Work Ethic is More Important Than a Good Idea
When a friend of mine heard that I was starting a business a few years back, she made a comment to me that she had a bunch of great business/invention ideas and asked me if there was anyone out there willing to pay for those ideas. Uhhh...no, not that I know of. Do you know why? Because ideas are a dime-a-dozen. I've had thousands of ideas, so have you, and so have most of the people that you know. What separates an entrepreneur from everyone else? Work ethic.
Your work ethic is what enables you to turn that idea into reality. Think about it. Most people don't want to take the time to see if their idea is actually feasible. They don't want to do market research or figure out the logistics of a supply chain or write a business plan. Even after doing all of that, they still haven't started a business. They still have to secure funding, create the product or service, etc...you get the idea. The list could go on forever.
It is extremely difficult to go from idea to successful business. If you don't have a work ethic that's better than 99% of the people out there you will crumble. I saw an interview this past weekend on Fox Sports Net with my favorite entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Mark was asked what separates him from other people; what trait that he has that other people don't that accounted for his success. His answer: work ethic.
Mark said that whenever he enters a meeting he makes sure that he's the most knowledgeable person in the room. He knows the topic at hand better than everyone else. That is his competitive advantage. And that takes a ton of work. In Mark's own words, "I've been fired from more jobs than most people have had." Most people wouldn't keep working. Most people would give up. But Mark didn't and it paid off.
People are always looking for shortcuts - some easy way to make a ton of money that no one else has thought of, the classic "get rich quick" scheme. There is no substitute for hard work. Some people accidentally fall into a fortune, but they are few and far between. Interview 10 successful entrepreneurs and I guarantee that all 10 of them will tell you that they outworked their competition. It sounds cliched and simple, but how many people ACTUALLY put in the time?
Your work ethic is what enables you to turn that idea into reality. Think about it. Most people don't want to take the time to see if their idea is actually feasible. They don't want to do market research or figure out the logistics of a supply chain or write a business plan. Even after doing all of that, they still haven't started a business. They still have to secure funding, create the product or service, etc...you get the idea. The list could go on forever.
It is extremely difficult to go from idea to successful business. If you don't have a work ethic that's better than 99% of the people out there you will crumble. I saw an interview this past weekend on Fox Sports Net with my favorite entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Mark was asked what separates him from other people; what trait that he has that other people don't that accounted for his success. His answer: work ethic.
Mark said that whenever he enters a meeting he makes sure that he's the most knowledgeable person in the room. He knows the topic at hand better than everyone else. That is his competitive advantage. And that takes a ton of work. In Mark's own words, "I've been fired from more jobs than most people have had." Most people wouldn't keep working. Most people would give up. But Mark didn't and it paid off.
People are always looking for shortcuts - some easy way to make a ton of money that no one else has thought of, the classic "get rich quick" scheme. There is no substitute for hard work. Some people accidentally fall into a fortune, but they are few and far between. Interview 10 successful entrepreneurs and I guarantee that all 10 of them will tell you that they outworked their competition. It sounds cliched and simple, but how many people ACTUALLY put in the time?
posted by Adam McFarland at
5/31/2006 06:34:00 PM
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