The 3 Year Phenomenon

The 3 Year Phenomenon – Surviving 3 years in your business for success

The 3 year phenomenon is a glimpse into the road to success in business. Everyone who has an idea wants to start a business. For every success story there are 100 failures we do not even read about. Even from the successful businesses today, there are stories of failure. Here are just a few:

• Bill Gates failed miserably in his first venture, before he restarted with Microsoft.
• Milton Hershey failed with 3 candy business before Hershey’s became super successful.
• Thomas Edison tried more than 10,000 times to invent the light bulb.
• The famous director of Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg was rejected from film school 3 times before getting his huge break.
• Colonel Sanders started KFC when he was 56, and his rejected over 1000 times before it finally clicked.

Remember, that you know all these stories of failure only because all the people mentioned above eventually succeeded. Those who give up after a failure will never have their voices heard. No one knows them.
While these were initial failures, what got them through was the belief and determination to do what they believed in. It takes time but focused effort in what you believe never fails.
It’s not easy. Only the passionate and the focused will survive. The “never give up” attitude is what differentiates between those who stay and those who fall.
We always read stories of successful businesses. But rarely know the actual challenges faced by these successful businesses. No one has it easy. Just no one. No matter how much money you start with, a bad idea will never succeed. And with some patience, a good idea will never fail. Because the 3 year phenomenon is almost a thumb rule in most businesses.

I start early and stay late. Day after day, year after year. It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success – Lionel Messi.

Some of the biggest business success stories are stories of grit, determination, patience, and perseverance.

The Rough & Tumble

So, if you plan to start your business, be prepared for the rough and tumble. Nothing that is worth ever comes easy. There will be challenges, hurdles, embarrassments, humiliation, turbulent times and then the joy of being a part of a success story, if one manages to go through this test of fire.
It is believed a business that can sustain and survive for 3 years will surely survive for years to come. The first three years are the most challenging. In every possible way. No all-business failures are because of money. While money does play a particularly important role, in most cases, it is the drop in enthusiasm and the inability to overcome challenges.

Year – 1

The first year is a completely new experience. The entire effort is to drive the business the way it was imagined at the idea stage. There are early successes and some disappointments. All this until the reality of the market kicks in. Every small win feels like a huge success. You realise that it was rosy from the outside but quite different when you have skin in the game.

Year – 2

If you survive this, you enter Year 2. The second year is by far the most challenging for any new business. What felt like success the previous year, feels like just a survival mechanism now. Its just not enough. Running a business is nowhere close to what you imagined it would be. It’s simply hard. The work hours, the toil, the challenges, the loss of personal time, life changes. And its never easy. But you learn to adapt to new situations and circumstances more easily. Do not give up.

Year – 3

Surviving the second year is so crucial to get into the most important stage in a new business. That is Year 3. By now you are so used to the challenges and hurdles that you do not even realise that you have won quite a few battles and you succeeded. That is true. Most business who makes it to Year 3, don’t even realise how far they have come. From expectations to Egos, everything gets reset to the new reality.
Your approach to the business, the customer and to your team is aligned like never before. You are in a much better position to foresee the events in the near future and plan better to prepare for any eventuality.
If you are starting a business, your minimum timeline to taste success should be 3 years. Nothing less than that. And that is if you strongly believe in what you started off with. More than anything your belief in yourself and your plans is what drives you to succeed.
As someone famously said, never start a business to make money. Start a business to make customers. And money will flow on its own. More than you ever imagined.
The rules of the game are quite different when you run your own business. There is a government that expects you to follow the rules and guidelines, there is a team you built which looks up to you to keep them driven and motivated, there is a customer who is expecting you to live up to his expectation and your promise, there is a competitor waiting to find your weakness. Multiple things to handle at once.
You will get used to the constant swings between accomplishments and challenges. That’s the 3 year phenomenon.

Never Shy Away from Failures

If you have ventured into a business, remember you are already among the courageous. Not everyone has the nerve to withstand the pressure and stress of building a business. It only looks greener for those on the other side of the fence. But when the tide turns to favor a business, the taste of success is unforgettable.
Its common practice to feel that failing is business is a personal failure. That is far from the truth. Failure is an experience just like success is. We learn and we live. Sometimes we pull ourselves up and give it another shot and sometimes, we pull ourselves up to align with another work. It’s an experience.
As we grow up, its important for our schools to teach us the importance of failure. It should not be looked down upon. Failure is a steppingstone for success. Almost everyone who has learnt from a failure eventually succeeds. So, it’s best to look back and appreciate the effort. There is no such thing as instant success. Never. The early years have a lot of impact on how we grow up. Its at this stage that children should be taught that failure is not about pulling someone down but its about those who had the courage to experiment. We would not have had a bulb if Thomas Edison gave up after his first few failures.

The THREE-YEAR phenomenon

Historically, businesses that have survived the first three years have gone on to do well. The setbacks in later years can be numerous. Every business that fails has a reason. But with the right focus and determination, making it to the end of year 3 is almost the beginning of good times. (Remember the 3 year phenomenon?) We do not need answers from google for this. We can see it all around us. Among friends, family, and acquaintances. Staying focused, on course and being conservative will sustain the business much longer. However, this is not to say that external factors wont impact a business. The foundation of any business is based on agility. The ability to see the future and make changes to the business. Some do it well and go to great heights. Some just manage to find a way out and survive longer. And some just perish coz they did not see the change coming. The appetite for risk is an important element.
Most businesses become conservative when they start getting profitable. Its forgotten that the calculated risk they took in the initial years is what got them this far. For those with bigger ambitious and goals, it’s the same appetite for risk that drives them ahead of the competition.

Changing Times

Starting and running a business now is far simpler than what it used to be. Of course, it is a lot more competitive. Executing the idea, registering your business, building a team, planning for the branding, payments, collections, compliances and so much more to handle as you kick start your business.
It is a lot simpler now. Business can start in a matter of days. Compliances and registrations can be taken care of. (That is where Ease of Business – EOB comes in.) So, businesses can stay focused on building the business while the registrations and compliances are taken care of by EOB. From starting your business to filing your annual returns or even helping you with a patent registration, we do everything to make your business easy to run.
For small businesses looking to invest in branding and brand building, there are businesses like ClayBag. ClayBag offers branding solutions for small business in small quantities and affordable prices. With businesses like these, its easier to stay focused on the goal.
There are businesses which offer short term loans also with a quick turn around and easy repayment options. More about that in another blog.
So kickstart your business today. Fulfil your dreams. Make them come true. And keep your eyes on the “The 3 Year Phenomenon”. It works almost always.