The #1 Source of Discontentment for Entrepreneurs: Business Growth Phases

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We all come here with different backgrounds and goals. Some of us want to earn more money, some of us want to network more, some of us want better tools, and Wealthy Affiliate has something for all of us.

The large majority of the people I've networked with here want to:

  • Earn a full time income or more online
  • Quit jobs
  • Have more time freedom
  • Have more lifestyle choices
  • and, there are other goals stated, but I think those are the biggest and most common ones I see here

When each new member gets here, they're sent to the goals thread. There, they add how much they'd like to earn monthly, how much they'd be ecstatic earning, and how much time they're looking to invest.

A common response I've seen there is:

  • I want to earn $10,000/mo or more
  • I'd be ecstatic earning more than $10,000/mo
  • and I'll spend 4 hrs/week, 20 hrs a week, 40 hrs a week, or as much time as it takes

The problem is even though you say your schedule availability and you mention the amount you want to earn every month, often times, it's not true and it's not grounded based on your skills and building out from past performance.

The Goals thread vs. The Dashboard: Are either realistic?

When you look at the goals thread and compare it to the dashboard, it's two very different things! On one hand, you have the goals thread where many people are trying to go from zero knowledge, low budget, and tight schedule to earning millions annually asap. On the other hand, the dashboard has people who are hsving massive successes, some having major wins, some people who have become complacent not earning, and many people who are discouraged, lost, and trying.

I'd like to see more middle ground.

The Middle Ground

What I've seen and experienced is that we each have our own pace of development regardless of what journey you might be going thru:

  • Becoming more fit
  • Becoming better wives/husbands
  • Becoming better moms/dads
  • and becoming better entrepreneurs

It's a process. It doesn't go from $1 million dream to $1 million dollar manifestation in a poof. It also shouldn't mean that financial results are the only things to celebrate. The middle ground celebrates the evolution.

What's the Evolution of an Entrepreneur Look Like?

Similar to a caterpillar who becomes a butterfly, entrepreneurship requires an identity shift. You shift from being concerned about solving your own problems into a person whose a master at identifying yours and other people's problems and creating viable solutions to solve and reach them.

There are lots of hiccups along the road like:

  • Creating a product or service that doesn't get any attention
  • Learning from creating a product or service that doesn't get traction
  • Selling awkwardly
  • Learning what's awkward about how your selling
  • Beginning to sell masterfully
  • Being inexperienced with marketing tools (like SEO, social media, Wordpress, etc.)
  • Learning how to use marketing tools
  • Deciding on a business model that you enjoy (droppshipping, providing services, e-commerce, tradeshow marketing, etc.)
  • Creating bad products
  • Improving your skills in product development
  • Creating amazing products

There are so many steps along the journey to go from $0 and zero skills to $10,000/mo or more. It's like watching a baby develop: you have to crawl before you walk.

Being Content with Your Pace

Along the way, you'll see people who are at various different steps and phases: none is "better" than the other, and none is challenge-free. When you see milestones and success, don't let that deter you from being focused and content with your own pace.

Your pace is different. Your constraints are different. Your journey will be different. Not better or worse. Different, The difference in your unique journey will be effective to grow you into the best version of yourself. If you try to take my journey, it won't necessarily develop you and build your resume` for what you'll be doing and your ultimate purpose.

Final Words

Overall, the goal of this article was to inspire you to be content (not complacent) in your pace. Don't be complacent. Still challenge yourself and allow your discontentment to inspire you to act, but don't allow the discontentment to drown you into complaining, the victim mentality, or a monopoly of desperate experiments.

Be content with growth and be content with your growth pace. Do the best you can with what you have and don't fret too much about the rest.

I try my best to disclose more of the middle ground in my case studies. If you'd like to see someone going thru the process of building a startup media business using principles taught here at Wealthy Affiliate, check out my video case studies. I have my 15th month, 16 month, and 17th month case studies available on my profile under "training", and I plan to continue publishing those on the 10th of every month for all premium members.

