By Dante Lee
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans are more likely to start a business – but are also more likely to fail at business than any other race. Let’s address one common reason why many of our businesses don’t survive: Procrastination.
Looking to kill your business? No problem, keep procrastinating. No one wants their business to go down the tubes, but procrastination is one of the most lethal ways to destroy a business from the inside out. Procrastination cuts off any possibility of success, even before you’ve taken on your first customer. It sucks the lifeblood from everything you hope to do by leaving you right there–in the valley of hopes and dreams–rather than on the mountain of action and results.
Not sure what some of the symptoms of procrastination are? Let’s start with that client you promised to follow up with yesterday. Did you make the call? How about getting that business paperwork in order? Can you pull your taxes from three years ago within minutes? If not, then procrastination could be keeping you from fulfilling your promises, organizing your business and managing your finances to ensure your business is not pulled out from under you, by you.
Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today. It is an old saying, but one worth repeating. Don’t wait. If it is on your to-do list to be done today, then get it done. No excuses. One of the greatest talents of a procrastinator is the ability to create or latch onto seemingly legitimate excuses as to why this or that wasn’t done. This technique is no different than a junkie who can’t seem to put down the pipe.
Get up out of that slump and make your life happen. Customers are waiting and depending on you to give them the best service they’ve come to expect. Don’t disappoint them and don’t disappoint yourself. This is your business and it can only work if you work, today…not tomorrow, or next week, or next month. But today! Leave procrastination on the porch.
Dante Lee is the president and CEO of Diversity City Media, a multicultural marketing and public relations firm based in Columbus, Ohio. His daily blog, BlackBusinessCoach.com, offers a FREE email and RSS subscription for black entrepreneurs and business owners.
