People talk constantly about delayed gratification, calling it the most important trait when it comes to success in both business and life. The success of delayed gratification has been famously studied, as those who are able to practice self-control even at a young age are said to show greater intelligence and discipline down the road. If you’re willing to delay gratification while building your company, you are much more likely to succeed. How do you delay gratification in business? And how does that generate momentum? 

First, you have to understand that you can’t have it all right now.

So many entrepreneurs gravitate towards tech startups, flashy new ideas, or new products. You can get there really fast, you can get really rich, but the truth is the odds of overwhelming success are extremely low. The most likely way to succeed is to work really hard and really smart for a really long time. Very few people are millionaires before they’re 30 years old, and entrepreneurs who want it all right now end up getting discouraged and giving up because they aren’t willing to play the long game. To counteract this, you can’t be afraid to start small, suppress the ego, and delay gratification.

How do you put your momentum into overdrive? The first key is frugality; save your money in your personal life so you can invest it into your business, especially saving on the little things in life; restaurants, activities, vacations, and toys are nice, but you have to come to terms with the fact that delaying gratification and being frugal and forgoing profits now will help generate significant cash in the future. The longer you can do it, the more momentum you’ll have.

Give up on profits now for more customers, more growth, more volume, more brand awareness, and more sales. It’s worth doing the work for this momentum to keep your brand alive. Charge as little as you can to get customers in the door. The longer you can go without a paycheck, the better your odds of success in your business. Provide as much value as you can for as little as you can early on, and you’ll start to build your brand for the long haul.

Once you’ve been out grinding and getting customers and adding value, the real game changer with momentum comes when your SEO kicks in. When this happens, your Google My Business will start showing up first in your area and people in town will find you when they search for services. This is the shifting point for most service businesses.

Now you’re off to the races, you have momentum. It’s time to hire and it’s time to scale, but the momentum is key. Build a following, get raving fans, and you’ll be able to keep building value and building a brand.

Three Key Takeaways

1. Delayed gratification can help you find success in both life and business
2. The first key to building momentum through delayed gratification is frugality, and rolling your money back into your business
3. Once you’ve gotten a customer base through adding value, investing in SEO will help take your business to the next level

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