Entrepreneurs need to remember all of life’s aspects.
Clearly, success is not just about money. If it were, we would all be stockbrokers or bond traders instead of small-business people pursuing a dream.
When you are thinking about success as a business person, it’s important to take a holistic view and to consider the different spheres that make up your life: Work, play and relationships, physical, mental and spiritual well-being. To pay attention to each of these areas is to have a life in balance.
Running a small business is demanding and it’s all too easy to let some parts of our lives slip out of focus. Take a few moments and reflect on the balance in your life. Are there some areas in which you are not paying attention? What are they? What changes could you make to achieve more balance?
Here are some guidelines for strategic success in business and life.
* Always start with an exit in mind. Are you planning to hand over your business after you have grown it to maturity? Will you sell it to the highest bidder? If you plan to pass it on to the next generation, how will you do this?
Some of the most successful businesses in the world have profit and equity-sharing plans. Employees are motivated when they have a vested interest in the enterprises. By starting with an end in mind, you will have a goal on which to base your decision-making. You will have something against which to compare your current activities.
* The 3F’s of dealing with stakeholders – be fair, firm and friendly. Constructive dialogue between you and your stakeholders is essential. You must demonstrate integrity. People want to support a company that has integrity. Customers want to buy from honourable companies in which they have confidence. Fairness, friendliness, and firmness will differentiate you from the competition.
* Hire smart people. Hire slowly. Fire quickly. When you make a mistake, make a decision and move on. This is true with suppliers, contractors and staff alike.
* Let cool heads prevail. Business leaders are often compared to ducks swimming idyllically in a pond: On the surface, they appear to be calm and cool, but below the surface, they are paddling furiously. It is the cool and calm leader who carries her company through a business crisis who is sought after and respected. Adopt a “can-do” attitude and empower those around you to believe that they “can do” it too.
Many years ago when my daughter was young, we went sailing in a small boat. We were pirates sailing to new worlds – until the weather turned bad. We made for home at the best possible speed amid whitecaps, spray and sudden gusts. My daughter kept asking: “Are we OK, Dad?” I would laugh and reassure her. With each assuring word, she would relax again and enjoy the ride.
As we neared the dock she asked again if we were all right. I replied: “No dear, we are in trouble.”
It was a poorly timed attempt at humour. She burst into tears. I held her and assured her all was well and told her that I was just teasing her. The sobbing stopped and a smile returned. The situation had not changed, just the message.
In times of fear and uncertainty, your stakeholders will be comforted by your sense of calmness and control. You are the go-to “can-do” person, a comfort blanket of reassuring words and gestures who rallies the troops while telling everyone that everything will be fine and the world will unfold as it should.
* Stick to your business, but be ready for a sudden change. A successful business plan is about execution. But it is also about being prepared for the unexpected. No matter how realistic, researched and well-thought-out your business plan is, it is just that, a plan.
You must have a contingency plan ready for the worst-case scenario.
Did anyone in the tourism industry foresee 9/11 and the subsequent aversion to travel? The secret is to know what business you are in and stay true. The particulars must remain flexible. That, in fact, is the key advantage of small businesses.
* Never give up. During a recent visit to San Francisco, I spent an evening with eight high-tech small- and mid-sized business CEOs and we reviewed what went wrong with their businesses as a result of the industry collapse. What struck me most was that all of these CEOs were in their mid-to-late 20s and here they were talking about losing half a billion dollars in advances from venture-capital firms. Without missing a beat, they started to discuss their new ventures with the same venture capitalists.
These CEOs are using their failures as steppingstones to success and are rebuilding their lives and dreams. They are not defeated, just redirected.
* Collaborate, rather than delegate. You can get anything you want if you help enough other people to get what they want.
* Avoid the “sand-box syndrome.”
Leaders have a tendency to fall back to early mental models (old values) and disciplines. As a result, they micro-manage the aspects of their firms with which they are the most comfortable while ignoring other more pressing areas and issues. For example, a marketing manager turned entrepreneur may be more comfortable focusing on promotional aspects of the firm than on finance.
* Use your company’s mission statement as a touchstone. The mission statement is an organization’s most tangible measure of effectiveness.
* Make sure that stated objectives meet the SMART test. Every member of your firm should clearly understand the objectives – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-dated. In addition, make sure you allocate the appropriate level of resources to ensure objectives can be attained.
* Take care of yourself. Develop quality, supportive relationships. Without the support of your spouse, significant other, coach, family, mentors or friends, the road to entrepreneurial success can be a lonely and challenging journey.
Eat healthily and go to the gym. A balanced life is crucial to your business success.
Also, develop a variety of interests and hobbies. You will be a far more interesting person. Having a range of interests will also help you to keep things in perspective and to maintain the right vision.
As entrepreneurs, many of you have your entire future invested in your firm. It is important that you maintain a balanced vision of the enterprise by keeping focused on the immediate, planning for the future and learning from the past.
* Pay attention to the cost, not to the rate of failure. You will fail at some things.
Failure is a learning exercise and can be beneficial. Small educational failures may very well prevent the failure of a business overall.
Becoming comfortable with real or potential failure is one of the most difficult jobs faced by an entrepreneur. If your management philosophy is one that operates on the old mental model where mistakes are viewed as bad, then the transition to an entrepreneurial environment may require some serious adjustment.
External factors over which you have little control may contribute to failure. It is a price you pay to get access to new opportunities.
What you can control is the cost of these failures. Be disciplined, validate your assumptions, be frugal in your operation, redirect and keep to your priorities, and failure will be seen as an opportunity for growth and future opportunities.
Small-business owners must think beyond business success.
