There are a lot of lakes around where I grew up in Ontario. I had friends with family cottages on lakes, and one summer I worked as a camp counselor on a lake. One thing I loved to do back in those days was swim the length of the lake. Depending on the size, sometimes I would go it alone and other times I would grab a friend with a canoe to paddle alongside me. I preferred breaststroke because, even though it’s not very fast, it’s an endurance stroke and I felt like I could swim forever.
Years later, I decided to take up running. I wasn’t very fast at that sport either but loved just settling into a distance run, listening to some great music, and getting in my zone. I used to train for a half marathon each year, which was just enough to push my endurance, get that awesome runner’s high, and feel a sense of accomplishment. A couple of years ago I sustained injuries in a car accident that made it impossible for me to run or go for long exercise walks, so I had to find another exercise option. At the start of the pandemic, we bought a Peloton bike, which I could do since it’s mostly sitting. I probably started out like most people do, just finding random rides with music I like. But I recently discovered Functional Threshold Power, or FTP training, which is about sustaining a level of output for longer periods of time. While an FTP endurance ride doesn’t feel as hard as a sprint during a rock ride, I’m actually finding that from a fitness point of view, it’s more effective. In fact, longer rides at sustained lower output levels, just at the point where you feel you’re working, but you could sustain it for long periods of time, is your ideal fat burning zone.
Naturally, since by now you know I’m a fan of metaphors, this made me think about parallels to running a successful business. Endurance is defined as the power to withstand something challenging, and the ability to do something difficult for a long period of time. Forbes calls endurance “the business and passion of a serial entrepreneur”. For most successful business owners, their current success wasn’t their first crack at it. They may have sold something when they were young, or they may have started three other businesses before they hit the mark with this one. Their passion to build something great gave them the endurance they needed to be successful.
But there’s a different kind of business endurance that I’d like to focus on today. And that is the idea of building a business that will stand the test of time. Bloomberg tells us that 80% of new businesses fail within the first 18 months. Some fail due to a lack of fit between the founder’s passion and market readiness or receptiveness to their idea. They may have been a little ahead of their time, or perhaps the niche was so small that there were not enough customers to fuel revenue. They may have priced their products or services incorrectly because they didn’t do their homework first. They may have underestimated the choices faced by their target audience or misread who their competitors truly are. Some fail because the market they chose was so crowded that they had a hard time being found. Others may have had a solid product or service but just didn’t know how to explain it in a way that would connect with their audience. Or perhaps the owner was really good at creating the product or service but didn’t know how to plan a business or manage it properly.
Regardless of the cause, a business typically fails because it runs out of money. The founder may have underestimated startup costs or overestimated the amount of revenue the business would generate by a certain time. If the founder is relying on a certain amount of income to support his or her family, then the time window to prove success narrows significantly, and that business typically doesn’t have much endurance. It becomes more of a sprint to see if it can make it within what is probably an unrealistic amount of time. Most businesses will make multiple mini pivots on their way to success as they ebb and flow with the market, react to new opportunities, and shift away from opportunities that didn’t quite pan out. The best gift an entrepreneur can give their new business is time. This may mean foregoing a salary for an extended period. In fact, it very likely will mean that. In the beginning, you’ll need to put as much of your income back into the business as possible to invest in tools, build repeatable processes, and hire the right people to help you to grow. As Simon Sinek wrote, “Leaders Eat Last”. A business with endurance must be built on a strong foundation, and that means the founder may not pull cash out for a while.
So how do successful business owners create this financial endurance? There are several options here. Some may take out a loan. Some take the risk of maxing out their credit cards. Some may resist the temptation to jump ship from their current employer, and assuming their new venture doesn’t conflict with their job, they may launch it as a side hustle. Some may hold off starting until they secure investor seed money. This can be difficult because most venture capitalists prefer the business to have a demonstrated revenue stream before they jump in. Pre-cash partners will also demand a much higher equity stake so be careful that they are offering value beyond their checkbook and can truly help you to grow. Regardless of the method, you choose to finance your startup, cash reserves build business endurance similar to how glycogen reserves give your body a readily available source of energy when you need it. Cash is king. Period.
A second and equally important component of building business endurance is to build your network. If you’re new to your industry or to your physical or virtual neighborhood, then the first couple of years or so will be tough. But having an extensive network is the absolute best way to create business endurance. Building relationships with people who trust you and your work will create a steady flow of referrals over time that no amount of sales and marketing will replace. Your network is like having dozens or even hundreds of salespeople out there looking for opportunities for your business. It is honestly the best investment you can make in your business. Personally, my network has become something I’m known for with clients. Whether it’s hooking them up with a reputable business attorney, banker, private equity firm or someone who can help them out if their neck hurts from spending too much time at their computer, they know they can count on me to make the right connections. Some days I feel a bit like the business yellow pages with some of the requests I receive, but being able to trust someone I refer is priceless. My network is ready to do the same for me without me asking. Whenever they meet a small business or startup with marketing needs, they send them my way. I couldn’t possibly ask for a stronger lead generation engine, and having my network as my strongest asset, gives my business endurance. It means that while I still need to invest in putting content out to my community and engaging with them through networking events and social media, but each layer of my marketing builds on the last and reaffirms both my reputation and that of my company.
The third leg of the stool when it comes to endurance is goal setting. No I know you don’t want to do it and it’s easy to procrastinate, but unless you and everyone on your team has a common understanding of your priorities, you can’t be sure that everyone is steering the ship in the right direction. Goal setting also needs to take into account how much balance you’re looking for in your life. I’m probably the last person in the world to counsel anyone on balance, but I spend a crazy amount of time working on my business because I truly love it. But I’m a pretty independent person, as is my family so that works for us. You need to find the right balance that works for you. Set stretch goals, but not so big of a stretch that you’ll end up feeling like a loser because you couldn’t possibly achieve them. Practice being efficient with your time. Set your top 3 daily priorities that will help you achieve your weekly goals and your monthly KPIs. Process and repetition build endurance in your business the same way an athlete can’t just show up on the day of the race and expect to win. Always seek areas of efficiency in your business training as you would in your personal training. Endurance means having a plan and working consistently at the right pace to achieve your plan, without burning yourself out along the way. Just like the old joke 9 women can’t have a baby in a month, you can’t procrastinate and then expect to cram all of your efforts into the 11th hour and still succeed. Business endurance means creating a strong business foundation with the right people, processes, and technology to ultimately run without your help. Because the ultimate test of business endurance is whether a company can endure after its founder steps down.
In the words of Ironman and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, “I think what endurance sports teach you is to stay dedicated, stay focused, and also to understand you’re going to have ups and downs, but you need to keep running right through them.” Today I hope you were able to take a little inspiration from sports endurance, to build business endurance.