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Some of the most important rules to follow are:
1. Be Organized
To achieve business success you need to be organized. It will help you complete tasks and stay on top of things to be done. A good way to be organized is to create a to-do list each day. As you complete each item, check it off your list. This will ensure that you are not forgetting anything and completing all the tasks that are essential to the survival of your business. Effective time-management is imperative in order to be a successful business owner.
2. Keep Detailed Records
All successful businesses keep detailed records. By doing so, you will know where the business stands financially and what potential challenges you could be facing. Just knowing this gives you time to create strategies to overcome those challenges. Good record keeping is also important for compliance purposes and will ensure that your business avoids any fines or penalties pertaining to your industry requirements.
3. Study Your Competition
Competition breeds the best results. To be successful, you cannot be afraid to study and learn from your competitors. After all, they may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money. Knowing your competition will allow you to ask the Million Dollar question “Why should a customer choose you over your competitors?” When you can clearly answer this question, you are on your way to building a successful business.
4. Understand the Risks and Rewards
The key to being successful is taking calculated risks to help your business grow. A good question to ask is “What’s the downside?” If you can answer this question, then you know what the worst-case scenario is. This knowledge will allow you to take the kinds of calculated risks that can generate tremendous rewards. As a business owner, you will no doubt have to take on more risks than the average person does, but this is what will prepare you for being an instinctive decision maker down the road.
5. Look to be Creative
Always be looking for ways to improve your business and make it stand out from the competition. Recognize that you do not know everything and be open to new ideas and different approaches to your business. Customer feedback is a great way to identify opportunities to be creative. Do not shy away from constructive criticism from your own customers. One area where it is crucial to be creative and maintain creativity is with your marketing.
6. Stay Focused
The old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” applies here. Just because you open a business doesn’t mean you’re going to immediately start making money. It takes time to let people know who you are, so stay focused on achieving your short-term goals. The fact is, most businesses do not make any money (profit) for the first two years.
7. Prepare to Make Sacrifices
The lead-up to starting a business is hard work, but after you open your doors, your work has just begun. In many cases, you have to put in more time than you would if you were working for someone else, which may mean spending less time with family and friends to be successful. It is the extra hour here and there, the extra day on a weekend, or getting a head start on the following week by staying a bit longer on Friday night that will make a difference in the bigger picture. You must be mentally prepared to grind and work through even when things seem bleak on the horizon.
8. Provide Great Service
There are many successful businesses that forget that providing great customer service is important. If you provide better service for your customers, they will be more inclined to come to you the next time they need something instead of going to your competition. In a world where technology changes by the minute and time saving apps are all around us, it is important not to forget that there is no substitute for great customer service. Get to know your customers!
9. Be Consistent
Consistency is a key component to making money in business. You have to keep doing what is necessary to be successful day in and day out. This will create long-term positive habits that will help you make money in the long run. This is most challenging when growing your business and bringing on new staff. Be sure that your staff all maintain the quality and image that your company has been founded on, in order to preserve your brand.
10. Don’t forget why you wanted to start a business in the first place.
Whether it is following a passion or obtaining financial freedom, why you started down this road in the first place is something always to keep top of mind. It is easy to get carried away and forget what it was you wanted from your own business, especially during the early stages. Remembering this key point will help you, stay grounded and motivated to push through and overcome even the toughest obstacles!
Final note
According to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 25% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years. Only 25% of new businesses make it to 15 years or more. If you want to be among that 25%, rigorous attention to these nine tips is a great way to get there. The top two reasons for businesses that fail during the first two years is 1. Insufficient start-up capital and 2. Lack of financing to maintain cash-flow.
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