Plant Your Flag 2
Post 2 of 3 – Where I Am
In the last blog post we pointed out the need to understand three core areas in order to plant our proverbial flag and get off the hamster wheel. The 3 core areas are
- Where we’ve been and how our past can help us fuel our future
- Where are we at now
- Where are we going
In our inaugural post we covered where we’ve been. In this blog post we’ll be looking at the second part “Where are we at now”. It is not just important to understand where you’ve been, but it’s equally important to understand where you are at currently.
Have you ever started a business and never took the time to really understand where you were starting from? In Luke 14 the Bible tells us we should first count the cost, whether we have sufficient resources to finish.
When starting a business, it is vital to stop, take inventory and count the cost. For me, just like I stated in the last post, I was foolish and in a hurry seeing nothing but dollar signs. I was in such a hurry to make money and succeed, I did not take the time to count the cost. I was blinded by get rich schemes, jumping from opportunity-to-opportunity spending thousands and thousands of dollars on them. Only to be frustrated and still stuck on the never-ending hamster wheel going around and around and no clue how to get off. I felt stuck. Have you ever felt this way? Well, you are not alone! I am sick and tired of being on the hamster wheel and have discovered a way out. This 3-part blog post series explains how I got off the hamster wheel and was able to start to move forward toward success. If you haven’t read and done the exercises in the first post, head over there and complete them first, then come back here and continue.
Well, let’s dig into today’s topic of “where are we at now” and move 1 more step toward getting off the hamster wheel. When it comes to counting the cost and discovering where you are at, there are a few fundamental areas we need to look at.
- Are you in, or considering, the right business/niche?
- Are you prepared to make the sacrifices?
BUSINESS YARDSTICK
Asking the question are you in the right business/niche seems to be a silly question since you’re here on a marketing blog. However, I have found it to be a critical question to ask that we need to take seriously. Not asking this question has cost me thousands and robbed me of countless time I cannot get back. I was desperate to find something that worked and was ignorant that I needed a system to measure if a business was right for me. Jumping in and out of business opportunities, my only criteria was how fast was it supposed to start generating an income. This impatience only kept me going in circles on the hamster wheel. Instead of making money, I lost money and time. Can you relate to this?
If you are like me, I set out on a quest to find out why after so much hard work and energy I was still ending up with nothing.
Though I felt frustrated, a failure and just lost, I was determined to find a solution to the problem. After spending days and weeks meditating on the situation, one day I had an epiphany and asked myself, “what do I really want from a business?”
This simple yet profound question led me to do an exercise that has moved my business forward in the right direction. I call this exercise my “Business Yardstick”.
What is a business yardstick? It is simply setting aside some quite time where you can take a piece of paper and brainstorm everything you want out of your business. For each item you put on your list prioritize it into non-negotiables and wants but negotiable. There is no limit to the number of items you can put on your list, just take the time to make it as complete as possible. The prioritization comes after the brainstorming. Don’t worry about prioritizing at the start, just get down in writing everything you can think of that you want your business to be. Once the brainstorming is finished, then go back and prioritize the non-negotiables.
I ended up with 12 main priorities with some sub requirements under those 12. Here are some examples from mine and SJ’s “Business Yardstick”.
- God-Centered
- Both SJ and I want and can do it together, but if needed, can do it individually.
- Both SJ and I are excited about the product and/or service.
- It MUST work within our time requirements
- It works while we sleep
- Won’t consume all our waking hours
- Allow us in the future to work out of the day to day and hire an operations manager.
- Be able to work from anywhere.
- Meets financial goals
- Not a get rich quick scheme
- Builds passive income
- Provides for multiple streams of income
- Eventually allows us to leave our day jobs
- Has to be something we believe in whole heartedly
- Able to have virtual employees
- Viable to build an affiliate system.
This is not our complete “Business Yardstick” but should help you get started on building your own yardstick.
Once you have your “Business Yardstick” completed; you are probably wondering what to do with it. That brings us to the second part of this. What is a yardstick used for? It’s used to measure something. In this case when you look at your existing business or one your considering, you place it up against your “Business Yardstick” to see if it measures up to what you want out of a business. If not give it the boot. If it does then you can move forward with it.
Remember as you grow and your business grows your “Business Yardstick” may change some and that’s OK. I am sure ours will be refined more as we move forward.
If you haven’t stopped and created your “Business Yardstick” I encourage you to do so. It is one of the main things that has helped me get off the hamster wheel. As with anything in this blog, if you have any questions or need help, leave us a comment. We would love to hear from you.
The Sacrifice
Life is full of choices. Zig Ziglar said, “You can have any two things in life you want as long as they are not in conflict with each other”. Often, when starting a business, we do not count the cost of the sacrifices we will need to make to be successful and after starting out we realize the sacrifices are more that we want to pay.
