The failure rate for new businesses is over ninety percent in the first five years of operation. Most go under within two years. Unfortunately, the often advertised solution to prevent business failure is a special strategy, computer program, e-book or mini-course. However, there is no one thing you can do to succeed at business. You need to have the personal discipline to work at your business in a multi-faceted way. You also need to have the right mental attitude and focus so that your fears and worries do not drag you down during the difficult times.
Many successful entrepreneurs have had times of serious failure where they wondered whether they would ever get up again. Anthony Robbins experienced great success as a young man and then sabotaged himself because he was not yet comfortable with this new, successful image of himself. He tells the story of losing everything and then having to rent a tiny apartment that didn’t even have a kitchen sink. He had to wash his dishes in the bath. He was so depressed that he just wanted to watch television and hide from his creditors. Fortunately, a friend turned up who was shocked at Tony’s appearance and encouraged him to get back on his feet. He re-focused his attention on success instead of failure, set new goals and began to move towards them. Today, Anthony Robbins is a very wealthy and successful man who is living his dream.
Peter Daniels is an Australian Entrepreneur who came from an extremely poor background and did poorly at school due to a learning disability. His teachers labeled him as being stupid and one in particular told him he would never amount to anything. His self esteem crashed and he failed every year at school. He tried to make his way in the world by owning his own business. He started and lost three businesses but he still persisted, telling himself that he was still learning and never made the same mistake twice. He succeeded on his fourth attempt. If he had given up after any of his failures he would not now be a globally recognized and respected entrepreneur.
Both Anthony Robbins and Peter Daniels possessed attributes and attitudes that helped them stay the course through difficulties and finally succeed. You can develop these characteristics too. Here are ten things you need in order to get through the ups and downs of business, stay in the game and achieve success:
1.? ? ? EDUCATION AND TRAINING. There are things you need to do to run your business successfully. The process of discovering this knowledge is called education and training. Whether you do this formally or not, you have to commit to regular learning so that you can gain new knowledge that can be applied in your business. You need business skills in marketing, customer service, administration, and employee relations.
2.? ? ? VISION. It is important to have a vision for your life and for your business. Once you create a vision, an ideal future in your mind, you can begin to plan for it. Once you begin to plan for it, you will focus on it and move toward it.
3.? ? ? PLANNING. Without planning any business will fail. Planning enables you to move from where you are now to where you want to be. Ask yourself, “What goals do I have to create to achieve my vision? How do I break these goals down into step by step activities?” Once you have done this, you need to set deadlines for the achievement of goals and ways to measure success along the way.
4.? ? ? GOALS. You need clear and measurable business goals that you can work towards. From these goals you can create smaller objectives which, if achieved, would lead to the fulfillment of your goals. Goals should be well defined and achievable. Spend some time every day on goal setting, planning and evaluation.
5.? ? ? FOCUS. We move in the direction of our focused attention. In other words, if we focus on problems we tend to find ourselves constantly dealing with problems. It is important to focus on what you want to achieve and on what you have to do to accomplish those things.
6.? ? ? DISCIPLINE. Business success depends upon your ability to be disciplined in your approach and activities. To achieve success, you will need to take consistent action in the right direction. You can’t afford to be flighty and jump from one strategy to another. If something works, then it needs to be done regularly.
7.? ? ? PERSISTENCE. There is no doubt that an important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs is persistence. If you try to create a successful business, you will quickly realize that obstacles to your success are par for the course. It is very important not to give up. If you persist in moving towards your goals and do not become discouraged and quit, no matter how long it takes, you will succeed.
8.? ? ? FLEXIBILITY. Although persistence is essential for business success, it is also important to know when you shouldn??™t persist with a particular activity because it isn’t effective. This requires flexibility. To be successful in business you need to be flexible and able to adjust your course when necessary. It is the goal or destination that is important, be willing to change a strategy if it is not taking you toward your goal.
9.? ? ? CREATIVITY. Successful entrepreneurs have learnt to think outside the box. If you believe that there is a solution to most problems, you will be more inclined to seek creative answers to problems. Creativity can be applied to marketing, financial problems, training, dealing with difficult customers and really, just about anything.
10.? ? ? ORGANIZATION. Business success requires you to be organized. This might be a hard one for many people who are not by nature organized. However, for business purposes you have to organize administrative systems and routines that must be worked within for the smooth running of a business. You cannot have chaos and be successful.
If you can incorporate these characteristics and approaches into your life and your business, you too can become a successful entrepreneur.
For Your Continued Success!
Srini Saripalli