In every business, there are short term considerations and long term considerations. Short term decisions often lead to quicker revenue, but cost more and take money and resources from building your long term brand. Long term decisions give you greater strategic flexibility over the long haul, but don’t make you any money in the near term — in fact, they probably COST money.

It would be great if short term considerations weren’t an issue — but the fact of the matter is that we all have living expenses to pay — and those expenses have a very real impact on the way you run your business. Bummer, I know. If we didn’t have bills, we could run our businesses however we’d like without giving a damn whether we earn enough money to cover all our monthly expenses at the end of the month.

My recommendation is this: work your tail off and do whatever it is you have to do to build your business to a point where your profit is enough to cover your monthly living expenses. Once you get to that point, THEN make all your decisions based on the long term and really focus on brand building.

Looking for some inspiration? Watch this video.

Hustle. Stop watching LOST.

Are you making short term decisions? Or are you to a point in your business where you can primarily foucs on the long term?