As successful small business owners are fully aware, small businesses don’t take off overnight. They take a lot of nurturing and time and effort. I recently read a newspaper article with quotes from entrepreneurs whose businesses had performed so well that they were being nominated for national awards. One of the quotes was about giving it your all and giving up your social life. Personally I recognise that, and have had to stop a lot of my social life myself.
Success takes a lot of focus, commitment and thinking. Many times when I go to bed at night I’m thinking about what I can post about that will give value to the readers. No doubt you go through the same motions too.
My days at IBM in my twenties taught me a lot, with my own commitment and that of my colleagues and where it would get us in comparison to those whose commitment was a little more flakey. In today’s post I want to share with you some personal insights that I have learnt myself and from others and feel are important values of successful business people.
1. Write a plan and stick to it – write an action plan of how you are going to reach your destination. Write measurable and precise goals ie 5 local newspaper mentions this year. Then as you go through the year, if you get to May and you haven’t got one yet, you know exactly what you need to do. Everyday you can see what you need to do and it will keep you on track. A goal that isn’t written down is just thin air. In my 45 free lessons for small business marketing, I will be providing you with an easy to use template that I use to record my goals and track my progress. It is something that pins my business together.
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2. Know that you will not have success overnight – it takes a lot of work. Within a year you would have made so much progress you will surprise yourself if you take action on your plan everyday.
3. Take responsibility for your life – as time goes by it seems that our society is leaning more towards supporting a ‘blame culture’. I don’t feel this is good for society nor is it a habit that helps with business. Having a ‘victim mentality’ is not something that leads to success.
4. Opinions are only opinions after all – and there are as many opinions on this planet as there are people ie 6 billion. If you get a bad rap for something, just move on and don’t take it personally. It is just an opinion after all. Consider whether the person giving it to you is actually an expert, if so, learn something from it, if not then just keep your head down working and keep moving. Customer feedback is another matter and should be taken seriously if you are not delivering a decent service or products.
5. You are going to have to work hard – yes, and it may be that you have to give up your social life if you really do want a successful business. Businesses take time to grow and develop and they need a lot of commitment and thinking. Be willing to pay the price for your dreams. Wanting a big house, a luxury car, and a million dollars in the bank is all very nice, and everyone wants these things – but are you willing to pay the price to get them? This is one of the major differences between the successful and unsuccessful.
6. Stay focused – it may be that you have to turn your phone off during the day if the calls you are getting are not business related. Keep to the task at hand and blank out whatever it is that is distracting you. If you work from home and you need to re-educate your family on when it is ok to interrupt you, then do that. A corporation in Japan had red hats as part of their business strategy and culture. If a worker was wearing a red hat then it was focus time and nobody could interrupt him. Do the same at home and put a sign on your office door for when you are not available. You can get a lot done in 4 hours of uninterrupted work time. If need be, set a timer and stay focused until the buzzer sounds. Keep away from your email and other unnecessary distractions.
7. Never give up – the Indian saying ‘you can’t eat an elephant in one day’ is true. You need to focus and then go an inch at a time towards your destination. It won’t all just suddenly fall into place like magic, you’ve got to work hard to take there an inch at a time. If you get turned away by anybody, remember Edison the inventor of the lightbulb who quoted “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
8. Strive to be the best that you can – learn all that you can about your field of business and grow your knowledge everyday. Make a note of what you can do better and take customer feedback seriously. If possible give yourself an appraisal every year on areas of your business and then measure where you are. Next year measure again.
9. The power of now – do it today – not tomorrow. Get on with it now. You need to get as much done as you can and you have a long way to go.
I hope that you find those helpful, I certainly have done.
