Fresh from the ‘Beast From The East 2’ delivering a new layer of the cold stuff to the UK, I’d like to talk about grit. 

Last week when I was talking with someone interested in joining us as a franchisee we we’re talking about what it takes to be successful. I listen to her the usual things we look for in a great franchisee, things that are well documented by us. Number one, a passion for travel, number two, a drive to be successful. 

Then I realised that one key thing that you need is grit. 

The determination to master each part of your business. 

The resilience to keep going, pushing your business forward even during the toughest of times, and let’s be honest, there will be no tougher time on travel that COVID-19. 

Why is grit so important?

After a long, hard, snowy run on Sunday, I was sat in my Epsom Salt bath watching a Netflix show. QB1, Beyond The Lights. It started with a brilliant quote about grit, which triggered my memory of the conversation I had on the phone:

“Grit is the ability to finish

The team with the most grit shall win

The man with the most grit shall be successful

There is no trick, no fancy language, no fancy words, no magic potion. 

Grit is the ability to finish, no matter what.”

Yes, it’s great to have a passion for travel and a drive to succeed but what happens when you’re knocked down over and over again?

To quote a classic quote:

“It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”

.

This is so true when starting a business and it’s something I talk with every franchisee about. Things won’t always be plain sailing. Sometimes you’ll need to buckle up and prepare for a storm. 

How will you react when your business misses out on a customer? 

How will you react when 10 people in a row don’t answer the phone to you?

How will you react if you fail to reach your self-set, monthly target?

Have the grit to be accountable

But it’s not just about the ability to get your head down when the going is tough, its about having the grit to push yourself every day. If there is something you don’t know, don’t shy away, learn it. 

If you don’t know how to do something, do you go all in, or shy away?

The franchisees that make themselves accountable for their success are the ones that’ll do very well. You can’t fake yourself successful. 

Remember ‘There is no trick, no fancy language, no fancy words, no magic potion.’

Being accountable isn’t easy. By making yourself responsible, putting potential failure on your shoulders with no excuses, leaving yourself open to criticism from family and friends, leaving yourself vulnerable to negative comments is a hard thing to do. 

But on the other side of that, if you grit your teeth, go out, make yourself accountable for your own success and grow an amazing business that secures your families financial future. Imagine how good it’ll feel. Imagine the pride you’ll feel. 

Eat grit for breakfast

It’s also not just about your business. Its about you, and your family. 

In the short term you might be able to put yourself at the bottom of the list when prioritising what’s important. In the short term you might say:

1. Your family
2. Your career
3. Yourself

OR

1. Your family
2. Yourself
3. Your career

OR

1. Your career
2. Your family
3. Yourself

But all of these are wrong. From the very early stages of starting your business, you need to establish a routine where you are number one on the list.

If you start a business where you are number two or three, eventually you’ll be unhappy. There are millionaires who have sacrificed their own happiness and prioritised their business and family. Do you think they’re happy?

So the next part of grit, is having the grit to consistently make time for yourself. Not to make time for bad habits like a few beers after work to ‘take away the stress’, or staying up until 1am binging on the latest Netflix series. 

Having the grit to make time to do the things you know you should be doing, things that’ll make you happy. 

Wake up earlier to go for a run for example, here I am at 7am running 10km in the snow.

I force myself out of my nice warm bed, into my running gear and out I go, before my mind has had a chance to catch up. 

If you have the grit to force yourself into good habits, you’ll start to change the bad ones. I’m in bed by 10pm latest because I want to wake up and attack the day. This 10pm rule means I never start another episode of anything on TV if it’s going to lead to temptation of breaking my 10pm rule.

And because I want to enjoy the run and not feel sluggish, I don’t have that post work beer (or two), that became a thing for a long time. 

It has taken grit to get to this point, but now I’m out in all weathers 5 days a week, at 7am, and it’s a habit. 

This means I’m free to focus the rest of the day on my family and working on improving our business. This way my family and business get a 100% me, rather than a 50% me. 

So I think grit, determinations, and resilience are vital to your success. We’ve got the business model, the systems and know-how. Only you know whether you’ve got the passion, drive and grit within you to make a success of this.