Actions for Success: What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know
Battle Ready: Introduction To Entrepreneurial Success
In this blog we will be exploring particular elements you may want to consider if you wish to achieve as an entrepreneur or business leader.
These are factors that help increase your chances of achievement for yourself.
So rather than looking at them as something that has to be done, in order to succeed, no matter what. Look at them as possibilities. That the more you do and include, the higher the chances of success.
Achievement in entrepreneurship is like a dance. There is an element of science and an element of art. You will be dancing along the lines of the two.
The 'science' part of business building is what we will be focusing more on here. The foundations and principles required to increase your chances.
The 'art' side could be your vision, actual craft (your service or product) or brand personality. Which you will learn from your own interests, experience and knowledge.
Skills are included in this dance because they could be considered the actual (action of) dance itself. While they may be learned in a kind of 'science' type of form (in terms of the fundamentals, structure, practice or curriculum to learning your skills), they can also be utilized and executed in an 'artistic' form.
Its these elements that gives the journey of business completion it's seeming 'randomness' and 'luck perception'.
The 'science' part of business development gives people the tools to operate and begin their business journey. The tools and training gives them the skills, knowledge and strategy to work their business.
But the 'art' side can give your business the edge. This would be your passion, innovation. Your personality, your USP, even your approach in the way you use some of your skills and knowledge.
Since each business is different, however, lets get you clear on the fundamentals that most business might need, so you can have a firm grip on your business operations. Enabling you to know how to have your business work in its best way possible.
The War Room: Start With The End In Mind
It can be a good idea to have the end in mind.
What does that mean?
Well, what results do we wish to have?
Are we more focused on financial results? If so, how much?
Are we focused on client numbers? If so, how many?
If we are focused on impact? If so, in what way? On industry, or quality of service? Community or global impact?
Other things could entail what your personal lifestyle would be like, or what you aim to achieve as a result of your business being active. Is it aiming to solve an issue, create something new, provide a solution or make some kind of change?
Whatever your end goal is, this can work to your advantage if you are very clear about what your end result is.
This gives you direction, provides a place to plan and create strategies from. It can also help with decision making and just as importantly, allows you to track your progress. It will allow you know when you have achieved and succeeded in attaining and focus more on that, rather than the size of your business.
The Masters Arsenal: Building Critical Skills
If you are serious and sincere about achieving your end goal, you might have to consider training of some sort.
Turning up in your current state of being may not be enough to take you from where you are, to where you want to be.
You might have to learn the appropriate skills to aid your growth.
Do you have to learn every single thing?
No. While it is wise to have a good amount of knowledge and experience in various factors of your business, it would be better to delegate and share those responsibilities to others.
But there are going to be key skills that you might have to learn.
Maybe it could be:
Sales skills,
Speaking,
Communication,
Leadership skills
etc.
Learning theses sorts of skills is the best way to get yourself off the ground while attracting others.
Whether you have a team or are a solopreneur, certain skills can be crucial for growth and help establish you as serious entrepreneur or leader. Someone who took their craft serious enough to be willing to put in the time and effort to learn and get the best out of themselves and their business for their clients success.
Become a master of yourself and your business by learning those critical skills so that you can end up being where you want to be, by becoming who you need to be.
Your Advisory Council: The Power Of Mentors & Coaches
Throughout history, modern businesses or even in modern day media, you can find examples of where leaders will have advisors to help them make the best decision.
Mentors and coaches could be considered your advisors.
They are a great way to help you get the best results for yourself and in a relatively quicker time.
This is because:
They tend to have knowledge and information that you do not have (yet)
They tend to have more experience in the area that you are working within
They have different perspectives and beliefs than you
These factors give you more information to work with to help you arrive at a decision.
They can help provide the direction you may need to progress towards your goals and outcomes.
Although there is no reason to believe that you could not reach the same conclusions or outcomes yourself. You would be correct to believe that.
However, you would have to consider the amount of time, trial and error it could take to arrive at some of the conclusions or results you might need to have. If at all.
Also, how long would it take to gain the knowledge and experience you would need to have to make particular decisions?
These things you could take into consideration.
The point of a mentor or coach is that through the learning from their mistakes, their knowledge and expertise, you will tend to speed up your progress towards your aims.
You will have access to someone who you could pick their brains for advice or info, rather than trying to figure things out by yourself.
It can also make the whole business building less daunting and more fun in some cases.
A final aspect of having a coach or mentor is the possibility of becoming a part of their network. This means you can become a part of their community.
Being part of a community can work wonders upon your morale and sense of belonging when being connected with peers along your journey.
Training Grounds: Mastering Your Craft
You may already be a natural at your chosen service.
Or it maybe have become an interest to you and as such, have decided to learn more about it so you can fulfil your services for your clients.
Whatever the reason is, having the attitude to always improve on your skills is great.
If you can hone your craft and master it. This will elevate you and put you on the path toward being an industry leader and expert.
This is important because it will help with trust. But also, it will be one of the major factors when people who are deciding to go with.
If you ever get to the point where you are seen among the best (if not the best) then people will come to you when they have that problem.
You will hardly have to look for new clients, people will seek you out based on your reputation and through introduction from past clients.
You will feel proud of yourself, feel accomplished. Have great confidence in yourself because you will truly know inside and out your craft.
