There are many things business school simply doesn’t teach you, you need experience or to learn from the experience of others. At times when we forget the basics and simply need to have a short sharp refresher. Without further ado, here are my top 8 tips for business success.
Mindset over money
With the wrong mindset no amount of money can build a great business. You need a good can-do attitude and often think outside of the box. Throwing money at a problem area is seldom the solution, in fact, financial constraints can force creativity and innovation. So next time you think money is the solution, before spending the money, first challenge yourself by seeing if there’s a more creative, innovative opportunity waiting to be discovered.
Passion over money
Simon Sinek said, “Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress: Working hard for something we love is called passion.” I say, “Work for passion and the money will come, work for money and the stress will come.” Building a business is tough, there has to be a passion to make it worthwhile, purely making money, paying bills and buying stuff gets boring after a while, doesn’t it?
Money does matter
Saying that, if you don’t have a good grip on the money you do have you won’t succeed, so start with the basics of always keeping your income higher than your expenses to keep your business going and get passionate about working with the numbers or find someone who is who can help you make strategic decisions. Most business owners fall in love with the numbers regardless as it’s the measure of business success. How many people have we helped this month, how have we improved the profit margins, what is our CAC and other such questions become numbers you learn to rely on.
People matter most
No matter what, you need to take care of your people, the way you treat people matters. Customers, staff and even followers are more attracted to your brand if you serve them well. Richard Branson said, “Take care of your employees, and they’ll take care of your business.” Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” People buy from people, so take good care of all the people who come into contact with your business and always be kind.
Your people matter
If you haven’t got the right people in your life, chances are you’re heading in the wrong direction. Carefully choose who’s in your closest circle, including personal cheerleaders as well as people who are further ahead than you and who will challenge and stretch you. You will find that men and women who you deem to be successful have a good circle of great people surrounding them.
Your experts matter
You are not an expert at everything. Outsource to various experts as much as possible soon as possible so you are free to do what only you can do. It will save you money right away and make you money quite quickly. If you are a small startup you could even simply start with a cleaner to free up your time from domestic duties as Rupal Patel once told us or get a great virtual assistant to take care of all those little bits and bobs that seem to take up all your time. Once your budget increases include experts in fields that you aren’t good at or don’t enjoy so you can focus on what you want to spend your time on.
You matter too
Take care of you. Imagine what will happen if you aren’t able to work due to illness – what does your business look like then? Do you see why your health and well being is important? It’s ok to take time off, have breaks, keep fit and healthy and laugh a lot, it’s good for you.
Enjoy the journey
There’s simply no point in creating a job for yourself that you are trapped in and makes you miserable. If you are not enjoying the journey stop and reflect to find out why then change what you need to or do something else entirely.
