Ever wonder why it takes so long to get things done?

Like, in some cases of small business success, oh, about 70 years or so?

You have if you’re doing things the right way, because doing things the right way means a couple of things, none of which have anything to do with skipping steps or taking shortcuts.

Doing things the right way does require some important actions on the part of the aspiring entrepreneur, however. Let’s call it our 7-Step Program to Business Success:

1. Be thoughtful

2. Do the homework

3. Do the legwork

4. Tool up

5. Train the talent

6. Dig in

7. Go for it

8. Have faith

Some will point to Apple and Yahoo! and Amazon and eBay and Google and many of the even more recent tech successes like MySpace, Skype and Flickr and say, “Wait a sec.”

But closer examination reveals that neither of the first generation success stories were exactly overnight successes.

(BTW, speaking of overnight, it’s not too late to squeeze in a last minute summer vacay on the cheap!)

Of course, many now know Apple more for their MP3 player hits - and they keep comin’, as the new iPods indicate - but success easily overshadows very serious missteps, the Newton being a very public one that nearly buried Apple.

In fact, if not for the original iMac, Apple as we know it might not exist. Imagine, a world with no iPods!

It took years for Yahoo! to establish its presence against competing rivals like AltaVista, Looksmart and Lycos (remember them?). It wasn’t exactly like Caesar’s unopposed march into Rome.

I recall specifically the story that showed pictures of Jerry Yang and David Filo, co-founders of Yahoo!, in their sleeping bags under their cubicles at the then fledgling startup. This was long before success was a sure thing.

But then let’s take the examples of those second generation Web 1.0 ventures. Kozmo? Webvan? Gesundheit.com? All the pet food startups??

Right. How about lots of confidence, lots of VC cash, and lots of hype.

And lots of failure.

These companies saw the momentum being generated online by the early players, and in true entrepreneurial spirit, saw some opportunities.

But impatience led to disaster. Turns out you can’t deliver groceries for free. You can’t deliver movies for free. You can’t deliver dog food for free.

Who knew? Why, who else? The woman who ran my pet store, which was very un-tech, very under the radar, very not cutting edge.

But very essential to those of us who depended upon her business for our much-needed pet supplies.

I asked her if she was fearful of the new online petstores, and what it meant for her business.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” she said calmly. “Because they’re all going to fail.”

I guffawed, and asked her why she thought that. After all, what could she know that all these $25 million VC-funded hip, cutting edge, pushing the envelope new companies didn’t know?

“They won’t make it because no one has 1-2 days to wait for their pet food,” she replied. “When people need pet food, they need it yesterday. They come in here frantic. No one plans ahead for their pet food purchases.”

And she was right. The online petstores thought that the volume of their sales would allow them to absorb the substantial shipping costs of a 50 lb bag of kibble.

Nope. The sales simply weren’t there. Even with all the amazing capabilities of the internet, it’s still not instant in every capacity. Sure you can make a purchase today. But with the exception of downloads, you can’t get your purchase today.

Someone please run with this new business idea: downloadable pet food.

So the online ventures became the poster children of overoptimism, dot-com bust and business failure.

All because they violated rule #1: they didn’t do the homework. So they didn’t understand the customer they were chasing.

Then again, hold everything.

The more recent Web 2.0 ventures have gone from nowhere to everywhere in the span of a few months. That certainly qualifies as overnight. But success? We’ll see. The hype is there, but proven business models have yet gain a solid foothold.

So if you’re planning on launching a new biz, take those Seven Steps to heart. And even if you already are getting things done, it can be good to revisit the steps from time-to-time.

Because if there is one certainty in business, and especially small business, it’s that it’s never too late to give what you’re doing more thought, more research and more dedication.

Exhibit A: the bionic arm.

Work hard enough at it for long enough, and next thing you know, you, too, will wake up to find yourself an “overnight success.”

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