My Questions for You

  • How can we help more members to stay encouraged during the "middle ground phase"?
  • What do you do to overcome those valleys in the middle in between startup and achieving your financial goals?
  • Would you like to see more "middle ground"?

Would you like to see one main ingredient I've noticed keeps many of us in the "middle ground" longer than needed? Join the discussion on hospitality online.

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Recent Comments

63

Very nice post. It is true probably over 85 to 90 percent of members here in WA are somewhere in the middle ground.

I know I am.

However, I know that while I am not earning, I am happy here. I am continually learning and interacting. I will get it soon. I know it

Continuing to fail enthusiastically - as Kyles recent post just reminded us is the cornerstone to success.

I would love to see more representation from the middle ground.

Alex

I'm not sure of the percentage, but you may be right. I like your outlook on "failing enthusiastically". Make sure you don't become complacent though. You have alot of offer. People will want to pay you for what you have, and you can earn. Thanks for contributing.

Love your work Tiffany. It's funny when I first saw you on the platform, maybe a year ago, I thought you'd do really well here. I just knew by the way you were interacting with people that you were spot on. I really enjoy your posts and your approach here. So I just wanted to wish you well Tiffany and you deserve every success here. Well done to you.

Thanks so much Mia! I feel like I'm blossoming where I'm planted. It's so nice to find a place where you feel like you just "click"--that's what it feels like here. I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement.

Hi Tiffany

Thanks for your inspiring post. I'm two months into WA and knew right from the get go that I wouldn't be making money for some time so I didn't put that expectation on myself. I was thrilled with just getting my own website up and running and focusing on helping people. In saying that as much as I have enjoyed my journey thus far I am finding i'm in abit of a rut, that I have to push myself some evenings to get working on content which is super important and I know this.
For me, I work full time at an office job and am on the computer all day and when I get home, make dinner tidy up, I'm often quite tired, I think the two months of going hard it catching up with me lol. I spend most evening working on my site but often get discouraged because it can take me the majority of the night to complete one task and I don't feel like I've accomplished much.

Something that I have taken away from your post is to set more realistic daily/weekly goals and go at my own pace, this will be a wise move on my part to stay well and motivated to push forward

What a great post.
Thanks for lifting my spirits

I emphathize with you because you're coming here juggling lots of responsibility. Having full time job is taxing mentally, physically, and emotionally (dealing with good and bad moods from people all day).

For me, I had lots of responsibility too. I was homeschooling my son, I had just had a baby, my son was having health issues, and my husband and I had co-founded a construction company. I was juggling alot!

When I tried comparing myself or making goals that weren't based on my performance, it was very disheartening. I would suggest you make goals based on what you know you're capable of (even challenging your priorities and boundaries), and celebrate your milestones from there.

Once I started celebrating the times when I could:

- Put my newborn down from a nap and get some writing done
- Get my son to do some schoolwork independently
- Write a blog post
- Finish some personal development
- Or, stay encouraged enough to work in between my multiple distractions...

I was able to accomplish much more. There are alot of transitions you have to make along the way. Career change is what you're doing and it usually takes time to switch careers. Challenge yourself, but also give youself some grace.

Excellent information! This is so true for many of us here. As I am a returning member, I have decided to try to do the best I can with what I have. We all like the big dreams, but we have to be logical about it, and really think about how we can get there.

Thanks for a great post!

Rebecca

I totally agree with you Rebecca!

I think that expectations are being set too high from the get go. Its important to have goals but its also important to be realistic - especially when it comes to time lines

I agree. The large majority of people think about online business unrealistically. I don't think it's a phenomenon of WA, but a general consensus about online business.

I've found that the stats aren't drastically different than offline business in terms of growth expectations. The huge advantage of starting online is the ability to reach a larger audience (once you have the skills and build the reputation) and the low startup costs (in many instances).

I try to reframe the expectation immediately. I don't discourage or say "that's impossible!". Hahaha. Rather than saying "Great that you want to make $1 million/year. I think you can totally do it". I try to find out what they've done and get a general idea of their startup investment before, and help them create goals and plans from there.

