Running and growing a business comes with an array of challenges.
It takes hard work, determination and perseverance to see success. Along the way you get advice from peers and mentors but there are always lessons you have to learn on your own.
Here are a few we have learned in our journey to 11 years of iDEAL.
- Learn from the pros. Someone came before you and although you will do things your own way, finding people inside and outside of your industry that you admire is a great asset.
Allow the inspiration to flow from those that have been there, done that, develop your own style and forge your own path
- Accept constructive criticism and do something with it! It’s likely you won’t always receive positive or helpful feedback but it can all be of value. Filter the feedback and use it to drive your success.
- Set goals and set them often. Set a starting point, assess what is and isn’t working and adjust.
Allow for different goals and timelines for various parts of your business.
Have weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals so you know where you want to be and are able to re-calibrate when necessary.
- Be consistent.
Every day is not going to be joyful or easy. Put in the work each and every day.
Consistency is key in business and a necessity for success.
- Be grateful.
This can easily get lost in the craziness of running a business. Never forget awkwoldege and share appreciation to all those that support you.
- Staff is your biggest asset, invest in them.
Creating a cohesive team is critical. Provide opportunities for them to learn and grow together this will strengthen the bond and promote team unity.
Everyone needs someone and a business runs better when you work with one another, not for one another.
- Hire where your area of expertise may lack.
No one is perfect nor can we do everything on our own. Building a team with a variety of skills is beneficial and should be done sooner rather than later.
Bookkeeper, tech support, marketing, whatever need you have its best to identify it early on. Once you have the help let them do their job and lighten your load to be able to focus on other aspects of the business.
- Level up on technology.
We all know the role technology plays in our day to day life and for a business it’s even more crucial.
There are new advancements all the time and staying up to date can overall save time and effort.
Invest (often) in state of the art technology to improve communication and increase efficiency.
- Resiliency.
You can prepare for the future but you can never predict it. Being flexible is important; hello COVID, aren’t we all being tested right now?
Goals will change and so will the outcomes but whatever happens you are guaranteed to learn something valuable from it.
- Celebrate your successes.
Big or small, don’t just let it pass by.
You create new goals once you accomplish old ones and it’s okay to reward yourself and celebrate! Stop and reflect on important achievements and make it memorable.
- When you think you know it all, keep pushing.
Maybe you haven’t stepped out and looked around enough to learn what you don’t know.
We can always better ourselves and inspire those around us.
Running a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint.
You can spend a lifetime learning new things about yourself and your industry. Always push to know more and do better.
Written By: Morgan Henry
