Business Success: Is It Really All That Simple?
August 18, 2008
Business success can be simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. As Seth Godin points out, persistence is key, but we may have to persist for far longer than we think: The Secret Of The Web (hint: it’s a virtue).
It doesn’t need to be complicated either. Liz Strauss has put together an easy to follow, 4 step guide to business success: The Secret to Making Money Online - Or Anywhere!
Finding your passion is important, as I discovered here: Oops I Sank A Business and here: Business: Sometimes You Should Give Up.
If you’re not sure how to discover your passion, you might want to check out these resources:
Find My …Um…Passion - What?!!
How Do You Become A Passionate Blogger? Blog Your Passion
Aside from these things, what other factors might be important in achieving business success?
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24 Responses to “Business Success: Is It Really All That Simple?”
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An other factor I think is that once you know the basics then forget all about how to achieve success, how to get this or that and just bring something out from within you and allow that to flow so to speak, like channeling.
Maya’s last blog post..Is Message in a Bottle Postman Stuart Conway an Idiot?
Although Kathy Sierra stopped blogging, I really like her archived articles at “Create Passionate Users.”
She has a great article about passionate employees (link to article).
Al at 7P’s last blog post..The Hero with a Thousand Jobs
I know this sounds basic, but there has to be a geunine demand for your service or product,
I’m a big believer in following your passion, but sometimes passion can blind people to the facts that there is not a viable market
the other essential is to be able to communicate with people, in all types of situations.
louise’s last blog post..Wii are sore this morning!
Hi Maya - that sounds wonderful and complicated. How do you encourage that flow to come out? Is there something you can do to prompt it?
Hi Al - Thanks for that link. I loved Kathy Sierra’s blog and I’ll definitely be checking that one out.
Hi Louise - not basic at all. There’s plenty of folk who make the mistake of creating a product or service first - before they know if anyone actually wants it.
There is no secret - there’s just a good idea, lots of hard work, and lots of connections who believe in you and support you until you reach the tipping point.
Have I reached that yet? My bank account says no, but I’m working on that.
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Pursuing Happiness: Gretchen Rubin Interview
I know not everyone will agree, but luck and timing do play a part in any success, including business success. It’s not all in our control.
Vered’s last blog post..Top 10 Fashion Mistakes To Avoid At All Costs
I only wish it were that simple, Cath. Actually, I’m working on an article similar to this so I’ll be interested to see what others have to say.
Some other aspects of helping your chances of achieving success might be:
- Having a good plan in the beginning. Work your plan backwards to arrive at what you need to do in 5 years, 1 year, each month, each week, each day. Also, a business plan is a great asset if for nothing else to help you learn more about your business and competition.
- Have a timeline and not just a desire and goal.
- Understand who you are and where your beliefs come from. You need to be fully grounded as an entrepreneur. Question your core beliefs and come to your own conclusions. This will be your foundation for building success.
- Spend sufficient amount of time learning and not just building a business.
- Have a positive attitude and believe in what you do. If you don’t believe it will work, you’ll probably sabotage it.
- Be willing to adapt to change. The world evolves; so should you and the way in which you do business.
- Learn from the past and do research. The past is the foundation in which we build the future.
- Change the way you perceive negative events. You can’t change them, so learn from them and move on.
- Be an asset to others. The more you are an asset to them, the greater your success may be and people will be willing to help you. Don’t be a liability, be an asset.
- Try to think laterally when you can. Everyone goes to school and learns the same thing, takes the same classes. When you graduate, many of us have been taught to think an analyze in a certain way. Don’t be the same, try to be different in some areas.
- Don’t think you know it all, cuz you don’t.
- Never lose track of what money is - it’s a tool, not wealth. It’s used to create wealth.
- Evaluate your assets and liabilities. Where’s your money coming from? How are you going to get it? What are you going to do with it? What might be sucking your dry? Can you fix it? Once you evaluate this, you can use your tools more effectively.
- Live below your means and not within them. Living within your means is like saying, “Spend all the money you’ve got, don’t spend any you don’t got.”
Just a few thoughts I go by . . .
John Hoff - eVentureBiz’s last blog post..Welcoming Theresa Hoff - Director of Incorporation and Living Trust Services by eVentureBiz
Hi Cath -
Success comes when we work hard and long enough for an idea that intrigues our mind, body and soul. It is important that we feel excited in these three areas of life in whatever that we do.
When I started in hotel business, I had no experience. Employees quit on the first day as they weren’t sure about the new owners. We all get ups and down even if we don’t take risk.
I have friends who look older than me even though I have been working for almost 16 hours a day for last ten years. It’s all about our faith and confidence to succeed.
i enjoyed your topic as I enjoy being the driver of my destiny.
Shilpan
Shilpan | successsoul.com’s last blog post..Mark Twain’s Thoughts on 3 Topics You’d Rather Not Discuss
Hi Alex - that’s a really great way of putting it.
Hi Vered - I heard that too. Harry from Men With Pens said something like there being a road map - but the outcome depending on which route you chose to take. So I guess there is some element of luck too.
Hi John - That’s a huge amount of things. This is an excellent one: “Have a positive attitude and believe in what you do. If you don’t believe it will work, you’ll probably sabotage it.”
Hi Shilpan - that first day must have been really daunting. What I really love is that you look younger than your friends after doing 16 hour days. That gives me hope.
