Millions Of Followers Will Not Guarantee Business Success
This story by Desiree Peralta describes how a social media celebrity could not get her clothing business off the ground. The Instagram star could not sell a few dozen T-shirts needed to meet the fulfillment contract in spite of the fact that she had over 2.8 million followers. Imagine the prospect of reaching millions of people online, an immeasurably rich feat in itself! But certainly, hopes are crushed if none of those people will buy your T-shirts.
This new age of social media, smart devices, and countless downloadable apps certainly opens new doors to unbounded opportunities for building new skills and interests, connecting and sharing with new people, building a name or brand, expanding horizons, and making a little green. But just like any road unwinding with opportunity and promise, the multitudinous paths available today are not without their tough parts. You may get that following on social media or build a Youtube channel base, but then experience times of decline. But if you follow many of the age-old principles of success, you can expect to experience great advantages. In business, some fundamental principles for success include knowing your industry and competitors, respecting your customers, and promoting your product and business.
So many of the platforms today promise very exciting and lucrative opportunities. If you get those hundreds of thousands or millions of followers like Peralta’s mentioned star, you can easily earn thousands of dollars from a single video or picture post. But so many factors still play into making these opportunities work long-term. These include ongoing tasks such as constant research and analysis of user trends, engagement with followers and audiences, and a natural forte for generating fresh and engaging content to keep users coming back. Many social media and digital creators would not even consider this too strenuous, however. Just like anything else, if you are following your passion then most parts of the job include that element of fun and excitement.
There may sometimes be this somewhat deceptive allure that one can quit the grind of their daily job and walk down a yellow-brick road to self-employment bliss, financial freedom, and personal fulfillment. But entrepreneurship and business management were never meant to be easy. Business owners in the U.S.(as well as any other corner of the world) face curves, deep ruts, and unmarked corners in today’s world just as they always have. Estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics state that 20% of U.S. businesses fail within the first two years while 45% of businesses fail within the first five. Most businesses probably do not close because the owner makes enough to retire in style. The average salary for U.S. small business owners is $63,650 per year. This is the same for the new digital and social media worlds thriving in our futurized age. Paths may actually be unpaved, untrodden, and even more strenuous and risky than one could have ever imagined. But doesn’t that make the journey even more of an adventure and allow for numerous lessons and riches to be mined along the way?
