- Walk the walk. If you talk the talk, you must walk the walk… this goes for starting a small business as much as anything else. If you are preaching social media marketing don’t take out print ads to get clients, if you start a high end suit company never leave the house in sweats… this basic principle is still one of the hardest for many entrepreneurs to grasp- hence the sales pages with I make millions a day from this blog from people who still work at Cisco – but once you do your authenticity will shine through & others will swarm to your business.
- Be the fearless leader. If you have a vision for your small business it’s not just your job to share this with your employees, it is your job to convert them to your way of thinking – to make them believe like you believe. The best way to do this? Be the fearless leader. Just ask Steve Jobs, Richard Branson or Seth Godin how it worked for them.
- Fear not. I cannot stand when people ask me “what if I fail” or better yet, “I don’t want to move forward unless I am sure of the ROI” we live in such a society of pansies nowadays. Whatever happened to bravery and going into battle (business battle that is) with swords waving? Stop fearing and start doing – fear is just a wasted emotion anyways – if the worst is going to happen thinking about it beforehand won’t do any good and the circular logic is that thinking about it will probably bring it to fruition must faster than ignoring it would have.
- Be everywhere. Often people say to me “wow, you are everywhere lately” – that’s intentional – I mean somtimes it’s not but usually it is. It all ties back to the concept of the tipping point where once an idea or pattern passes a critical mass the rest of the population (in whichever niche) will adapt to it quite quickly. Hence Guy Kawasaki, Brian Clark and Penelope Trunk had to be everywhere before they converted enough people to make the scales tip in their favor. My suggestions? Guest post, comment all over the place, be active in forums, network in real life and produce really really good content pieces that people will link back to. That way you are everywhere and informative a killer combo for sure!
- Research, research, research. If you want to make money the entrepreneurial way that is laudable, what isn’t is if you don’t do any research. Thinking there is a niche within the almond lover’s community is great, but jumping head first without first researching some almond related keywords is just foolhardy laziness. So check out google keyword tool, search the web for places other businesses are lacking in and make the most of your niche by knowing it before you jump in.
- Be determined. When I started this blog (for reals that is) in October of 09′ I had a very clear goal of how many subscribers I wanted and what kind of traffic I desired – fast forward to now, it isn’t there yet but geez it’s grown like gang busters from then to now. What was the key to success? Determination… pure and simple, whether 2 or 200 people read a post I wrote it and tried to pour my heart in it as well… determination always pays off if you are doing what you love.
- Document it all. Fast and to the point – document everything in your business life, from receipts to emails to invoices. You’ll thank me later.
- Get profitable fast. I don’t care if you only make $10 in the first month of owning your own small business, make sure that you get profitable some how and fast. It isn’t for the money as much as it is for the mental stimulation seeing someone actually buy your stuff will give you… it’s a high that you never really come down from and it will give you the push to take your business to the next level, and the next, and the next.
- Brand thyself early & often. Starting a successful small business is hard, especially when you are in a highly competitive field. One thing that can make your business stand out from the crowd though is having a rock solid brand. Your ‘brand’ relies on what is at your company’s heart and what drives those who work for you forward. Companies with strong brands, like Zappos, have an eager staff and a clear calling that carries them through during hard times and helps them dominate in the good times. For more about branding check out this article.
- Network your pants off (not literally of course). This one is pretty simple, you must network constantly – offline and on – if you want to truly get ahead in starting a small business. Small businesses take lots of hard work, lots of inspirations and lots of connections – get this one down and no matter how bad things may seem you’ll find a way to success. Networking can be anything from going to conventions, to frequently bars/coffee shops which cater to people in your niche to contacting each blogger personally who is of influence in your arena.
- Hire people better than you. You may be great, you may be a creative genius, but you probably suck at something – maybe like me you suck at a lot of somethings – so do yourself a favor, hire people better than you. So often I’ve heard this chanted from the most successful people in the world – what do they do to get ahead? – they hire up.