I made this mistake. My business prior to starting out in marketing, required me to be on the phone all day or running around in my car doing in-home appointments. These were time sacrifices I didn’t really want to make and was not physically able to make. My “Business Yardstick” help me figure this out. Needless to say the business ended in failure because mine and SJ’s hearts were not into that type of business, and we had no desire to make the required sacrifices for it to be successful.
What sacrifices are you willing to make? There is only so much time in a day and finances are limited. This means we have to make tradeoffs of time and money. Often, we tell ourselves we can have the cake and eat it too, but reality says otherwise. SJ and I made the sacrifice and commitment to spend less time together in order that our business would thrive. It hasn’t been easy for either of us but in the end, we are confident it will be worth all the sacrifices. It was once said, “Work/Sacrifice like no one else so you can live like no one else” Dave Ramsey.
There is one important thing in determining what you are willing to sacrifice. In the previous post we looked at the fact that we are not an oasis. Our willingness to sacrifice affects those around us, including our loved ones. Time spent in your business is time spent away from family and friends.
- Are you willing to sacrifice time with family to have a successful business?
- Are your family and friends willing to make the sacrifice of you not spending as much time with them?
There have been many friendships and relationships that have gone awry over sacrifices made in the name of starting or growing a business.
You need to ask yourself if you are willing to make the sacrifices needed to start and grow your business. And, are you willing to except the consequences good or bad for the sacrifices you make.
For SJ and I, we chose them together and we are in agreement with the sacrifices we are willing to make. Interestingly enough we have built these into our “Business Yardstick” and I encourage you to do the same.
If the sacrifices are too much then stop here and reevaluate. If you are not ready to make the sacrifices then it is not worth the time, money, frustration, heartache and hardship that goes with starting and growing a business.
Did you create your “Business Yardstick” and write out what you were willing to sacrifice?
If you did, CONGRATULATIONS!
You are now one step closer to getting off the hamster wheel. If you haven’t read and done the exercises in the first blog post of this series then I encourage you to go back and do them. Together, the information in these three posts took me years to discover and to finally get off the hamster wheel.
Most places would charge 100’s of dollars for the training in these three blog posts. You have access to them for FREE.
I encourage you to take advantage of them and get off the hamster wheel. Stop going round and round when you have this off ramp to get you unstuck.
The privilege of sharing this knowledge learned through our mistakes is a great pleasure and we are excited to provide as much value to our readers as possible.
Be on the look out for part 3 Where are you heading?
In the meantime, enjoy parts 1 and 2.
We believe in you and your success.
CJ Ransom
Thanks, CJ for sharing.
My business yardstick started with just three requirements: had to be location-independent, run on autopilot as much as possible and be easily scalable.
You helped me to define my sacrifice. As I still work, over last year I went for quick money doing overtime – sacrificing my family time and taking away time to build my affiliate marketing business. Hence year has gone by and I am in the same place. This has to change.
I commit to stop chasing quick money for building a long-term sustainable online business.
To you both, have a Happy New Year!
Tom,
I am so glad to hear you have found clarity on the sacrifices that need to be made to fulfil your dreams. This is never easy. That is why it’s important to have a strong reason for doing what is needed to succeed.
I appreciate you sharing how the post helped you. For me and SJ that is move valuable and encouraging to us than silver or gold.
Have a great New Year!!
CJ
Hi CJ and SJ, This was a great post! Very practical application in figuring out what’s important to someone wanting to start a business and evaluate what might need to be sacrificed to move forward! Thank you and look forward to reading about your success moving forward!
Denny,
I am glad you found the information helpful. It amazes me how simple it is but very profound if you apply it.
Look forward to following your blog as well.
CJ
CJ, I have been on the hamster wheel for quite along time and only now feel that I have come off it. I love your exercises that help us see where we currently are. You are right we always look back and forward, but where are we know never. That is key to understanding you next step. Great post as usual, Many thanks. Atif
Atif,
I cannot begin to express how excited I am to hear you have gotten off the hamster wheel. You have come along ways in such a short time period and it’s still just the beginning of your journey. I Know it has been a rough road getting to this point but the Future Is So Bright You Got TO Wear Shades.
CJ
Hey CJ and SJ – Great read! Very informative containing a lot of value especially the considerations to make and how to get off the hamster wheel! Look forward to reading more of your posts and following your journey. Wishing you both a successful 2024!
Karen,
I am glad you found the information informative and of great value. It is so hard to get off the hamster wheel. Most people keep going round and round on the wheel and never get off. My hope is that this post helps individuals to find there way off the wheel and able to move forward toward their dreams.
