1. Water Works of Texas Began on a Big Chief Notebook and a Number 2 Pencil
Starting out doesn't have to be fancy- Eventually, those notes will transform into a business plan. Don’t worry about filling in blanks for some banker; rather invest your time on creating your Success Plan! Once you’ve clearly marked out YOUR plan for success, then and only then, begin a formal business plan. Regard your business plan as a document that holds you accountable to pursuing your dream of success! Read through it regularly. It’s worthless if you aren’t going to use it every single day. If you don’t plan your success, it’s not going to fall in your lap.
2. Release the Dream Killers
You know who or what they are. Dream killers can be negative naysayers in your life that do not believe in your vision and goals for your company. Dream killers can also be your own self-talk. What thoughts run through your mind? Are they positive thoughts or negative thoughts? Evaluate your self-talk and envision yourself and your business succeeding and take action on your dreams. Be sure to keep negative influences at arms-length so as not to bring you down and hold you back from accomplishing your dreams.
3. A Balanced Mind-Set is Important
Keeping a healthy mind-set is essential because you're going to need it! As business owners, we are inundated with tasks, decisions, and problems that crop up all day long. It is important to list our priorities and stay focused on the tasks at hand. Having a healthy ratio of work and rest will help us be more balanced and successful long-term. Too much work or not enough work are both counter-productive. We will either experience burnout really quick and give up and get discouraged, or not get anything done if we don’t keep ourselves in check with a healthy balance of both.
4. Don't Be Afraid to Outsource
If you can hire and delegate tasks to other people, you can give them the work that is repetitive and spend more time developing your vision and growth of your company. When you start outsourcing, you will work less, grow your business faster, free up your time, and multiply your income. If you try to do it all yourself, your business growth will be much slower because you can only do so much in a 24 hour day.
5. Perpetual Learning is Key to Your Success
Stay on top of the trends and current events in your industry and profession. Learn new ways of marketing and more efficient ways of running your business. A great tool to find answers to your business questions is online at Thrive15. They’ve got a huge library of 15 minute online courses taught by millionaires, mentors and everyday entrepreneurial success stories. Even the busiest people can find 15 minutes that will help transform their business. If you’re an avid-reader there are literally 100’s of great business books out there to choose from. You should never stop learning new things as the world is constantly changing and developing around you and you don’t want your business to grow stagnant and outdated. Be on the cutting edge!
6. Admit You Don't Know It All
Never think that you know everything there is to know about your business. Study your competitors and see what processes and procedures work for them. You may be able to apply the same ideas to your own business and surpass the competition. Have a learning mindset and listen to the people you work with. You can learn a great deal from coworkers, employees, and customers if you take the time to listen and pay attention. Gaining a new perspective may unexpectedly catapult your business to a new level of success if you are open-minded.
7. Hire Well
Hire employees that will compensate for your weaknesses. If you struggle with certain tasks, don’t waste time floundering around when you can hire someone that can do it much better than yourself. Hiring professionals for tasks such as accounting, marketing, and graphic design is smart if you aren’t gifted in those areas. Focus on growing your business while hiring the right people that will make it happen.
8. Let Go of the Problem Clients
We have all been told the “customer is always right”. Sometimes, we have customers that literally suck the life out of our business and us as well. If you find yourself spending way too much time trying to please one or two clients that do not make a significant portion of your revenue, then it may be time to let them go. Clients that don’t align with your principals and business ethics will also create more headaches in the long-term.
9. Be Yourself
Don’t try to be someone you’re not. Be honest with yourself. Your customers will be able to discern if you are authentic. Let your true personality shine and build relationships with your employees, business associates, and clients in an honest and straightforward way. It will pay off in the future if you are transparent in all your relationships from the start.
10. Discipline is Key
Develop clear and precise systems and procedures to be more efficient. Make sure your business can run on autopilot as much as possible without you being present. You have achieved true success if you can go away on vacation and your business still makes you money while you are gone. Plus, your business will be worth more when you have proven systems and a process manual in place. Working hard and putting the time in upfront in developing systems for your business is well worth the time and effort.
11. Live By the Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle, or “80/20 Rule”, is an incredible tool for growing your business. For example, if you know which 20% of your time produces 80% of your business’ results, you can spend more time on those activities and less time on others. Your business growth can be exponential if you apply this principle correctly.
12. Be a Legacy Leader
Jim Rohn said it best about what it looks like to be a true leader:
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.”
13. Customer Service is Key
To the customer, whoever answers the phone, responds to a text, chat, email or social media post IS THE COMPANY. The voice. The brand! Your client’s are the life-blood of your business. Without a paying client, there is no business. Building a relationship with your client should be one of the most important tasks on your to do list. To date, I have yet to find a book that even comes close to the insights, Lee Cockerell delivers in his book “Creating Magic” 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney. Clearly Disney is one of the world’s most recognizable names. Get to know the man who inspired Disney’s culture of excellence, experience, brand loyalty and more! Begin setting the tone for excellence in your organization, because you will have a customer for life if you offer exceptional service.