- Attention is the most precious commodity. Would you rather have a blog that made you $10,000 a month or have a blog that had 10,000 loyal, dedicated fans that visited each month? The latter is the best option because as nice as 10k a month sounds the value of 10,000 raving fans is worth FAR more in both monetary means and in building a rock solid brand.
- Money is only a means to an end, know your end before starting out. I always set goals, like 10k a month, 40k a month etc. I am meticulous at writing and rewriting them and planning out how I’ll get there? Why am I so focused on money? Because it is a means to an end for me, it will allow me to what I want, when I want and not worry ever again about my financial security. What is money an ends to for you? Will it allow you to relax, quit your day job and be a full time stay at home dad? Will it help free up some time so you can write your first novel? Will you spend X years building up massive wealth just to turn around, reinvest it in the community and use every last penny to help others? Money is the means to the end, figure out the end before you start or the money won’t mean squat when it comes.
- Give before getting back. Similar to the concept of tithe, it’s good to give first, before and without expecting to get something back. Give value, give knowledge, give your time and energy – this will create reciprocity in others towards you and will most importantly start the wheels spinning for a life long cycle of amazing success.
- Partner up Pard’ner. Not every business model needs a partner. Mine haven’t so far, but gosh it would be easier if they did! Having a partner can be a challenge if you don’t pick wisely (spend as much time/effort as you would in finding a spouse) but when you find the jewel in the rough you will be forever thankful. A partner can pick up slack, help with ideas, create a new angle of perspective and be a shoulder to lean on. Thinking of partnering up? Check out this awesome partnering platform.
- Be relentless. Have you ever heard the term ‘go for the gold’? Well this phrase was born for entrepreneurs and small business owners alike – you must be relentless when it comes to your dreams, change course often, tweak ideas frequently, but never, ever give up your dream – you only have one life… live it.
- Never give up, unless you should give up. In following with the last must, never give up – unless you should give up. At first this logic makes no sense but when you look deeper you can see its true wisdom. If you are in a dead end industry – give up, change industries, tweak priorities move on to something new in pursuit of your dreams. But if you are just having problems with your niche, be persistent, make some changes and don’t give up. What you must do is figure out whether A. this is a profitable niche and I have a worthy item/service or B. this is a niche that is too (insert problem) and my item kinda sucks.
- Blog about it. Starting from scratch? Been in the restaurant business for 15 years? BLOG about it!! People love reading success stories and cautionary tales of woe. From the get go, grab a free blog at wordpress.org and start blogging about your journey – who knows – this could turn into a business all on its own!
- What’s in a name? A lot. Often when picking a small business name (especially in the online realm) people will encourage you to get keyword centric. I.e. if your business is cars then your name should be Big Al’s Car Lot and your URL www.greatcardeals.com – yes this may strum up some business, but you know what will strum up a whole lot more? A great brand, backed by an awesome name… look at Apple, Vimeo, eBay and Amazon if you don’t believe me.
- When it picks up a little speed go with it for as long as you can. Have you ever seen a snowball rushing down a hill? Notice how it starts as a little kernel of white powder and can turn into a massive ball by the end of its run? This is a perfect analogy to starting a small business. Small businesses take a TON of hard work and endurance, but as soon as you see even a little traction you’ll notice a compounding effect that is nothing less than miraculous. So keep going – when you get a little traction leverage the heck out of it and continue to put momentum behind that snowball till its big as a house!
- Diversify. Is your small business Computer Coders Inc. doing decent? Great, good for you, now that you’ve started one small business time to get to work, why sit on your butt and tempt fate – diversify and get your hands in a few other collaborations. This way if anything happens to business 1 then 2,3 or 4 can step in. Plus if you create businesses with a passive income side then you are really doing well
Remember, diversification is key in life, in the stock market and in small business… do this and you’ll always have a stream of income to keep you fed & warm.
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