One of the biggest things I’ve struggled with was Analysis Paralysis.
Nowadays with Google you can find nearly endless information at the touch of a screen.
It’s much easier than the days where you had to go to the library to search for books and even encyclopedias to find answers to their pressing questions.
But with so much information available, isn’t this a good thing?
Not necessarily. With so much information it’s easy to suffer from analysis paralysis.
Rather than taking a decision in the past I decided to put it off. And to do some more research instead of making a decision to move forward.
For example with choosing a product for your private label business.
I know many beginners who sit on the fence about the product they’re thinking about selling. They hesitate to PULL THE TRIGGER. They continue to do more research just to be sure so they don’t lose their hard earned money.
I’ve had this problem myself… Even with one of the products I’ve chosen which steadily generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for several years now.
But before placing the order, I had analysis paralysis for a full SIX MONTHS before I decided to place the order.
Why? For one it was a large sea shipment compared to the small and light air shipments I shipped in the past. This made things more complicated with ocean freight logistics, having to deal with a customs broker, and the additional time it took to ship from the factory to the warehouse.
Looking back, if I had pulled the trigger six months sooner, that probably would have been worth tens of thousands of dollars in sales!
The takeaway is that the longer I procrastinated, the more opportunities passed me by.
And the more competitors that jumped into this market.
So how did I overcome analysis paralysis? After my years of experience, researching other successful business people, and speaking with numerous 7 figure sellers – I’d like to share with you four tactics so you can take action more quickly and overcome your fears.
Tactic 1: “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today” Ben Franklin
This rule applies equally well in business as in your personal life.
The more I can get done today the more I can compound on that progress tomorrow.
As Darren Hardy wrote in his excellent book “The Compound Effect”, it’s like compound interest.
The money you invest gets compounded with interest to grow even more quickly.
You are literally stacking your success on top of your past successes to grow even faster.
Switching gears I love to travel so whenever I visit a new city I can choose to either relax in the AirBnB or choose to go out and explore.
So I choose to explore and often times what I learn from Day 1 can open up new opportunities in Day 2 and beyond.
Stepping into that cafe and chatting up the local barista can lead to a hidden gem in a restaurant that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise from Yelp or online recommendations.
Tactic 2: The 70% rule – Jeff Bezos
The richest man in modern history Jeff Bezos made it a point in his letter to shareholders that at Amazon, employees should take a decision when they have 70% of information they wish they had.
“most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you’re probably being slow. Plus, either way, you need to be good at quickly recognizing and correcting bad decisions. If you’re good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure.” – Jeff Bezos
Why only 70% and not 90%? Or even 100%? Wouldn’t that make it a safer bet?
The answer is speed. Bezos says that 70% of information available is enough to take a decision and one needs to be able to pivot or course correct after making a decision.
In my view often times even if it’s not the right decision, what you LEARN from this decision is more valuable than if you didn’t take a decision at all.
I strongly agree with Bezos’ thinking especially when applied to e-commerce – I feel that the business is an investment in yourself. You will build upon your successful products one by one.
Nobody hits a home run at every bat.
Sometimes you will hit a single or double. And you can move forward so eventually you will score.
Other times you will strike out and that’s OK. You need to analyze and learn from the experience and get up to bat again to take another swing.
This way you will increase your chances of success next time.
Tactic 3: Eat that Frog! – Brian Tracy
Tackle the #1 hardest thing on your to do list FIRST each day.
It makes the rest of the day a lot easier. Psychologically with the first big win under your belt, you will feel the rest of the day is downhill from there.
For example if I have a presentation to give I will schedule it for early in the morning. This way once I tackle it I get a rush of adrenaline once I finish it and the rest of the day’s tasks feel a lot easier.
Finally…
Tactic 4: Break that seal
What’s the next step you can take right now to move your business forward?
If you are choosing a private label product – it helps to create a spreadsheet first and add 2-3 items to your product list to get the ball rolling.
Once you have a couple of product ideas on the page I find the rest of the ideas come more quickly than staring at a blank page.
Momentum creates greater momentum.
Remember – you can overcome analysis paralysis with these four tactics
- Tactic 1: “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today”
- Tactic 2: The 70% rule
- Tactic 3: Eat that Frog!
- Tactic 4: Break that Seal
Now it’s your turn. If you haven’t started your Private Label business yet – what’s the next step you can take to break that seal to move it forward?
Sure you can do it yourself but why not give yourself every advantage?
Join my video course 80/20 Sourcing Essentials to get a step by step guide from selecting a profitable product away from the crowds, learning how to source it from a trustworthy supplier without relying on your “gut feel”, and launching your product on Amazon successfully.
-Gary
PS: 80/20 Sourcing Essentials is backed by a full 30-day 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you find just one trustworthy supplier for your product, over the lifetime of your business that could mean thousands of dollars in profit or even a 6 or 7-figure business! It’s no risk to you. Break the seal, Join now and start today!
