Why Progress Over Perfection is Key To Scaling Your Business
Oct 12, 2021
I was first introduced to the concept of digital courses in 2014 by Amy Porterfield. For 6 years I dreamt of launching my own business where I earned a living by teaching and coaching business owners from my home. That dream became a reality when I resigned from my corporate job in March 2020 to launch Banish Business Clutter.
I remember that overwhelming feeling...
- Where do I start?
- How can I replace and then exceed my income ASAP?
- What tools should I use?
- What course should I make first? and most important...
- How will I find people who will buy it??
It has been a journey, but there is one thing that has helped me more than anything and that is a commitment to taking Massive Imperfect Action.
I've been a perfectionist since birth and it took me a long time to realize that it was leading to procrastination time and time again. That feeling that I couldn't put anything out into the world until it was "perfect" held me back for too long.
I spent twenty years in my first business over thinking and over planning everything. I confused doing things with excellence with not launching anything new until I felt 100% ready. I thought launching things with quality where people saw me as “having it all together” was the goal. While I’m thankful for that experience, it often felt like I was running on a hamster wheel. Progress was slow and I felt like I was working so hard to earn every dollar.
So when I launched Banish Business Clutter, I made the decision that done was better than perfect. I decided to build the train as it was going down the track. I didn't over-think, over-plan, over-prepare, or over-analyze... I just JUMPED IN and did it.
Here's what happened...
March 2nd: Last Day at my Corporate Job and ZERO on my email list
March 15: Launched my Kajabi website with nothing more than a landing page inviting people to join my Banish Business Clutter Challenge.
March 25-29: Held my first 5-Day Challenge and built my list to 398 people
April 13: Closed my cart with 95 students buying a course I had NOT YET CREATED for an introductory price
April 20 to May 22: Delivered my course by recording one module a week and giving them access the following week
Did I do everything perfectly? No. Did I know how to do everything when I started? No. Was I terrified when my registration opened, when I opened the cart to my offer, and when I started to deliver my course? Yes, yes, and yes. So how did I push through the feelings of panic, self-doubt, and "what will people think if this fails"?
I realized there is no failing. You either hit your goals or you learn from your experience. And the more you launch, the more you learn.
So I did another 5-Day Challenge launch that July! And BOY was it easier the 2nd time around to CLONE what I had done and give them access to a course that was built! 2nd launch I increased the price of my course and I had 45 students join.
My 3rd launch was in October and I implemented Facebook Ads for the first time. This brought an entirely new audience into my world and I welcomed another 51 students.
Momentum was building. I was getting clarity on my course promise, my messaging, my audience, and seeing transformations in my students.
Then came November. I tested positive for COVID and my life and business came to a halt.
Two weeks thinking I was dying and two months of recovery caused two things... a huge drop in income and a renewed passion to create a business that would allow me to earn revenue even when I was sick or on vacation.
I increased my course price again and made it Evergreen (meaning people could buy it from my website even when I wasn't doing a LIVE launch). This, in addition to 1:1 coaching brought in revenue while I prepared for my 4th launch.
By the end of March and one year after launching my business, I had doubled my original monthly revenue goal. And I realized how small I had been dreaming.
In June, I DOUBLED those results again, followed by my highest launch to date in September 2021.
I share this to encourage you because it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been “spinning your wheels”, trying to get ahead like I was for over 20 years. You can start taking massive imperfect action today to impact your results moving forward.
Going through this process of launching, again and again, has led to some life-long dreams coming true... the biggest being that my husband resigned from his 30-year IT career this month to join my team! #pinchme #dreamscomingtrue
Here are photos after my 6th launch where I welcomed 76 new students into my course.
How was I able to grow and scale? By launching the same course again and again... not just when I felt ready, not when my website was perfectly built, and not when I had it all figured out. Because the only way I learn from each launch and scale faster is by DOING more launches!
Imagine the story YOU will share one year from now if you JUMP IN and take massive imperfect action every day!!!
Waiting until things are perfect will cripple your progress. Progress comes by taking action again and again. Even when something you launch doesn’t reach the expected goal, you haven’t failed, but learned from the experience so you can adjust and launch more effectively next time.
Each step forward is a step in the right direction... even when it isn't perfect.
Lydia xo
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