Comfort Leads to Failure: Embrace Growth and Challenges

Helping small business owners and owning businesses myself has taught me a valuable lesson that applies not just to business, but to life in general: comfort leads to failure. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t strive for comfort or security—we all want that. But when we reach our goals and start to feel comfortable, there's a tendency to think, “I’ve made it; now I can relax.” This mindset has been the downfall of many—not just in business, but in athletics, professions, and even entire civilizations. History is full of stories that teach us this lesson.

Recently, I worked with a client in a very niche market. He didn’t have to worry about marketing, advertising, or generating leads. Business came to him simply because he was the only one within a large radius offering the services he provided. Once he hit his goals, he became comfortable. His mindset shifted from hustling to thinking, “People will wait because I’m the only one who can provide what they need.”

If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur and this way of thinking doesn’t make you cringe, then you need to change your perspective immediately or consider moving on.

What we began to notice with this client was a slowdown in how long it took them to complete jobs and respond to existing customers’ needs. Customers are your lifeblood, the driving force of your business, and once you start losing them, you’ll begin to lose your business. What makes you think you’ll always be the only one offering your services? If you build a thriving business, others will notice. Someone will take the chance to replicate what you do—this is also why marketing is essential, even when you think you don’t need it (more on this in a later post).

If your clients start feeling unsatisfied with your business, they will look for other options, no matter how loyal you think they are. Loyalty isn’t a given; it’s earned. Once you lose that loyalty, you’ll face a rough road ahead. My client believed that no matter how upset customers got, they had to wait because he was the only option within a reasonable distance.

Comfort leads to failure.

During our work, we discovered a one-man business offering a portion of my client’s services. My client wasn’t worried because it was only a fraction of what they did, and it wasn’t the part of the business that interested them anyway.

Let me stress this again—if this mindset doesn’t alarm you, you might be better suited working for someone else, go find a job/career that satisfies you and you love doing.

Why would you assume that this one-man shop will stop at just offering a portion of your services? Once he starts hearing from your unsatisfied customers—and make no mistake, you created them—what’s to stop him from expanding his offerings until he’s doing everything you do, only better and with satisfied clients?

Owning a business and being an entrepreneur is stressful, unpredictable, and challenging, but it’s also an incredibly fulfilling journey. When we finally reach a moment of zen, a moment of comfort, we tend to forget what got us there. Don’t forget. Always be hustling, because the moment you start thinking you’re the only one, the best one, that no one can do it like you… is the moment you’ll begin to fail.