I try to discuss business growth phases based on case studies. I want them to know the norm versus the anomalies and have realistic expectations.

I know I can lose out on potential customers, but I prefer retention and having the right customers over "milking" dreamers for their money. When I don't reframe the expectation to something realistic, I feel that I'm potentially contributing to their failure.

VERY well put! This is something that we should all be doing.

Hi Tiffany,
Good words of wisdom, this can be helpful to so many.

All the best and have a good day

Darren :)

Thanks Darren! You also have a great day!

Hi Tiffany
Great thought-provoking post.

I think posting personal updates on achievements is a great way to keep people encouraged in the middle phase.

Also, some of the training needs updating as the videos used in a lot of them look so different to what WA looks like today and I personally found that could have been a reason to quit if I didn't have the help I did from Vickic3.

I am only new, so not even in the middle ground yet, I don't believe. Having just finished the training, I guess I am looking Bootcamp?

Really great post
Daisy

I really agree with everything you just said

I know it's tough with all of the improvements they're making on the software and user experience side of things to still maintain a focus on improving the training, but I agree, there's room for improvement there.

I like how they have the Open Education Project because it enables us as members to "be the change we want to see". Once we learn things, we can create training and help others.

I think as more people use the Open Education Project, it will greatly improve the platform and even the issue of training that's outdated. I'm sure Kyle will update the training, but I think they're updating the platform more than the training, which is the part most of us can't really do. They're amazing on the development side of things. They need more instructors in my opinion.

Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for the great post. Its a reminder to myself sometimes I look too far ahead whilst I should be concentrating on my daily/weekly/monthly goals.
Fred

I think we all do it, but I get the most satisfaction from starting with my performance and challenging myself to beat that. For example, if I've never earned $1, then my goal would be to learn the skills to earn my first $1. From there, I'd want to learn the skills to earn my first $10.

Beyond money, I make content goals challenging my past performance to improve my overall productivity and quality. Best wishes in your business.

What an fabulous post! I've just started (a little over a month ago) and probably still have that excitement that can get crushed for some if the results they want don't happen right away. I've been attempting to 'make it' on-line for 15 years and have been there before.
Here at WA, though, I think we all have the ability - and, should make an effort to take the opportunity - to encourage each other.
To answer your questions - I think those who have been through the "middle ground phase" should take the lead and encourage the rest frequently. When I experiences those valleys in the middle, I tried something else - which was NOT the answer. And, yes, I would like to hear the stories of those in the middle ground.
Thank You so much for this! I found it very inspiring.

Very much so. When starting out we still keep wondering how long its going to take and its difficult to measure how I am doing.

I know that's tough when you're wondering if you're missing pieces and doing things right. You're right that those who are starting to see results should help those trailing a little behind them. I try my best to share that way.

You have a real persistence if you've been trying for 15 years! Is it the industry that you love? I know for me, I love the industry, the potential, and meeting new people from all over the world (like you).

I agree we all have the ability at WA. I think many people in the middle ground phase are still insecure and not sure if they're "doing things right", so they don't want to share and potentially fail publicly. Others are focused on the next level up so they forget to reach back. For me, I know I'm going to stick with it and make it work, so I share my ups and downs.

I've found when I do that, people will reach out to me and correct me, encourage me, or learn from my ups and downs. The accountability approach has worked well for me.

Yes, I am persistent - it's just stubborn when I set my mind on something - haha - I decided that this industry with its many different facets would provide me the opportunity to have time freedom. I've been seeking a way out of the routine of my office career (working up the corporate ladder) for the past 15 years and still working at it! Now, though - WA has provided the training with the 'baby steps' I needed all along (rather than chasing the shiny objects). I'm grateful. I also truly appreciate your insights - and am also glad to meet you!
All the Best!
Betsy

Great post Tiffany! Very informative and insightful!

Matt

Thanks Matt! I look forward to getting to know you better.

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