting momentum is the defining factor as whether to, whether or not someone's going to ever achieve momentum. Because momentum at the 80, 80 meter marker, you're not stopping that guy. You can put something out in front of him like he's not stopping, he or she is not going to be stopped by a fly that flies in front of them or any small object, anything. It's like they're going to keep running, they're going to keep going through it, they're going to break through because there's so much momentum behind them. So the question is, how do we achieve momentum? Well, the first thing is you've got to concentrate all your effort, all your energy, all your time on going one direction. The reason most small business owners, in my opinion, do not ever achieve any sort of momentum in their business and it constantly feels like they're spinning their wheels, is because they keep going in 10 different directions. Instead of focusing on the two lines on their track for running track and field, instead of focusing on those two lines and the finish line, they're looking over at so and so over here and this other competitor over here and looking up in the stands, their friends and family who are watching and what people think of them in their business and what their competition thinks of their shoes and. And they're not Focused on the one direction, the one thing that they need to focus on. That's the finish line. That's their goal. That's the one thing they're striving towards. Oh, and by the way, there's only one finish line. There's not 20. And I find so often what prevents small business owners from ever achieving momentum is we get distracted with a whole bunch of other stuff, other business opportunities. Oh, like, I'm gonna go do this in crypto and then real estate, and then I'm gonna start this other business. I'm gonna do all their services, I'm gonna add all these different products, and. And we're always constantly chasing the next thing, and we never actually spend enough time achieving momentum towards one objective, one goal, or one finish line. And therefore, we don't get anywhere. We never achieve the finish line. We never achieve the goal. We never. Like, man, I'm always making these goals, and I never hit them. Well, yeah, you have 50 goals and you're always focusing. Well, one week we're gonna do this, and then one week we're gonna do this. And you're also concerned about everyone else around you and what they're doing, what they think about you instead of just the one singular thing in front of you. And a phrase that I wrote down and created has really helped me in my entrepreneurial journey is inspiration is needed to start, but commitment is required to finish. In other words, I just need to be hyped up, inspired to start the race, to start my business, to start moving towards a certain system or objective in my business. Something you're trying to do, a change you're trying to make. You just need inspiration. You just need to listen to someone like me or someone that's going to hype you up, like Gary Vee or Grant Cardone, like, we can do it. Like, let's go. You just need inspiration to start. But commitment to that goal, commitment, that plan of action, is the defining factor of whether or not people actually achieve and finish that objective. And I truly believe a lot of people have inspiration. A lot of people will follow and get started and get started in their business. Very few will be committed to that one goal. And guess what? Inspiration is cheap. Inspiration doesn't have very good profit margins. Inspiration is typically when you're losing money in your business in those first few years because you're running on inspiration and you need it. Inspiration is not bad. You need inspiration to start, but commitment, past year, three, four, five, going to actually build the business to that point of actually starting to become profitable. Commitment is what leads to high profit margins. Commitment is what leads to a mature business with a real team and systems in place, not inspiration. You know, I think about Apple, for example, when they made the iPhone, it was revolutionary. But every year the iPhone comes out. It's not some brand new earth shattering device. It's incremental progress. It's incremental updates and changes that have made it extremely profitable and one of the best businesses in the world. However, when we come to small businesses, we think that every single quarter, every single month, every single year, we have to come with this big idea and change everything and revamp the whole company and change pay structures and change employees and who's on the team when all we need to do is say, hey, look, here's the goal and we're not going to run off inspiration and the next shiny thing. And what we're going to be changing this quarter rather, we're going to stay committed that one thing until we accomplish it. What I'm always amazed by is when people say that business is like a marathon and not a sprint. And they're right. Short term actions, short term decisions in business typically do not lead to a very good result. Now in the past several years, especially since 2008, when we haven't had a long term recession for a very long time, we have sort of lost this ideology and we've gotten used to sprinters actually doing really well, people that earn crypto in a year making trillions of dollars. And like we've gotten used to sprinters doing really well. But business doesn't change in the fact that it is a long term game. But what I always find amazing, the same people that say that business is a marathon and not a sprint is literally, they are running a marathon in 40 meter dashes. And what they're doing is doing 40 meters this way, then 40 meters that way and 40 meters this way. I'm gonna do this initiative, I'm gonna change this in my business. I'm gon conference, I can get inspired and do this. And they're running a marathon, all right. They're just running in 100 different directions and they're running in increments of 40 meters and doing that. We're going to go the next sprint. I don't like that terminology, the next sprint. We're doing this in our business. The next sprint. We're doing like this is a long term game, this is a marathon. In the same way that we would laugh at a marathon, rather, that was literally lacing up their shoes every 40 meters and trying to go as fast as they possibly can, just burning out. And they're just like, every single step is so difficult. And then they stop and then go for another 40 meters. That's what small business owners are doing and that's what leads to burnout. That's what leads people to quitting. Because the finish line seems so far away. It's 26.2 miles away and they're running 40 meter dashes and just exhausting every single part of their body and their muscles. Why? Because gaining momentum is the hardest part. Once you have momentum, you want to carry towards that momentum, towards one singular goal and keep moving. That's why just never stopping, never quitting in business usually leads to success, is because you keep the momentum behind you instead of stopping and starting, stopping and starting. And you literally see people running wind sprints or suicides and they're supposed to be running a marathon. They're going back and forth, running back and forth, and you're going to get exhausted, you're going to give up. And giving up is the ultimate way to lose in business. This is the reason why I'm against hype. I'm against social media that puts entrepreneurship on a pedestal, gives inspirational quotes that will only get people started. It will not keep them committed to the same goal, action and strategy for a very long period of time. Three to five years is what is required, in my opinion, for that marathon to be ran, for the objective to be had, and for profit margins to actually go up. My name is Mike Andes. I'm the founder of Augusta Lawn Care. And if that was helpful, check out this video over here where I actually talk about I got stuck underneath the dump truck when I was just getting my business off the ground, just getting started. And talk about what was required. Commitment to actually making sure that we built the business in a way that could run without me. Check that video out over here.