Business and Entrepreneurship
5 Simple Strategies for Business Success
Your business doesn’t have to fail
Do you know how many businesses fail due to “small thinking”?
A business has to start somewhere, yes. Many start and they never grow to their full potential. As a business owner, you don’t want to put hard work and energy into a business just for it to fail or never grow to its fullest potential.
The dream seems so real when the business license, cooperation, trademark, etc. is acquired. There is that moment of accomplishment that may diminish or sometimes flatline.
You can have the best business plan and most creative ideas, but those two elements alone are not enough to run, expand and grow a business.
Can you imagine the people who are left without impact, who are unserved? What about the amount of money that wasn’t made by a business? All because they didn’t employ strategies to expand and grow?
Do you feel like one of those businesses?
Many business owners get stuck on the word “small”. Just because you don’t have a team of 30 plus people or you’re not a multimillion-dollar business doesn’t make you “small” in impact and potential. It simply means your business isn’t there yet.
The multimillion-dollar company is just that because someone put the work into that business. There was a drive to push past the word “small”. There was no room for “small thinking”.
Here are strategies for you to get there.
Strategy #1: Think big
As a business coach and consultant what I have learned is that many business owners think small. Thinking small means, looking at what you don’t have and allowing it to define how you work with what you do have. Here is an example:
Don’t Have: A human resource department to recruit and hire workers.
Impact on Decision: Hire someone within the family, a friend, or people that are not fully vetted. A couple of questions are asked that aren’t intentional enough to ensure the right person is hired. Hiring is done out of anxiousness and sometimes desperation.
Thinking Big: Create a protocol for hiring and use it to hire. Even if you are just hiring one person. This protocol can be developed into something bigger. It allows you to set high expectations and not settle. If you believe in what you are doing you will attract the person that meets those expectations.
Strategy #2: Invest in Yourself First
The first thing on your mind might be investing in the company, but it needs to be on investing in yourself.
You are the mastermind behind the business you are growing. You might have a business partner or a team of people working with you. However, you and your business partner and/or team can’t be the end all be all to each other.
There is information that you don’t possess and a perspective from a lens you don’t have that you need.
All business owners or aspiring business owners need to invest in a business coach or consultant. The benefit of doing this is that you have a non-biased voice. Their perspectives are based on facts, research, and what’s in the best interest of you and your business.
You will have someone with experience and information that will enhance what you are doing so you can work smarter and not harder. There are affordable business coaches and consultants out there.
If I could coin a phrase from those who I have coached it would be “I didn’t think of it like that.”
Strategy #3: Have a Growth Mindset
Having a growth mindset means acknowledging that ability and intelligence need to be developed over time. You realize that learning takes place over a lifetime. Carol Dweck writes all about it in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
It is a great book to invest in buying and reading. School districts across the country are implementing elements of having a Growth Mindset. Educators view themselves and the people they serve as learners with potential vs. learners with deficits.
What I use a lot from Dweck’s book is “the power of Yet”. This simply means not looking at things as a failure or as impossible. Instead, look at things as you not being there yet. This leaves the mind open to the possibilities of getting there.
You might aspire to have a building with four offices and a conference room where you can host a training. Right now, you might be in a building with two offices and nowhere to hold conferences. You might not even have a building or know how you will acquire one. Instead of complaining or feeling like you won’t get there, tell yourself the following: “I will get that building I have in my plans. I’m not there yet.” The possibilities of getting that building are there.
With hard work and perseverance, you will get there!
Strategy #4 Maintain Discipline
Discipline is the main contributor to success. Anything you do requires a level of discipline to be successful.
In school, you needed the discipline to study. If you are trying to lose weight you need to be disciplined in preparing your food, tracking what you eat, exercising, etc.
As a business owner, you have to be disciplined daily in working towards the goals of your business. The business plan is not something you do to check off on a list or present to a bank. It has to be put into action and remain a live document.
Putting in the work means something different for each person or each type of business. Here are five general habits that require discipline, but foster success:
- Wake up early enough to have time to pray and/or meditate to start your day.
- Wake up early enough to have time to review your calendar/planner, goals, and action steps for the day.
- Monitor your actions throughout the day by checking your calendar/planner and what you have accomplished a minimum of twice within the day. I suggest late morning and late afternoon.
- Utilize productivity strategies to work without the distractions of social media, cell phones, etc. My top two are the Forest app and the Do Not Disturb button. The Forest app allows you to set a timer to work without using your phone. If you are successful, you will grow your forest. These are real trees planted. Use your phone while using the app and your forest will suffer the consequences. A simple cost-free way is to turn on “Do Not Disturb” on your phone. This can be done for iPhone and Android users.
- Assess your productivity, reflect and plan for the next day. Before you shut everything down, you must look at what you have done for the day. What did you accomplish today? Then reflect on your productivity or lack thereof. Ask yourself reflection questions. I encourage you to write the answers down.
- Why was I productive today?
- Why wasn’t I productive today?
- What went well?
- What didn’t go well?
- What would I do differently?
- What do I need to make sure I do the same because it worked so well?
Lastly, plan for tomorrow. Based on your reflection and goals, map out a plan for the next day. Update your calendar and planner. This is the information you will review in the morning. After rest and your morning praying/meditation, you will have a fresh eye for looking at the day ahead of you.
Strategy #5: Attraction: Believe You Can Do It!
It’s human nature to want people to believe in you. I believe everyone has at least one person who believes in them.
You have to believe in yourself and that you can do this. Fear is real. We will always have a point of nervousness and fear. We have to push past the fear and do it afraid.
Your mind will always have thoughts of doubt due to fear. However, you have been equipped with four previous strategies (Think Big, Invest in Yourself, Have a Growth Mindset and Maintain Discipline) that will empower you to be able to speak to yourself and encourage yourself.
When a negative thought comes speak the opposite out loud. For example…
Negative Thought: No one will buy your product
Reversed Declaration: People will buy my product!
Negative Thought: I am not good enough to run this business on my own
Reversed Declaration: I can run this business on my own and run it successfully!
Negative Thought: I’m only breaking even
Reversed Declaration: I will begin to make a surplus. I’m just not there yet!
Negative Thought: I won’t find the right people for the job.
Reversed Declaration: I will find the right people for the job!
Remember, when you turn the statements around, say it out loud and say it with an exclamation at the end.
Believing in yourself and speaking positivity into the atmosphere will attract what you need to succeed. The Law of Attraction works!
What do you want in your life? What you think and speak is what you manifest.
In conclusion, these strategies are proven to be successful. Success can be defined as accomplishing a goal or a purpose. We attribute success to what happens at the finish line when the goal is met or not met.
I hope this article has shown you that success is accomplished along the way not just at the finish line. Each step you take is an important step not to be categorized by size alone. Thinking about size alone will lead you to think you are not being successful.
Appreciate and celebrate the steps you take to get to the bigger goal. No matter the size of the step, it’s the “taking the step” that makes you successful and leads to a successful business!
I hope you have found my strategies helpful. You can employ them even if you are not a business owner or aspiring business owner.
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