Let me be clear here, I have no problems with radio advertising, I rather like radio, it’s a very cost effective way to advertise, especially if you can get a celebrity endorsement.

My point is more than because of the radio advertising we assume someone is successful.

The world ultimately judges long term success on the wealth we create, regardless of competence or how we got there, but in the short term until that wealth is obvious we seem prone to judging someone’s success based on the wealth they show the world and other clues like radio advertising.

“John’s doing really well, I heard his radio advert the other week” is a common phrase used by those people that fail to understand how the world works.

Small businesses probably save up to afford a radio advert and in the short term take on a liability in order to get some reward in the future.

A radio advert then is a huge risk and by no means an indicator of guaranteed success but we seem to forget this because as a society we think that the more we hear about something the more successful it must be.

Much like the Kardashians, we make businesses famous for being famous but this is by no means a guarantee of success.

If you visit the website of Berkshire Hathaway, the multi-billion dollar holding company that Warren Buffet runs, it’s website is a single page that looks like it was written in 1997.

It is possible the worst website on the internet today, yet the business is one of the most successful in the world.

Warren doesn’t invest in his website because he doesn’t need to. It doesn’t affect his potential for profit. Building a new website would simply incur a liability.

Yet if we were to apply the same rules society goes by, we would view Berkshire Hathaway as a complete failure, by no means successful and clear about to go bust.

At the end of 2014, Berkshire Hathaway had $255 billion in the bank just sitting spare.

That’s spare… for a rainy day.

In this sense then it’s incredible that our world revolves around image and not fact.

When you’re starting out the first thing you need to do is abandon the desire to invest in things that you don’t need. It’s all part of protecting your cash flow.

If you need a radio advert then do it, but if you don’t then don’t. Being the most famous failure is not a good idea.

Having the acceptance of your friends or being seen as a big deal might stroke your ego but when all is said and done it won’t improve your chances of business survival.

Chapter Summary

• Don’t judge success on advertising
• Don’t chase fame, it costs money

Read our next blog post “Don’t outsource”.