Key To Business Success: 10 Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs
Success in the business world is as elusive and mysterious for most of us as it is for those who are born into a family with generations of wealth, privilege and power.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.
In fact, there are some very specific habits that highly successful people have in common: they work hard, they set goals, they put in the time to make their dreams come true and most importantly, they maintain a positive attitude despite what setbacks might come their way.
It’s no secret that the world has changed in the last twenty years.
The economy is more globalized than ever before and new technologies have made it easier for entrepreneurs to find customers, suppliers, employees and investors around the world.
As a result, we are witnessing an unprecedented number of new business startups.
And many of these newbie entrepreneurs are turning out to be astonishingly successful, growing their companies into major multinational corporations with thousands or even millions of employees worldwide.
But what makes them so different? What sets them apart from all those other hopeful entrepreneurs who never make it past year one? Who succeeds where others fail?
It turns out that there are some key factors – habits if you will – which separate average entrepreneurial success stories from the few who go on to become truly great entrepreneur superstars.
In this article, we’ll look at 10 habits of highly successful people from the world of business and find out how we can use them for our business success.
10 Things to Do For Business Success
Here are the 10 key habits of successful entrepreneurs which will help you succeed in any business venture you undertake.
1. Persistence
If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur you have to be persistent.
You have to persist in developing your business plan, persisting until you find the right customers and employees, persisting until your product is the best it can possibly be and persisting until you run your business with maximum efficiency. Persistence is a key element of any success story.
Rome wasn’t built in a day and no business was built overnight.
You have to be prepared to work on your goals for many years, saving up money from your job or your existing business until you can take the risk of starting something new.
But persistence has another dimension – it also means not giving up when things get tough.
There’s no such thing as an overnight success. Success takes time, a lot of hard work and even some luck along the way.
2. Vision
If you want to succeed in business it’s important that you have a vision, big picture goals for what you want to accomplish in the long term future as well as short term milestones to achieve along the way.
As an entrepreneur, you need to be able to set your business goals and strategies well in advance, up to 5 or 10 years out so that you can develop the right product or service which will meet those longer-term goals.
It’s also important that you have a clear vision of what your business success looks like because this provides direction and motivation for your employees, suppliers and customers.
Every successful entrepreneur has a clearly defined vision for his or her company.
A clear strategy can help you adapt to changes that may occur in the external environment as well as track your progress towards achieving your goals.
A vision statement is a short sentence or paragraph which clearly defines what you want to accomplish with your company.
It should not be longer than 4-5 sentences stating the objectives of your business and how it will benefit customers.
3. Targeted Customers
If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur it’s important that you know how to find the right customers.
It doesn’t matter how much money you raise in venture capital if you don’t have a target customer niche with purchasing power and interest in your product or service you can’t succeed in your business.
You need to understand what makes your customers tick – why they choose one product or service over another and how to change their perception of value so that you can more effectively create demand for your business.
If you don’t even know who your target customers are, it’s going to be very hard to develop the right marketing message or sales strategy.
How can you reach them if you’re not even sure what motivates them?
You need to think about how your product solves your customer’s problems and then let that determine what features and benefits you include in the product or service.
For example, if your customer is a stay at home mom and she values convenience, then offering to deliver her groceries to her door makes sense.
If it’s more important that she can save money by buying wholesale for larger quantities, then using coupons might be more effective.
4. Keep On Top of Your Finances
One of the keys to business success is keeping on top of your finances. You have to pay attention to your cash flow.
You also need to make sure that the money coming in is greater than the money going out.
The more you know how to manage your finances the better you are at running your business.
Some people say it takes three years for a small company to break even and five or six years for an average-sized company to break even.
If you are not good at managing money, it could really hurt your business in the long run.
This means that you have to carefully monitor your finances and make sure they are strong!
One way is by keeping a balance sheet, which lists all of the assets (cash, investments) – including liabilities (debts).
Another way to monitor your finances is by keeping track of your net worth. The higher your net worth the better!
It’s also a good idea to talk with an accountant or financial advisor about taxes for small businesses as well.
5. Problem Solving Skills
Starting a business will inevitably bring up many problems and challenges for you as an entrepreneur. Your ability to find solutions and resolve those issues effectively is one of the main reasons that you will become either successful or unsuccessful in your business ventures.
The ability to solve problems is vital for business success.
People with problem-solving skills are more likely than others to be successful in their careers, which means being able to find solutions and make quick decisions when faced with obstacles.
You will need to have a systematic approach to problem-solving.
Identify the problem and a possible solution, then evaluate whether or not that solution is reasonable. If the solution isn’t reasonable, go back to step one.
If it is a good idea, then try and implement that plan in your business or as an individual.
If you can’t do this on your own, ask for help from someone else who has experience with what needs to be done (or even hire them).
This will likely be much more cost-effective and efficient than trying to do it on your own.
Problem-solving skills can be learned, but they may also need innate talent or at least some basic knowledge of how to think through a situation.
People who have this skill set will not only fare better in their business and careers but will also become more successful in their personal lives.
6. Keep Your Eyes Open for Opportunities
If you are an entrepreneur, then you should know that the most successful entrepreneurs have a knack for spotting opportunities.
If there is an opportunity to be found in your industry, it will help if you keep your eyes open and look out for such moments.
While some of these opportunities might not turn into anything huge right away, they could create something great in the future.
This is why it pays to be an active observer.
You never know what might come out of nowhere, but if you are prepared for the opportunity when it does happen then you can take advantage of them with confidence.
