Many of us slave away for years for one uninspiring company after another and dream of
day when we can sack boss and go it alone. If you’re contemplating starting your own business then I’m here cheering you on from sidelines because best decision I ever made was to walk away from my well paid but oh so frustratingly boring job and start my own business from scratch.
I’d always believed in Bob Dylan’s definition of success - “a man is a success if he gets up in morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” And it was these words and this sentiment that drove me to seek out business success on my own.
While I was in planning stages of things I read around a lot and discovered that there are six main steps that you can follow to give your business best chance of survival and success. With hindsight I can confirm that these six steps do guarantee your business success, so here they are for you, use them as your guide: -
1) Plan to Succeed
“Action without planning is cause of all failure. Action with planning is cause of all success.” - Brian Tracy.
You need to establish an intricate business plan that will guide you through start-up hurdles and ongoing development of your business. Whether you’re planning on establishing a global company that will eventually employ many individuals or you’re intending to establish an on-line business from your bedroom that will employ only you, you must spend necessary time and effort plotting out how exactly your company will be established, who your customers are, how you will reach them, how you will finance your ongoing operations and where exactly you’re headed with your business.
“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.” - Thomas Edison
Be a business genius, remember planning stages are critical to future success of your business - don’t rush them.
2) Money Matters
“Before you can really start setting financial goals, you need to determine where you stand financially.” - David Bach
You need to look at your own personal financial situation and determine exactly how much money you will need to live on, how much money you have to invest in your business, how much money is required to start up and run your company and how exactly you’re going to fund future of your business. Get down to financial nitty gritty before you get down to business and you will avoid number one reason why businesses fail – namely, lack of capital.
Crunch those numbers and be realistic rather than fatalistic or optimistic! You can and will succeed, but first you must arm yourself with boring facts and figures and then you can put in place financing you need.
3) To Score Goals You Have To Set Goals
“Most people struggle with life balance simply because they haven't paid price to decide what is really important to them.” - Stephen Covey
Having mapped out your business journey intricately, having put in place financing you will need to travel path towards success you have to begin setting yourself business and personal goals. If you have nothing to aim for you will never achieve your target! Where do you want to be in one month’s time, where do you want your company to be in one year’s time?
Set stage goals for you, your company, your employees, your finances and your success. Follow your progress closely, keep one eye on your goals and you will never fail to succeed.
