Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Hour Expert Rule

By Adam  |  27 Aug 2015 08:00:00

Practice makes perfect, they say, and if you're working on any endeavour you're going to have to put the time in. Journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell says that, for a person to become an expert at something, they need to spend 10,000 hours working on it. If that seems like a lot, you're right! It will take years to gain 10,000 hours' worth of experience and, actually, this ties in quite nicely with the internet's two year success rule (and you should read my earlier blog post about that). So what exactly can you do with this piece of information?

Well, I hope that knowledge of the 10,000 hour rule will be somewhat reassuring to you. If, in the early days of your eCommerce business, you make the odd mistake here and there, don't worry. You're still learning and you're business is still growing. Also, while you might worry that mistakes risk ruining your reputation in the eyes of your customers, you should keep in mind that you, as the person who made the mistake, are much more conscious of it than anybody else and, if you're lucky and act confident, people may not even realise a mistake was made! But every time you make a mistake you know what to avoid in future and the more time you put in the better you become. As the years go by you'll learn more about marketing and more about doing things in the most time efficient way. You'll get better and as you get better you'll get more customers.

So know that if you've only had your eCommerce website for a few months and are thinking that you and your business are not very good, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You're still learning and you'll get better at it the more you put the time in. If things aren't great now, who knows where you might be in a year's time? In two years' time? You and your business can do well and you will do well. Just keep at it. And if you're eCommerce website hasn't even left the drawing board yet, why not sign up to Sellr right now and create a site for no cost at all?