Entrepreneurs who become successful in business have the ability to see things that others cannot.
They can quickly recognize a market opportunity and capitalize on it through an innovative product or service which is vastly different from the competition.
They can also look at an existing product or service and find ways to improve it and they have a knack for being able to detect weaknesses in their competitors’ business models, strategies and operations.
They always seem to be looking ahead — thinking about what could happen in the future and how they can position themselves to take advantage of it.
Develop a game plan for how your business will handle the competition and other potential challenges when they arise, but don’t get too stressed out about it all as there are no guarantees that these things will happen in the first place.
The key is simply to be prepared so that if anything does come up, then you are ready to deal with it accordingly.
7. Learning From Mistakes
Mistakes happen. It’s a fact of life and is inevitable in business, too. You can’t avoid making mistakes; but if you want to be successful, learning from them is vital.
Let’s say that for whatever reason your business does not perform as well as it should have over the course of one year: this could be due to any number of reasons.
What you need to do is analyze what happened over the course of that year. Why did this happen?
For example, if your business didn’t grow because it performed poorly in a certain region or with a certain customer base, then you should evaluate how well these areas are performing currently and determine whether they will remain strong in the future.
In other cases, it might be necessary to consider changing strategies within your business/company.
Whatever the reason for poor performance is, there is always something that can be done to improve and achieve success moving forward, if you learn from mistakes of the past.
8. Networking
It’s not enough to have a business idea and an awesome product. You need connections, too.
A lot of people dismiss networking and think it’s just a waste of their time.
But the truth is that networking is one of the key factors to business success.
It can also be the one factor that allows you to have a successful career even if your skills and talents aren’t that great.
Networking can be anything from making connections with other professionals at conferences, joining industry groups on LinkedIn, staying in touch with classmates from college, inviting people on social media and so on.
Bottom line: if you want to succeed in your business, you need to network!
In the networking world, it’s not what you know that matters. It’s who you know!
That may sound a bit cynical but in all seriousness, most people are willing to help those they network with even if they don’t share any of their contacts or friends.
The knowledge and connections shared by your network can lead to jobs, business leads, and even friends.
Networking can also lead to partnership opportunities and new business ventures as well as potential mentors and investors.
It’s always good to be on the lookout for new people you may want to meet.
If you don’t have time for networking events or investing in personal relationships, one of the best investments you can make is hiring someone who does so that they can do it on your behalf.
9. Always Have an Exit Strategy
You Need an Exit Strategy
Exit strategy doesn’t mean quitting or leaving a business you are involved in, it means having the knowledge about what will happen to your business if things go south.
A business exit strategy is crucial.
In order to have the business success, it is important that you have one or more ways for exiting your company when necessary.
For example, if you are considering getting into real estate investing, make sure you know what will happen in case the market takes a turn for the worse.
You need to have an end date in mind: What will you do when your lease is up? When it comes time to sell or refinance, how are you going to get out of the deal? If you’re still thinking about what’s next after that, now may be the time to start making those decisions.
You should have a contingency plan in place: What if the market takes an unexpected turn? You need to be prepared for that and know what your next move will include, whether it’s selling or holding on until things improve.
If you’re not sure how to handle these contingencies, now is the time to find out.
You should have a way to protect yourself: If you’re in a business that is going to risk your assets, make sure you get insurance so that if the worst happens, you will not be left without anything.
It’s never too late for an exit strategy! Make plans now and ensure success later on down the road.
10. Take Time to Do Things That Make You Happy
“There is a difference between being busy and being productive. Being productive means that you are using your time wisely in order to achieve the things that matter most. To be successful, it’s important not just to have goals but also to take enough time out of your day for what really matters.”
It can feel next to impossible to find the time in your day or week to take care of yourself, and it’s even more difficult to make sure you have enough for everything else.
Here are a few tips on how to prioritize what matters most so that you can accomplish goals both professionally and personally:
* Prioritize self-care by taking time out for yourself.
* Find the time to do what you love outside of work, like hobbies or spending quality time with friends and family.
* Limit distractions in your life by turning off notifications on your phone before bed or when trying to get things done during the day. They can be incredibly tempting but not worth it if they lead you down the wrong path.
* Use your commute to listen to a podcast or book that can teach you something new, rather than turning on the radio and listening to music.
* Rather than working through lunch in order to get more done in one day, take a break for an hour so that you don’t burn out over time.
* Remember that it’s ok to stop at a store for some quick groceries on the way home from work.
* Establish boundaries and let go of unhealthy relationships so you can focus your time elsewhere.
A couple of days each week, I do something outside of my normal routine – whether it be going out with friends or doing yoga in the morning.
It’s not hard to find the time, I just have to make sure that it is a priority and put myself first for once!
Concluding Thoughts About Business Success
The key to business success is not just being an entrepreneur. It also requires you to be a problem solver, visionary and strategist.
While there are many skills that go into this, we hope these 10 points have given you some ideas for how to start succeeding in your own business today!
The most successful businesses are made up of people with a passion for what they do and the skills to make it happen. They have strategies, but also know when to take risks.
They’re persistent in their pursuit of success, visionaries who can see beyond today’s problems to tomorrow’s solutions, masters at developing relationships that will help them thrive all over again tomorrow – and problem-solvers who find new ways around obstacles instead of giving up on themselves or others.
Do you want your business to be one of these? If so, don’t wait any longer!
Start taking action today by considering how you can build each important skill into your life now.