There isn’t any CEO, business owner, founder or entrepreneur I’ve ever talked to that doesn’t want to be successful. People, not just those in business, want to be successful. It just feels good when you are successful at something. And who doesn’t want to feel good about what they do and about their day? Especially since the time spent at work is such a significant part of your day!
So let’s keep the business success rolling right along every day!
Here are 9 business success tips for CEOs, business owners and entrepreneurs.
1) Don’t promise things you can’t deliver. I know you’ve heard this many times before but it’s one that is worth repeating – and remembering every business day. Here’s why with an example everyone can relate to: It’s one of the things that salespeople who are not good salespeople do. They promise everything to get the sale or the contract yet everything begins to fall apart rather quickly once the deal is done because they really couldn’t deliver what they promised – with product, with service, with on-time delivery. Always make sure you’re delivering just a little bit more than you promise because if you do, the people that you do business with won’t want to do business with anyone else.
2) Always be extraordinary. Ordinary doesn’t make it anymore. This is the easiest of times to get into business. It is the hardest of times to stay in business. There is also so much more competition in the marketplace today. That’s why you need to be better than ordinary. Otherwise, someone or some company will replace you.
3) Don’t put things off till tomorrow. It’s easy to deceive ourselves, isn’t it? We’ve all done it. Saying things like: Oh, I’ll finish this tomorrow; I’ll get it done tomorrow. It’s not a matter of how long you work, although hours can be long, it’s how effective you are during the time you do work. Don’t put anything off until tomorrow without thinking it through. Ask yourself: Why wait? Or ask: What can I delegate to get more done in a better way? This opens your space up to be more productive – and in turn, others will then be more productive.
4) Surround yourself with great people. That’s not just great co-workers – that’s great suppliers and vendors, great customers – everyone that you potentially can do business with. Everyone that you do business with needs to be adding something to the business and to your work day, not just going through motions. To be successful on a company level and on an individual level, you need to surround yourself with great people. Do so as much as you possibly can.
5) Know your numbers! This is one that I find business people fall short on all the time. For example, if you are the CEO, founder or owner of your company: What does your profit and loss statement look like? Depending upon the size of your company, a P & L should be done weekly, monthly or quarterly. Or what about sales or marketing department efforts? You need to have the latest prospecting and sales numbers in your head. Or know how the latest marketing campaign impacted recent sales. You need to understand what those numbers mean to the overall success of the company. When someone says to you: What was sold last month? You can’t say: I don’t know. Or someone asks how the latest marketing campaign is going. You can’t say: Gee, I don’t know. Ask yourself: How am I going to be successful if I don’t know? And if you don’t know the numbers off the top of your head, know where to quickly retrieve them.
6) Don’t think that you have to know everything. It’s impossible to know everything! Ask for help! Business people don’t really like to ask for help. They think that in some way they are failing to do a good job and should know more than they sometimes do. Become a leader by studying business every day – and know when to ask for help to get the job done right.
7) Remember: Nothing happens until something is sold. Now ask yourself: What business am I in? You may answer: software, manufacturing, advertising, public relations, social media… But you’re really in the people business and your job, as well as everyone else’s in the company, is sales.
8) Know your customer or client. Talk to them, listen to them, ask them questions, and find out how you can help them. Don’t just try to sell them to get their money. Get actively involved in what they’re doing. Become part of their consciousness so when they think of a particular product or service, they think of you. When they have a question or a problem they call you. Get involved with your customers.
9) Never give up. You will have bad days; you will have days when you wish you were doing anything else other than what you are doing. You will have days when you are stressed beyond belief. You will have days when you are so tired that you don’t know how you’re going to put one foot in front of the other. But never, ever, give up. Instead leave the office for 20 minutes, go get a cup of coffee, walk around the block. Go home at night and don’t think about business, get a good night’s sleep and come back in the morning with a determination to win. Never give up. Never quit for one moment because as you push through the day and take that next phone call, that next new customer may be waiting for you on the other end of the line. If you quit, nothing happens. And what’s going to happen is six months later you’re going to say to yourself: You know, if only on that particular day six months ago, if I just would have kept my head, if I just would have thought about it, if I just would have pushed forward, I would have been fine. Never, ever, ever quit. It’s okay to be discouraged once in a while. It’s okay to be tired. You may even sometimes feel beaten, but you’ve got to bounce right back up again.
Have other business success tips and ideas? You’re welcome to share them in the comments section.