As business owners you all know that running a business is, well, a tricky business.

The chances are you will get more things wrong than right.

And often, there is a fine line between being a stomping crazy lunatic and being a genius.

You see, any businessperson who takes risks is considered crazy until they become a genius.

This is the reason there are not many geniuses in the world.

Businesspeople often start out in business with a lack of funds. This often means paying for advice is not exactly priority. And this means they inevitably start relying on family and friends for business advice. There are, however, one to two problems with this.

Firstly, said family and friends have never operated a business or they lack experience in running a proper business. Secondly, their advice is usually crap. And that’s because they love you. And because they love you, they do not want to see you fail, lose credibility, or see you hurt in any shape or form.

The thing is, business is all about getting hurt and suffering. Hurt and suffering are part of the DNA of a business. So, if the advice you are getting is exactly the opposite of the DNA of business, what are the chances the business is going to be successful? See where I am going with this?

Let me give you an example.

As many of you know, I recently ran the London Marathon. Yes, this has done wonders for my ego, but if I had listened to family and friends, I doubt I would have even enquired how to apply to run it. That is because many of you know that my heart is not exactly what you would call ‘healthy’.

But the job of family and friends is to protect those they love. And this often means their advice is to take on less risk.

For me, running the London Marathon was a big risk.

In October 2023, I mentioned to my brother I was going to run the London Marathon. His reaction? He called me ‘insane.’ My mother thought the idea was preposterous. And my wife’s reaction was to nominate me for the madman of the decade award. This inevitably led to a marital row equivalent of a world war in which I ended up winning but badly bruised. I had the stuffing knocked out of me. Obviously.

And everyone else I spoke to? Well, they, including members of my team, were polite, but behind the scenes, they all thought I was loopy.

But as I said, there is a fine line between being crazy and being a genius.

Because there is always a risk of things not going according to plan. If I failed, I would be considered crazy, and everybody gets to tell me ‘’I told you so’’. Pass the finish line and I would be a genius.

And that is exactly what happened on marathon morning because my nephew called me ‘one hell of a crazy man.’ Yet 6 and half hours later when I crossed the finish line I was, in his own words, “an absolute genius.”

But here is the thing. I am not crazy. Or loopy. Or even insane. Equally I was not a genius either. I was just well informed and had a strategy that was worked out with several medical specialists, weeks and months beforehand.

You see, I consulted several medical professionals over a period of several months. They undertook a barrage of tests, which included removing what felt like my entire blood supply and undertaking a stress test so severe that I was afraid my heart would jump out of my chest and run away. My trainer prepared a training programme specifically to deal with my heart issue, too.

It was because of these amazing professionals I was able to run a marathon and finish it. And in the process, I also managed to raise a princely sum just shy of $20,000 for charity. In other words, I was seen as a genius.

But if I had relied on my family and friends, I would never have made it to the start line.

So, if you want to become successful in business I have one piece of advice. Getting advice from family and friends will not cut it. Getting advice from a business advisor about the risk you are willing to make and allowing them to facilitate how you will get to your goal probably will set you on the path of being seen as a genius – even if you are not an actual one.

Yes, taking advice from an advisor will cost money. Taking advice from family and friends will not. But that was the same for me. I guess the question is, do you want a successful business and how important is it to you? For me, not finishing was really an option. Running a business that does not reach maximum success should not be an option for you either.

Becoming a genius in business is step 4 and 6 of our 9 steps to work less, earn more and creating wealth. If you would like to know more, contact hitesh@wowadvisors.com.au or Ros at ros@wowadvisors.com.au or call 07 3161 9548.