There are many steps that you can take to make your business successful. It can be confusing and overwhelming to know what steps you should take. Are you right?
You may find the steps required to build a successful business different from mine or others. Depending on what type of business we are running, our path to success might look different.
Yet, there are common steps all business owners should follow. These include building relationships (writing newsletters and blog posts), visibility (getting your website up, networking, and social media), and the ability to communicate with customers. You can create products and programs that are attractive to your ideal clients, and so on.
There’s also the flip side to the coin. You can also do things that hinder your success.
Let’s look at how successful business owners deal with standard stumbling blocks. These suggestions will help you focus more energy and time on the things that are truly important to your success.
These are some habits that can stop you from being successful.
1. Email
Do you check your email every morning? Email seems innocent, as we all know. You’ll be happy that you have your inbox under control. Yet, it will entice you and make you hungry. (What happened to my morning?)
It’s like this: Email is your agenda. This is what you are supposed to do or answer.
Spend the first hour of your day on revenue-generating activity.
It could be writing your next article or program; it could also be following up on people you met at yesterday’s networking event and setting up free calls or recording audio for a product.
You should set aside specific times every day to check your email and respond to it. This could be at half-hour intervals at 10, 1, and 4 PM. This will allow you to do more and help your business grow faster.
2. Telephone calls for personal use
You should not answer the phone each time it rings. If you used to have a job, it was unlikely that you would be able to answer personal calls at any time. This was something that family and friends understood and respected.
Why should your business be any different?
Imagine this: You are at work on a product or article, and your phone rings. It’s your best friend calling you to chat. You hang up the phone an hour later and realize that you have lost all motivation to finish your article.
Allow calls to go to voicemail and then reply at the times you have set.
3. Social Media
Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook are great places to connect and market. They make time disappear quicker than a speeding bullet.
You can use social media during work hours. Make sure you are there for a purpose and that you have a limit.
You could spend 15 minutes on Facebook in the morning wishing people a happy birthday, 15 on the afternoon responding to comments on your page, and 15 on the last day of work commenting on others’ posts, retweeting, re-pinning, or retweeting. You get the idea. You can learn what works to make sure your social media time serves as a break between productive chunks of work instead of the opposite.
This may be a bit of a surprise to you, but you should use social media for personal or business purposes. I was just saying. You can think about your success as a business owner and then make decisions about how to spend your time.
4. Saying yes
Entrepreneurs are people who do things well. This makes you attractive to people looking to help their business succeed.
You can say no every now and again.
Asking for help or favor is a good idea. Consider these questions. It’s okay to tell them that you’ll think about it and get back to them. It’s not easy, I know. It’s worth it.
Consider the following:
1. Do I have the right skills?
Are you able to perform the job? You might know someone who can do it better, but the person asking you for the task knows you are always willing to say yes.
You’re done if you answer this question no. You can move on to the next question if you answer yes.
2. Are you ready to take on this challenge?
It’s perfectly okay to say no if you don’t want or can’t do it. You don’t have to say yes every single time. It’s perfectly acceptable to say “Not this time,” but please let us know when you have the opportunity to help.”
Answering yes to question 2 will allow you to move on to the next question.
3. What conditions are they?
You might need to establish some expectations before you say yes to the request. You might tell a friend that you cannot help them move if you don’t have any other plans. You might need some downtime because your schedule is already full.
You don’t have to apologize if you are unable to follow these steps.
I am not suggesting that you stop saying no every day. I’m not telling you to stop donating your time to family and friends or charities. These are things I do all the time. These are part of a rich and fulfilling life.
I only ask that you ensure that your yes-distance doesn’t get in the way of your success.
5. There is no plan or guidance
Are you awoken to wonder what your business is doing today?
Start by setting goals. Next, create small actions steps to achieve each goal. You can prioritize and plan when each step will be completed. Do not overwhelm yourself with too many tasks. Focus on three tasks per day, and you will be successful.
A coach can help you determine your goals and the actions that you should take to reach them. Your coach will help you avoid making mistakes and wasting time by guiding you to success. You’ll be able to create a plan and move forward faster than you could do on your own.
You can change any of these five habits. You will be more productive, less time-consuming, and achieve tremendous success.
“Only when someone refuses certain things can he be capable of doing great things.” ~ Mencius
My passion is to show you how brilliance can shine brighter!