We live in unparalleled times; times of desperation and turmoil but also times of rare opportunity for unprecedented success.
These are times where people go to work on Monday morning, fire up their computers only to discover that they have been yanked off the company network and no longer have a job. Some leave work on Friday with the normal ‘have a nice weekend’ ‘see you on Monday’ only to get a SMS by 22:48 Saturday night saying that their services are no longer required. On account of this reality, most people are (quite rightly) scrambling to perfect their Plan B, their side gig, or like I like to call it – their ‘Change Parachute’; everyone wants to regain a sense of control over their lives. No one wants to be left outside in the cold.
Also, these are times were people are hungrier than ever before; hungrier for success, significance, impact, financial security etc. People want to make it on their own terms …in show biz, fashion, technology, e-commerce, agriculture, you name it they want it. Whatever the trigger, the hunger is the same; people want to take back control of their lives. They no longer want to be at the mercy of THE BOSS.
For those who want to move from under the thumb of THE BOSS and set up shop, I have a few tips (that I have distilled from my personal experience, research, talks with mentors and other entrepreneurs as well as books/articles) I hope will set you on your way to launching a successful business.
#1 of 5: CORE STRENGTHS
Define what your business will do along the lines of your CORE STRENGTHS. Don’t assume that your business will be successful because you have a keen appreciation or love for a subject matter alone. NO! Success does not come from love alone; you have to play along the highway of your CORE STRENGTHS. If you really love and appreciate food, you love eating understand the basics of regional cuisine and what not should you go ahead and start a restaurant? Maybe not. Why? Owning and running a restaurant involves a lot more than a love for food. I googled ‘skills to run a successful restaurant’ see some of the skills I found: Accounting, People Management, Creativity, Customer Service etc. See? If these are not your CORE STRENGTHS your chances of running a successful restaurant as a going concern will most definitely be inhibited. So what business interests you? You need to find the skills that are required to run that business successfully. Yes, you can learn some of these skills, but success comes when you play in the area of your DOMINANT STRENGTHS. Be real with yourself.
#2 of 5: PROVIDE SOLUTIONS
If you want to your business to be really successful in every way that counts you need to go into business for the right reasons. In my head I’ve looked at businesses that were set up ONLY to make money (note the word ‘only’); meaning that the only reason they exist is to make money for the owner(s). I am sure you know [about] someone who went in to oil and gas supply business, not to ensure that citizens in a location have unfettered access to the either PMS, AGO or kerosene but for the sole purpose of making oodles of money … subsidy money anyone?
For reasons I will not go into at this time (it’s outside the scope of this post), I have noticed that these businesses seldom last beyond 10 years (if they make it that far). On the other hand, businesses that are created to SOLVE PROBLEMS are the businesses that last. Companies like Microsoft, Danone, Unilever, Honda etc come to mind.
Think of it this way, in an ideal business the object (service or product) is to serve the subject (the customer) and not the other way round. No matter how innovative your object (product or service) is, eventually the subject (customer) will lose the sense of novelty, migrate to another business where the object serves it/them or find an alternative. Does this make sense? Money is a good outcome from a successful business; yes, profit is expected – but not at the expense or on the back of your customers. Successful businesses see profit as the customers’ way of saying thank you for solving a problem (with your product/service) for them. So, to have a successful business, you have to find a problem and solve it; customers will come, and keep coming.
#3 of 5: COMPELLING VISION
This next tip is a doozy; it is required if you want to succeed in leadership on any level. As an entrepreneur you know you are a leader, don’t you? Okay, here we go…
You have to create a compelling vision that will drive your business to success. Contrary to what we have been taught, vision not only strategy is the foundation for success. Your compelling vision captures the hearts, imagination and minds of the people working for you and should ideally secure their buy in.
I believe it was Earl Nightingale who said that ‘the mind moves in the direction of our currently dominant thoughts’. By crafting a vision, you capture the minds of most people (not everyone…remember Pareto’s Principle) at your business and they then make that vision their current dominant thought.
Where do you think their minds will take them? Yes…to actualizing that vision. You don’t believe me? Many of us remember when we were little our mom had that favorite mug or tray. Mom nagged so much about you breaking that mug or tray, and you began to fear even holding the item at all; you had so many nightmares about breaking the item that you refused to go near it EVER. Well guess what? One normal day, mom sends you to rinse out her mug and behold it slips from your wet fingers and breaks. What do you call that? Coincidence? I do not believe in coincidences.
Another example, remember the story of Jacob and his father in law Laban? His tricky father in law wanted to dupe him with the spotted sheep…you know the story. Jacob put spotted planks before them to look at every day, every time they ate. And what did they produce? The mind moves in the direction of our currently dominant thoughts.
What is your compelling future for you business? If you can see it (in your mind) you can build it.
# 4 of 5: KEEP LEARNING
We live in the fastest moving progression of human thought and development.
Imagine just 30 years ago we did not have digital phones, we had wind-up phones, we then had rotary dial phones, now we have digital phones. We even have wearable phones, fold able phones… what’s next communication implants? We did not have virtual reality; robots were stuff seen in movies; 3D printing, what’s that? Imagine, in 2016 doctors identified another organ in the human body!
One new development or innovation can make your business obsolete in one day. Ask the likes of Kodak, Blackberry, and even Nokia. Your business needs to be what Peter Senge called a Learning Organisation. This is a company whose culture facilitates the learning of its systems and people, and is continuously strategically transforming itself. Learning has to be in your DNA as a business if that business is going to survive. Don’t ever get caught on the other side of advancement; don’t ever get caught behind the curve. In a world were more kids are learning on tablets, you want to put your resources in an investment that funds making pencils…give me a break! Keep learning, stay ahead of the curve.
How do you keep learning? Know your competition, know what they know. Attend trade shows. Read widely and invest in knowledge. And while you are learning, don’t be afraid of change or failure. Also, experience is the best teacher. Be open to new [and even strange or uncomfortable] experiences.
Let me put you on the spot…what are YOUR learning habits? How do you learn? How do you increase your knowledge base? How committed are you to learning? Not sure? Okay, how committed are you to building a successful business?
# 5 of 5: CREATE AN EXPERIENCE
Still on the point that this generation is in no way like any of the preceding generations, you need to know that we live in the age of unprecedented DISTRACTION. Everything Is Competing For Brain Space Of YOUR CUSTOMER. And when you launch your business you will be competing for a share of that brain space. How can you get your subjects attention, how can you displace someone they are used to listening to, watching, reading etc. Your emails won’t cut it (they get a gazillion emails and if the email server does not shoot yours to the junk bin, they will swipe left like in tinder); spam phone calls will only annoy them and they will associate your brand with something that is undesirable; Facebook Ads will probably get their attention for some seconds but what will CAPTURE, keep them looking, reading and coming back for more them? One word: EXPERIENCE.
This generation is wired for experience, they are hungry for inclusion, empowerment, a chance at the driver’s seat…can you give this to them and more? Look at where technology is going (it usually follows the development of culture) …wearable tech (watches, spectacles, heart monitors etc.), precision farming, 3D printers, customizable vehicles, etc. All of these are selling an experience to your customers. I have learnt and I am learning that for my business to get their attention we need to disrupt the constant distraction.
Finally, I want to state clearly that this is by no means a complete list of tips to launch a successful business! But I feel that these are a start. Especially for those of us who want to get out from under the thumb of THE BOSS and lean in to our destiny. This is for those of us under internal pressure to start as soon as possible.
If you have any questions about this topic or any of the tips I have highlighted here, please drop me a message on www.Lizspire.com I love to hear from my readers.