Persistence is a BIG determiner, passion helps and a business plan too. I think a head for strategy and knowledge of what a competitive advantage actually is help you deliver a saleable product. If you don’t have a selling point that is yours and yours alone you’re pretty screwed I find.
Oh, and an understanding of finances and the importance of cash-flow goes a long way to staying in business. And you can’t be a success if you go under before you’ve even had a chance to have a go!
Good topic, Cath.
Kelly
Kelly@SHE-POWER’s last blog post..The Smiling Dog in the Mirror
I think you need a realistic plan before anything else. While it’s true that you have to be careful not to get stuck in the planning stage, laying out a framework of where you’re going and how you plan to get there is very important.
Marelisa’s last blog post..Making Time to Create
Do your homework/research, be realistic, and… HAVE FUN! A happy person is contagious and you are more open to opportunities around you than if you’re closed off. Trust me, I’ve lived the difference.
Davina’s last blog post..I Dreamt I Died
Hi Rita - Titles are a massive draw. I don’t think it matters that you don’t have a specific theme when you write as well as you do. Many people do well without a definite theme. Kelly at She-Power and Vered at Mom-Grind are two that spring to mind.
Hi Kelly - those are some good points. That unique selling point is important isn’t it - otherwise you just become another commodity.
And I totally agree on cashflow. When cash isn’t coming in fast enough to cover your outgoings, it can cause so many problems. Even if you manage to keep your head above water - it puts you under constant pressure and prevents you from growing your business.
Hi Mare - Planning is important. Too many people only right a plan if it’s needed to obtain a bank loan, then they never look at it again.
Hi Davina - Having fun is important isn’t it. I hear what you’re saying about happiness. Did you read the post on She-Power today? There’s a really good story that relates to what you just said.
Hi Catherine,
I came by earlier, but got a CPU error. I’ve had that on my blog off and on, too.
Being self employed, I find the keys to success are persistence, determination, patience, drive, liking what you’re doing,being willing to put in long hours, having a sense of humor and being true to yourself, your ethics and morals.
Anyone can start a business, it’s getting through the difficult times that tests the true business owner. Some give up. But those who truly believe the strong survive, surely do.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..NBOTW - He Had Me With “Hello”
I’ve found with the different ventures I’ve been in that just sticking around is a big part of getting anywhere - sooner or later you start to get more work, even if it’s only because you are familiar to people.
Robin’s last blog post..Reincarnation… A Scenario
Hi Barbara - that has been happening a lot really and I’m not sure whether it’s due to too many people trying to access our blogs at once, or something else.
Persistence is coming up a lot isn’t it? And Seth Godin said that many businesses will have to persist for at least ten years before they are successful.
I’m glad you mentioned morals and ethics too Barbara. They’re really important. No business can be seen as truly successful if people suffer because of their actions.
Hi Robin - Sticking round is important isn’t it. As you said - the person who actually sticks round will get more work sooner or later. People like to work with folk they know.
@Cath
I agree about the 10 years - almost every solidly successful business I know took 10 years to get there. There’s just no way around it.
Unfortunately because I shifted gears majorly in my business, I think I’m back at year one instead of year five. Maybe my past experience will count for something. (Like transferring credits towards a degree with a different university)
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Pursuing Happiness: Gretchen Rubin Interview
Hi Alex - I feel like I’m in the same boat as you. Selling and sinking businesses kind of puts you back at year one. I do imagine experience will help though. I love the direction you’re going in with your blog by the way - I think it’s a subject that many people can identify with.
@Cath:
Thanks! I’m really enjoying it and am super energized by the whole thing. I’m getting even more excited about the workshop I’m launching soon (the business side of the blog).
Alex Fayle’s last blog post..Pursuing Happiness: Gretchen Rubin Interview
Good for you Alex - I’m looking forward to seeing it. You’re helping many people by making them realise that “someday” could be now - if they really want it to.
[...] As my friend, Robin, of Lets Live Forever pointed out in a recent discussion, “sticking around is a big part of getting anywhere. Sooner or later you begin to get more work, even … [...]
Well said.
You ask what factors are part of business success, yet you and your readers have also commented on what is important for “social” success on the web. Our businesses today are so closely tied to the web, it’s hard to separate them, isn’t it? And how interesting that is.
Without understanding the role the web plays in our business lives, whether it is a major player or minor, we need to understand what the “social” in social networking means and how to maximize it when and where we find it.
Economics are changing. It’s becoming a world based upon making money by giving things away for free - changing marketing, promotion, advertising, and business strategies. It’s a combination new-think and old world business sense that is evolving. The personal is now as important as the professional.
It’s a whole new world and I’m having a blast being a part of all the changes around me, aren’t you?
Hi Lorelle - thank you. Yes, like you, I’m finding all these changes exciting. It’s great that we can be involved in making these changes in the business world.
Finding what the social means in social networking is important isn’t it? I don’t think we can just see social networking as a means to get ahead, or get high ranking sites - there’s definitely far more to it than that.
I know you mentioned folks getting back to the community, in your interview with Barbara. And I’m looking forward to seeing how that is going to change businesses all over the world.
What you say about the personal becoming more than the professional is so true. It’s exciting, because real people will be able to influence large businesses, as opposed to the other way round.
I’m wondering how far that will go - making money by giving things away for free? It’s going to be interesting and exciting.
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