How long does it take to build any business?

Celebrities and rock stars may find it easy to launch an enterprise based on name recognition.

A few speakers are able to build a practice quickly when they retire as industry experts and get asked back to speak.

For most of us … building a speaking business is like building any other business.

It takes time … sometimes years!

Think about it.

How long will it take you to nail down your topic and refine it into a marketable commodity?

How long will it take you to build a prospecting and sales pipeline?

Will you rely on speaking fees as your sole source of income or will you create workshops, courses, books, and other auxiliary streams?

How long will that take?

Will you bark emphatically into the microphone or learn the art of oratory?

How long will that take?

Have you experienced power failures, blown projector bulbs, dead microphones, broken slide remotes, and a hung-over Sunday morning audience and learned to deal with adverse circumstances on stage?

How long will that take?

Speaking is one of the best businesses in the world, but it’s a tough one.

The next time you admire someone up on the big stage with the lights and the big jumbotron screens, remember that it almost certainly took them years to get there.

Be patient with yourself and don’t get discouraged if success takes time.

Put one foot in front of the other, and head in the right direction.

The top of the mountain will have no choice but to come to you!