A successful business is a series of choices built up over time.
In business, like in any domain, there are good decisions and bad decisions you can make. You have complete control and free will over anything related to your business, which can be freeing on the one hand and overwhelming on the other.
The choices you’ve made until now brought you where you currently are. Do you want to be somewhere else, and achieve something bigger? Then you need to make better decisions.
Focus your attention on these following aspects, and you’ll be making better decisions each step of the way toward achieving your dream.
Find your single motivating purpose
Why are you doing what you are doing? Is there something that put you on this path? What belief makes you want to continue and accomplish your dream?
These are all important questions for entrepreneurs because every customer you will have will work with you because you both share the same vision, values, and beliefs. This will be evident in the service you provide and your marketing, so you need to make sure that what you do is based on something bigger than just wanting to make money. Having something that you trust will make the world a better place, something that brings you the motivation to continue – your SMP – makes you feel like you’re working on your dream, not just simply for your business.
Learn from the mistakes of others
It’s true that you can and should learn from your own mistakes, but it’s better not to make them in the first place. Why? Because they always cost you time and resources, which is the opposite of what you want as an entrepreneur. Instead, look at what others from your industry are doing or have done in order to not repeat the same mistakes.
Work smart, not hard
As an entrepreneur, you have to cut waste wherever possible. This means making smart decisions and finding shortcuts where it’s possible. If you tire yourself out by working too hard every day on menial tasks, your life becomes the one of an employee – but even worse – because you have the additional responsibility of making your business succeed. That sounds like a worse life than living a normal 9-to-5 where there is less pressure on you.
Systemize whatever you can
That is why when you do something once, you should make a process out of it, so you don’t have to do it again from scratch. This saves you a lot of time and money. It’s as simple as recording the instructions you give your team for a particular task so that it can be used as training when you recruit someone new. Or creating a questionnaire for clients to fill out and have a follow-up meeting to discuss it, so you can understand what they want faster than having countless meetings with them that stay off-topic and leave you more confused. Any process can be systemized efficiently. Start from what you are already doing.
Make these good entrepreneurial choices and your business will not only represent who you truly are, but it will also run more smoothly, with less effort and more reward.
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