Check out our top 10 tips to maximise your business success in this new financial year.
1. Be aware of the reasons why people fail!By reading this, you’ve shown you want to learn and become aware of the traps, pitfalls and mistakes that people before you have experienced.
2. Start selling. Become a sales guru. Learn to sell. No sales means no cash. Sell everyday even as the founder, particularly early on. With cash, you can hire people and improve your systems. Pick up the phone, start prospecting, and start speaking to customers. If you aren’t getting rejected, then you simply aren’t trying hard enough!
3.Know what you don’t know.The problem is that most people don’t know what they don’t know. This might sound confusing, but it’s important to become aware of the areas in which you lack understanding or experience. This is a positive thing as now you are more aware of where you need to either up-skill yourself and those around you or otherwise seek professional assistance. Accept that you can’t be an expert in everything and that if you try to do so, you are going to get bogged down.
4. Be clear on your skill sets and interests. Stop doing what you aren’t good at and dislike doing. Outsource it as soon as you can afford to or invest in getting assistance in those areas. If you focus on what you are good at and what you like doing, you will be more efficient and happy, but ensure that these activities help drives sales and add value to your business.
5. Work really hard but smart. There is no escaping hard work. Passive income is rarely passive. The entrepreneur is what ultimately fuels growth. It is up to you to work hard but smart. Be outcome-oriented but continue to demonstrate a work ethic second to none. When I played semi-elite sport I always trained like I was number 2, and wanted to make sure that I was ready for battle and did more work on the training track than my competition to give me the best chance of succeeding. Entrepreneurs are rarely lazy beings. They are inspired to achieve and often highly self-motivated people who often live and die by their own sword.
6. Hire people better and smarter than you. The most successful entrepreneurs hire really smart people around them who are experts in their field. They recognise that they don’t need to be the smartest person, but they need to hire people who are smarter and better than them. It’s a simple philosophy, but they don’t have any desire to be an expert at everything.
7. Manage cash flow.Cash is king. You can’t grow without cash. Be aware of the differences between cash flow and profit. If you run out of cash, your business can die quickly. Prioritise managing cash flow each week so you spend wisely. Many businesses grow too quickly and run out of cash and die despite having profitable businesses.
8. Manage risk. Look at all the risks in your business. Be aware of them and ask yourself what you can practically do to mitigate any risks. Most risks can be identified and managed to some extent and can help you plan for contingencies.
9. Stay focused. The number one tip overall is to stay focused. Every successful entrepreneur has had a laser sharp focus on one thing at a time before being able to scale into multiple ventures. Give yourself the best opportunity of succeed, otherwise you may spread yourself too thin and take the opportunity away from maximising potential.
10. Be committed to learning.Always keep an open mind and allocate a percentage of your time for self-development and continuing education. There is an infinite amount of material to read, so be fussy with what you read and focus on topics that are most relevant to you today or in the near future. Chip away and keep adding to your stockpile of knowledge. I am a firm believer that any new knowledge gained today means that you will make better decisions tomorrow which you may not have otherwise made.
If you are looking at ways to maximise your business success in the new financial year check out our free resources page. Here you will find a heap of guides, calculators and videos to help you improve your business performance – Click here
You may also be interested in our $1,000,000 business improvement challenge – Click here for full details
