In his poem, “The Winged Energy of Delight,” the German poet Rilke has this marvelous line:

“Miracle doesn't lie only in the amazing living through and defeat of danger;
Miracles become miracles in the clear achievement that is earned.”

He goes on to say in effect, it’s not just the heroic deed that creates miracles, it’s the daily attention to small details that results in what appears later to be a miracle.

All large, successful businesses started out as little businesses—or maybe just as an idea, really.  Yes, there are the ideas that attract millions in “venture capital” and blossom almost full grown after being “jump started’ by lots of money, but for every such heroic miracle, there are thousands of Mom and Pop businesses that started at the kitchen table and grew slowly into large enterprises—through a careful attention to small things.

A common mistake of new entrepreneurs is to look for a “miracle,” and believe that they are just a “silver bullet” away from fabulous success.  They start lot of things in the hope that something, just anything, will work and save them from the hard work of attending to detail.   In short they are trying to be heroic and to create a miracle—and it seldom happens that way.

Now, I’m not talking about staying stuck in a “marginal business” because you’re too fearful to try something new.  That’s as much an error as just “throwing mud at the wall,” just to see if something sticks.  But my observation is that there is a way, a “mindset” that allows for steady doses of inspiration coupled with the perspiration of hard work that has worked for the steady growth of many businesses.  I’ve seen it over and over.

The Profit Process for Small Business is premised on this “inspiration-perspiration” model.  This only works though if you have gotten through the early phase of putting yourself out there in the market with a product or service and establishing that there is a niche or place for you that will sustain you.  Planning helps, but there is no substitute for just “doing it.” Those early days of an enterprise must be gone through and I don’t have a word or an action that will guarantee that you will succeed. 

But having survived that initial jump into the “deep end of the pool” then The Profit Process for Small Business can help you move to the next level.  It’s my experience that there are two or three metrics in every business that allow you to measure the success or failure of your “inspirations.”  Getting a “hit” and following up on the “hit” for making your business better is what makes the creation of a successful business so satisfying. 

I do know that working from a solid foundation and building steadily is the key to success.  Trying things in desperation, because you fear that you may fail, is almost a sure way to guarantee failure.  Finding those two or three metrics that allow you to test your inspirations is a key to success.  A mantra in The Profit Process for Small Business is “What you can measure, you can manage.”  I will write more about this later. 

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