A business is a marathon in five crucial ways

It seems to be a well-used statement to say that running a Business is a Marathon and not a sprint. It sounds nice, and indeed it is a statement that brings your attention. However, what does it mean when you say that a business is a marathon. There are thousands of articles trying to explain in different ways why it’s a marathon you’re into, and they are all right.

Even if you have never run a marathon, at least you have an idea that it is something that takes time to do, but usually, the imagination stops there. It’s a good start, but why does it take time?

Being both a passionate marathon runner and an online marketer, it took me 21 marathon races to get confirmed that a business is a marathon.

As always you have much time to think about during a marathon race. Finally, during Dallas Marathon a few days ago it all fell in place, and I got it very clear and identifiable. Not a lot of fluffy words about the topic, but why a business is a marathon and not a sprint.

Five Reasons Why Running A Business Is A Marathon

The following is not a complete list but the five most crucial points to get right in your business. Can you believe that a marathon race helped me to come to this insight?

In my previous article, before my 21st marathon in Dallas, we analyzed the similarities between a business and marathon Training when it comes to getting started. In this article, post marathon, we are going to confirm why a business is a marathon. It’s not based on theory but my own experience.

Follow a proven training program and stick to it

It cannot be emphasized enough the importance of following a proven training program. I have seen so many people failing with their marathon goal because of the lack of a program. They just go out and run on pure instinct. If taking the marathon training seriously, with a lot of long distance sessions involved, you will be very exposed to injuries and demotivation if you’re not following a professional program.

These programs are based on experience by professional runners. For sure, they have made a lot of errors before writing down the training program. They share these failures and configure the training program in such a way that you won’t repeat the same mistakes.

When going through different training programs, you will notice one thing very quickly. It takes time to train for a marathon.

When starting my online business, I didn’t know much about it. Probably it helped me to not doing it on my own, but searching for a program that could guide me through the whole process. Fortunately, I found a very professional program making me confident to get started.

Then something happened.

My motivation made me eager to get my business up and running fast (like a sprint). I skipped some modules that I considered less important.

At a certain point in your marathon training, you need weekly long runs of 20, 25 and even 35 kilometers. Do you know what will happen if you skip all the minor distances first? Probably you will get injured. Whatever will happen, for sure you will fail.

If you skip all the “easy and simple” modules in your business training, can you guess what will happen? You’re right. You will fail!

Don’t rush. Starting a business is a marathon!

Find your pace and continuously work on it

One of the most common problems for new marathon runners is to keep the right pace throughout the race. Personally, I have worked a lot on it. It’s so easy to run too fast in the beginning when you feel fresh and are full of energy. However, you have to pay it all back later during the race, at the latest when it’s time to hit the famous wall somewhere around 30Km (18.5 miles.)

During all the training you’ll find your pace, you challenge it a bit, and after the last long run prior to the race, you’ll decide the speed to go for during the marathon race. It took me 21 marathons to dominate the pace-setting, and the finish time is less important than the pace. With a difference of only 10 seconds between the slowest and fastest kilometer, finally, I know how to handle the speed.

In your business happens the same. With the motivation on top and full of energy, you just go on, working day and night. Maybe you also skip some “less” essential steps. You start to be a slave to your business. The family begins to quarrel, and perhaps you’ll have a burnout.

This is a marathon, my friend!

Test, test, test….

What makes a marathon so exciting and challenging is that you have to add something that you won’t have for shorter distances. You will run out of energy and have to conquer the famous wall. However, there are methods to make the “hit the wall” sensation more comfortable.

You can add on energy sources to compensate that energy shortage when hitting the wall. We, runners, use energy gel, combined with a constant liquid intake during the whole race. However, it’s important to know when to drink, when to consume energy gel, as well as what to drink and what to eat.

All this you have to test out during the training. It would help if you tried out what products are best for you. It’s important to find out that your body will have a positive reaction to what you’re consuming. The timing for drinking and eating is also something that you need to test in detail.

When you start to run your online business, the way to market and how to market online is something necessary to test out properly. For some entrepreneurs, Facebook could be the right media, while Google ads are better for others. It all depends on you, your business, your niche and of course your budget.

