by Andrew Gazdecki

 

In the run up to Super Bowl XLVIII, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch delivered some pearls of wisdom in his interviews. In one of them, he told reporters that he was, “I’m just about that action, boss” and also stated that if you want something “You go get it, no need to talk about it”. This was long before anyone suspected that he would announce his retirement just two years later.
Lynch’s comments don’t just ring true for sporting legends; if you’re running your own business or startup, this is exactly the mindset that you need in order to be a success.

Actions speak louder than words

How It Starts

Almost everyone has a dream (or many dreams). But for most people, they’re largely abandoned in favor of practical concerns. After all, most dreams involve fairly rare occurrences (like winning the Powerball) or extraordinary successes (e.g. selling your startup to Apple or Facebook for $millions). Thus, dreamers often realize that following a dream is a long shot, and put it aside in favor of less speculative endeavors.

But Some People Go For It

Some budding entrepreneurs just can’t shake their dreams and become determined to make them a reality. And as we know, few actually succeed. But what is it that separates the winners from the losers? In our opinion, Mr. Lynch has the answer: ACTION.

Going and Getting It

“Wow, thanks for the epiphany. I never knew you had to actually DO things to succeed. How can I sign up for your lecture series, you business genius?”

Okay, okay. We hear you. This is not complex stuff. Nor is it any kind of secret. But just because an idea is simple and out in the open doesn’t mean people won’t willfully ignore it. Humans are funny like that. (Not “Ha, ha” funny. More like “tragic” funny. “Sad” funny. You know.)

Anyhow, time and time again, we see entrepreneurs with great ideas fail because they don’t do the hard work needed to make their business succeed. Instead, they love, love, love talking about it. To friends, to relatives, to the mailman – anyone who will listen.

But they don’t do enough of the work. They don’t do the endless tasks needed to secure funding, get the right people on board, test the market, build their product, etc. Instead of spending hours working on their business, they live normally. They go to work, come home, screw around, and then go to bed. And repeat this every day.

The actual entrepreneurial work never happens. What would Marshawn think?

Be About That Action, Boss

“Okay, right. You need to work to make a business succeed. What should I do if I don’t feel like it, though?”

For many people, what they think they lack is motivation. This isn’t the whole truth, though. Motivation is great, and when you find yourself full of energy to tackle a self-directed project, you should seize it and dive in! But you also need something to carry you through the days when you aren’t full of energy for your project. When you’re sick of it. When you’d rather browse the Web, ride a bike, or do anything but deal with that damn business you’re trying to start.

Stop Talking and Start Doing

An easy way to start is to create a planned schedule with milestones for you to reach. Yep – a schedule (it works, seriously!).

If you do some planning ahead of time and list out what needs to get done, along with reasonable timeframes for completing everything, all that remains is execution. You can schedule the work that has to be done using a simple calendar app, and then break your work up by the hour. That way, when you don’t have any motivation, you won’t be starting from scratch. Instead, you’ll be following a plan.

You might be surprised at how hackable your brain is in this way!

Sitting down at your desk with the task of “building your business” is far too overwhelming. But sitting down with the goal of doing a first run-through of gathering feedback for your idea is manageable. By breaking things up and making appointments with yourself to handle them, you’ll keep your workload manageable, gain momentum through small successes, and have defined tasks that are totally doable.

The result is that you take a ton of action.

Marshawn Lynch may not be the most gifted businessman to ever live but in my opinion the #1 mistake early entrepreneurs make is that they simply talk more than they work. So take this simple play out of Marshawn’s game book and “just be about that action, boss”.

Spend less, work smarter

That’s all well and good, but what does “action” actually mean for your business? Should you go ahead and over spend on a fancy domain name, company swag, new iMacs and employees right out of the gate? Marshawn would say “no” to that idea. Over his career, he has been smart enough to save all his earnings which now, upon his retirement, means that he can be in control of his own destiny.

Startups and entrepreneurs should take note. Okay, so you might not have Lynch’s $49.7M to save, but the message is clear. By working hard and not overspending, the result is a great head-start on the long and windy road to success.

Focus on the right numbers

We all love to see a positive number in our accounting software or P&L sheet. Hooray, we’ve reached $20,000 in monthly recurring revenue this month – that’s 40% more than last month – look at how successful we’re becoming! Well… that might not be the case. Sure, you’ve sent out a big chunk of invoices, but wait… you paid $6,000 for that domain you had to have, $3,000 on company t-shirts and stickers to promote your brand, $3000 on rent, $4,000 on other expenses and bills PLUS you still need to pay taxes on those earnings. Uh-oh. Suddenly that new revenue looks much smaller.

Make sure you track your expenses just as carefully as your revenue. Compare the two numbers regularly to make sure you are staying “on top”. When you have a clear idea of your current net profit, you will end up thinking much more carefully about spending your money. This can lead to much better business decisions and can build discipline within your company.

Plan for a funding decline

“I don’t know what’s in store for me. I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring.” – Marshawn Lynch

What would happen if tomorrow Google came into your market and ate your lunch? Could your company survive? Would you be able to raise that next round of funding? That is a popular thought for startups as many believe enthusiasm towards raising capital is fading.

Startups are now being advised to focus on profitability rather than relying on investment from others. After all, isn’t that the main purpose of a business – to make money?

Often in the rush of trying to get your name “out there” and offering free incentives for people to use your product or service, the concept of getting them to actually pay can be all too easily forgotten. This is even more likely to happen when you’ve just raised a huge round of funding from a top tier VC and you’re swinging for the fences.

However, you should always have plan for a “worst case scenario” if your funding dries up before you find a sustainable business model. Having a regular, sustainable source of revenue from your product or service is the most reliable way to do just that.

Get your unit economics right

Ever heard of the startup killer? It’s the cost of acquiring a new customer compared to the amount of money that customer will bring to your business (LTV – CAC = $$). Startup founders find it all too easy to spend money on marketing efforts and advertising, but could all that effort actually be damaging your finances?

If a marketing campaign costs you $1,000 and brings in 10 new customers, with each one spending $50 with you, that means you’ve spent $100 per customer and only received $50 in return. Yup, that’s a $500 loss, right there. That’s not how you grow your business.

Talk is cheap so get to work

So take these simple plays out of Marshawn’s game book and “just be about that action, boss.”