If I can help you in anyway please leave a comment and let me know what you need assistance with.
CJ
Well said. Choosing the right niche is definitely important.
Many years ago, I used to have a site in the dating niche. It took me a lot of effort to get it to making 4 figures per month but after a few years, I started getting burnt out and stopped maintaining the site. So I went from making 4 figures to zero.
I think it is very important to choose a niche that you can see yourself working on for at least the next 10 years.
Alen, it’s so easy to get burned out and get stuck in a rut when your working at something your not passionate about. Russel Brunson once shared that he was making 50K a month online but woke up everyday hating what he was doing at that time. The good thing is we can stop adjust and move forward. The saying goes if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life. I have found my love in online marketing. It is something I enjoy and cannot wait each day when I can work on it and server others in the process. Just thinking about it now gets me excited.
My hope is that the information in the post has helped you move 1 step closer to your goals and fulfilling your WHY.
This reminds me one of my teachers at University when he used to say: “we need to hurry-up, let’s slow down”. The hamster rush hard in the wheel but goes nowhere. I like the idea of taking the time to mark the point where we are to better evaluate what we need to do next to go further. Rushing leads nowhere, often wrong decisions are made. The outputs of a project dictate the inputs for the next one. Thank you for sharing this. It made me think.
Martin,
It is so true that you must feed good in if you want to get good out. My day job is working in I.T. and one of things I have to battle is everything has to be done right now without any planning. Then management wonders why things didn’t go smooth. I have found it to be of value to stop and evaluate where you’ve been, where you are at and where you are going. For me I need that clarity. However, we must balance that with the need for it to be perfect. Some end up with analysis paralysis and just keep planning and never take action. We need to make sure we don’t exchange one trap for another.
Thank for sharing!
CJ
Hey guys – great sharing, vulnerability, and leadership by example here on your blog. Thanks so much for sharing, and for striving to honor the Lord first and foremost.
“Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Prov. 19:21. As you align your plans with His guidance and counsel, I look forward to seeing how He leads in your life.
Michael,
As the Lord pours his blessings into us, so it is my desire to pour those blessings into others. My team and I have a heart to server others on their journey and allow God to give the increase. Thanks for your comment and and let me know how I can help and serve you.
CJ
Hi, this is quite a challenging blog for me…. let me explain a few of the things that have me thinking….
“In Luke 14 the Bible tells us we should first count the cost, whether we have sufficient resources to finish.”
Whilst that is sound advice, I have just committed to a new house build where I do not have all the money I need to finish. For me, I counted the cost, knew I did not have enough money, and started anyway as that need to earn that extra is a huge driving force.
I also struggle with what God-centred means, I guess it is clear to you, and I would substitute it for something like, “is in keeping with my feeling of what is right,”. When you put that down,.. what did it mean to you? what makes a business God Centred? By the way, I am not expecting an answer, just showing you how your blog has challenged me to think! Not a lot of blogs do that.
The sacrifice question is also a challenge, because to be honest, at present, I have not sacrificed any expenditure to help meet the 40k shortfall in my build. I seriously need to thin about that and start to make some changes.
This blog has not been an easy read, and that is a good thing, so thanks for that.
Tony,
Thanks for your honest perspective on this post. It is said Iron Sharpens Iron. I’m also glad to see that it challenges you to reflect and evaluate your current situation. I hope in someway that it helps you move forward with your goal of having your online business generate the revenue to build your house. SJ and I built our home during Corvid and we enjoyed going through the process. I hope it’s an enjoyable time for you and your family.
PS. My goal in my posts isn’t just to tell my story but also to challenge my readers to take the next step. So, thanks for your thoughts they are encouraging.
I look forward to following your journey
Thank you for sharing some of the steps you accomplished along your journey thus far.
CJ,
It has been my pleasure sharing mine and SJ’s journey with you. Every blog post we publish not only comes from our experiences but also comes from the heart of servant.
Let us know via a comment how we can sever you.
CJ Ransom
CJ, SJ and Shadow,
I like that attitude stated in your “Who We Are” page. CJ you, “improvise, adapt, and overcome” regardless of the obstacles. My Dad was in the Navy as well.
SJ certainly compliments your team with her compassion to help, encourage and give of herself selflessly to others.
And what better way to round out the team – as everyone knows, “Only the Shadow knows!”.
With the guidance of your team in this blog, I believe anyone can find their way to finally get off the hamster wheel.
Thank you for your belief in me and my success.
Robert Thanks for the compliments on my blog. It defiantly is a team effort and it brings me great joy to help people get off the hamster well and start moving forward. I know you can do this! Just keep moving forward. CJ