By testing in a small scale different available media, you will probably find out the best media for you. It could be one, or it can be several. However, stay focused and approach each media with a maximum level of professionalism.

Once your campaigns are ready to go, you need to test a lot before going for the big launch. Trying an ad based on pure stomach feeling will most probably fail the same way somebody try to run a marathon with a few weeks of random training.

Rely on what you have

There is a universal rule for experienced marathon runners. Do never use anything new when it’s time for the race. All your clothes, shoes, energy gels, liquids should be carefully tested and been used before. You should know for sure that your clothes are fitting well and not causing any chafing problems.

During the expos previous to a marathon, there are a lot of attractive offers. It’s nothing wrong to buy new running shoes at a good price but do never use them the next day when lining up in the starting blocks. You will suffer!

If you ever have had the opportunity to follow a race of importance, you’ll notice that the elite runners are not even drinking the water or energy drinks offered along the track. They have their own people out there handing over their personal water and energy compliments.

The race day is the moment when you must rely entirely on what you have, and what you have trained. No surprises!

When launching an online campaign, you should be completely confident that it will work out without any radical surprises. If you apply everything that you have found out during all the tests, your result should be positive.

Analyze results for further improvement

Both runners and online marketers, we are sometimes considered as some sort of control freaks. It’s correct in the sense that we need to know exactly how you achieve the results.

When analyzing a long run, it’s more important to check the kilometer time and the variation of the pace than the finish time. The reason why is that you know that pace is key to a good finish time. Every single training session is recorded in detail with all significant figures and data.

These figures will be of good help when deciding if any adjustment needed in the training program. The statistics are also an important indicator when deciding on the strategy for the next marathon race. After 21 marathons I have finally learned that the pace to keep from the beginning till the end of the race has to be set before lining up in the starting blocks. The speed is based on figures, and there is no room for emotional “stupid” decisions that happened quite often during my first races.

Tracking of results in your online business isn’t the “sexiest” part of online entrepreneurship. To be honest, it can even be quite boring. However, it’s so crucial for your success, that you must give it a serious approach.

To invest money in any online marketing campaign without testing and tracking your results in depth, it’s the same as flushing down your money in the toilet.

Where To Start The Training If A Business Is A Marathon?

The five corners stones explained above, are only five out of a much longer list. However, my experience as a passionate marathon runner and an online marketer, shows me over and over again, that if you consider them seriously your chance is high to succeed.

The training program I have for my running is a must. My confidence in it is now so high that I rather try to develop it further than to search for anything else. Of course, I have had my ups and downs during the journey, and at a point, I was seriously thinking about to change to another program.

Then I did something that I’ll never regret. I took a piece of paper and tried my very best to list down what was wrong with the program. It’s the only way to get rid of all emotions when your failures turn into frustration. The self-analysis gave me an astonishing result: It was nothing wrong with the program, but I didn’t follow it as I should.

As humans, we search for reasons to our failures outside your own frame of accountability. The reality, however, often is that we are responsible for what happens.

Your Tailor Made Online Business Program

The online business I’m into follows the same pattern. I have had my failures, and they have been of more or less the same type as the one for my marathon training. When looking back to what the system and platform I’m connected to are giving to my online business, I’m convinced that I can’t find anything more complete in the Internet industry.

Whatever issue I have, from training and coaching to marketing training and solving technical problems, I get it all. Of course, some people are failing and leave, but mainly these people got into the wrong race because a business is a marathon.

The content to this article popped up in my had during the 4 hours, 7 minutes and 6 seconds I ran the Dallas Marathon four days ago. My intention is not to get you to start running marathons, even if it would be nice to meet you at a race somewhere in the world. By relating my story and my experience, the goal is to get it down in written why a business is a marathon and not a sprint.

If you have a dream to run your own online business that you think you could turn into a passion, and at the same time understand that this is a marathon and not a print, then you should immediately click the banner below, and get full access to one of the most reliable and professional online businesses you’ll ever find.

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Jan O. Nilsson – Why Running A Business Is A Marathon And Not A Sprint 

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