Giving you the ability to know how to solve more challenges, than your competitor.
The Assembly Line: Building Scalable Systems
Let's begin with some definitions of 'system' to see how it can apply to your business.
DEFINITION OF SYSTEM
A group or combination of interrelated, interdependent or interacting elements forming a collective entity; a methodical or coordinated assemblage of parts, facts, concepts etc.
Orderliness; an ordered manner.
- Collins Dictionary
A set of connected things or devices that operate together.
- Cambridge Dictionary
From the definitions shown here, it is proposed that you have some sort of process, procedures or operations that fit these principles.
If you are able to create a process that allows you to perform your work, to carry out procedures in an 'ordered manner' this can impact your overall business effectiveness and efficiency.
The more streamlined and optimised this 'ordered manner' was, the quicker, the smoother the operations become.
Having a group of 'interrelated, interdependent or interacting elements' could include people or technology.
In the case of people, this could be a person (or department) that focuses solely, or mainly, on one area of your business operations. This then either contributes to the overall outcome and results in some way or is part of the process, part of the steps taken along the path through to another person (or department) that performs their operations on top of that.
In the case of technology, the conveyor belt springs to mind. Where one piece of machinery builds one part of the product. It then moves to another machine that completes the build. Then it moves on to be packaged and so on.
Or another aspect could be that you have an onboarding process for new enrolments. Once they enroll, maybe your system comprises of an email supplier and a database. While each can be separate, they combine to form a CRM.
In each of these instances, while they operate independently, they each are still connected and operate together towards one outcome. This is a system.
A system can also include concepts and methods. An approach of doing things.
The main point here is that if you have systems in your business, then the more organised, the smoother the running of your daily operations becomes.
It is part of your business structure that carries the workload on your behalf.
This also allows you to grow, if you want. Since you have the principle system in place, you now choosing to grow will pose less disruption for your business. As you have this structure in place that holds or contains the burden for you.
It's not about having lots of systems, its about having a system (which could have a couple subsystems) that is as simple as possible that allows you to run your business as effectively and as smoothly as possible.
In some aspects, having systems in place sets your business up to effectively run itself.
If you look at systems as kind of circuitry in a machine, once these circuits and cogs etc. are in place and is switched on, then the machine begins to operate.
This is great leverage for you as now you are spending less time performing tasks that you don't want or need to, while you focus on more of the things you wish to.
Elite Special Forces: Surround Yourself With Excellence
The reason it is important who you surround yourself with is because, put simply, it rubs off on you.
When you surround yourself with the best people you can, this will greatly work towards your chances of success.
Why?
Because you will end up thinking like them, having similar perspectives and beliefs. You will be held to a particular standard and maybe even held accountable with all you do.
These things are important to move forward with what you do.
If you don't have the appropriate beliefs or have limiting beliefs, then this will affect your decisions and actions. Probably at your detriment.
If your perception of things are not the best, then you may not see opportunities where others might. You may not pay attention or even be aware of things that matter to you.
If you are not held accountable, then if you do not do something, it could be shrugged off and forgotten. Doing this too often will slow your progress down.
So these things can be helpful to you.
Also, they could make great connections. They may know people that could be helpful to you. Or help you get better at meeting certain people that you could not do alone.
Who are we talking about and where can we meet these people?
Networking events,
Groups within your Industry,
Social Groups,
Peers of your craft or service,
Learning who your industry leaders and experts are,
Any promising talents (such as yourself) that are also on their path towards achievement for themselves.
Remember, a lot of these people can become good friends. In most instances, this is what you may want. Not just to be used to get new clients.
Now they dont all need to be friends. Some can be professional colleagues that you can work with too.
You cant do everything by yourself. You may need to learn from others, gain support and encouragement. Maybe that one introduction they help you with, could be what it takes to get you established on your journey.
The Long Campaign: Conclusion
Having a business is finding your 'sweet spot' in the art and science of business.
While each business is different. Some are more 'science' leaning. Heavily built around standardization and systems.
Think of business such as. Mcdonalds, Starbucks, Holiday Inn, Dominoes, Apple. Each focuses on replication, precision, timing, consistency of quality and services.
While others lean more on the side of art. Focusing more on creativity and personalization.
Think of the family run restaurant, the independent boutique fashion designers, the B&B's. Each may prefer their own unique approaches, their personalised styles, their secret recipes or personal relationships with clients.
Where will your business sit in this spectrum of science (system & standardization) and art (creation and innovation)?
Remember though, in order to prosper, each of these business still would need both elements to thrive.
For instance Mcdonalds or Dominoes. While systemic in their approach, can still need to innovate their menus.
While a family run business could do with a basic book keeping or client booking system.
Like a journey, the duration of time to reach your goals may differ. So this becomes a journey of stamina and not necessarily a race. It can be a good idea to use your resources wisely.
Other things to consider not mentioned above are things like investment. Continual investments of your time and finances can either speed up or improve your business,
Leverage of your time through the use of technology and others allow you to get more things done at the same time. Or giving you the time to perform other duties instead.
Having appropriate actions and habits are also a good thing to have as your grow into the leader you wish to be.
Continual practice of your skills and knowledge overtime set you up to be the master of your domain.
The more you do, the more you will have an edge in your industry.
