5 SUCCESS TIPS FOR A START-UP BUSINESS

Tip 1: Start Small Dream Big

Either you dream big or small it takes the same effort, so why not dream big! Dreaming big does not make you materialistic or greedy. Whatever voices you have in your head telling you that you don’t deserve the best life has to offer you, you have to drown that voice and take the bull by the horn. Successful business people have developed the ability to visualise their success before it becomes reality. Developing the ability to visualise your success before it happens will make you see opportunities that no one else sees. While you visualise your dreams, you need to take it one step at a time- to realise your big dreams you have got to start small. Sometimes you might get excited about those big dreams and want it to play out right now but before you quit you daytime job ensure that you have developed a plan that lays the ground work for your ideas to manifest. Remember that it might take a while before the profits start to come in. In other to be successful...

ASPIRE to greatness, ACQUIRE the knowledge required and APPLY the knowledge gained.

Tip 2: Identify Your Priorities, but Be Flexible

 As a start-up business you need to identify your key priorities and go after them with resolve. Prioritize your work by separating the good from the best. This will give you both flexibility and freedom. In the process of building your business, identify the essential elements that will sustain the business in the long-run. Do not underestimate the time and cost it will take to execute your business plan. Success does not come over night; it takes time and deliberate effort. Speak to people who are experience in the field you want to venture into; they will give you first-hand experience on the risks and positives of the business. After careful planning, avoid going over your planned budget and keep to the time-frame you have set for your business. Remember to set SMART goals. If you do not prioritize you will risk spending so much time and achieving nothing. Every business has important pieces that create the successful result. We advise you to focus more on the support tasks than the critical ones then you will begin watering down your best work. Designing eye-catching packaging for your product may help you stand out from the crowd, but if you have neglected the necessary due diligence to get your product on the shelves in the first place, it will all be for nothing.

Remember in other to be successful

Aspire, Acquire and Apply

Tip 3: Fail Fast & Fail Often

Most entrepreneurs are not afraid to take risks; if they were they would still be at their regular jobs. In order to be successful, you need to take risks. Take advantage of any opportunity you have, it may scare you but playing it safe will only

make your journey to financial freedom longer.  One thing is certain, mistakes will be made and lessons will be learnt.  Don’t look at mistakes as something that you must avoid, instead see mistakes as learning opportunities for you and your business. The faster you make mistakes and learn from your mistakes the faster you can grow your business.

Fail fast and fail often simply means that you can leverage the power of repetition – practice makes perfect sounds cliché but it’s a proven fact. Your ultimate goal as an entrepreneur is to keep your business alive and thriving. In order to achieve your goals you must practice until you find your breakthrough that will make your business self-sustaining..

Speed and careful planning is critical for success. Overthink it and your idea starts to seem impossible. Try not to second guess yourself and your business plan. The faster you run experiments, the faster you repeat the process and the faster you create chances of finding the winning combination.  It is the winning combination that helps you become scalable and allows you realise your big dreams.

So make mistakes, fail fast, fail often and learn faster on your way to achieving success in your business. If you try, make a mistake, and give up, you will never be the success you could have been.

Tip 4: Create a Solid Team

The major difference between the business owners/investors and the self-employed in the cash flow quadrant is how they approach a given task. The Self-employed like to get down and dirty and do the job themselves. The self-employed are determined but this approach could be limiting in the sense that there's just so much you can achieve as a person.

As a start-up entrepreneur, you must accept the fact that you cannot do it all alone. You will need people to sound off your ideas or professionals in your field of business to give you insight. Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak. Bill Gates had Steve Balmmer. Mark Zuckerberg even had the Winklevoss twins. According to Robert “The bottom line is that if your business or investment venture only has one “founder,” it probably means you are unable to talk any of your friends into starting the company or investing with you”. In other words, it is a vote of no confidence.

Part of what you stand to benefit from creating a solid team is that, your team members can serve as an investment criterion for funding of your business. Having experienced team members will assist you in making adjustments no matter how little that will bring about a big pay-off in the long-run. It’s best to have a team that compliments your vision and share the same mind-set.

TIP 5: F.O.C.U.S.

If being an entrepreneur or investor were easy, everyone would do it. According to Robert Kiyosaki to be successful as a business owner or investor, one must F.O.C.U.S.

F.O.C.U.S simply stands for:

Follow

One

Course of Action

Until

Successful

Being an entrepreneur is rewarding but it requires hard work, resilience and determination.  To be successful as an entrepreneur you need to FOCUS!  These days people want fast money and are unwilling to go through the process required for creating a sustainable business, they want immediate results.  The truth is that it takes a while before you begin to see positive cash flow from a business and as a result you will need to stick to one course of action, believe in it and trust that results will come.  In other to realise your dreams you have to master your craft. Mastering your craft does not come over night.  Mastering your craft does not come from taking the path of least resistance; it comes from focusing on your set goal 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

It’s also important to FOCUS because as entrepreneurs there is the tendency to have a stream of unfinished projects. Also because of their visionary nature, entrepreneurs are quick to get bored and are soon looking for the next area to conquer.  Entrepreneurs have the tendency to move from one project to another without  tying up all ends, therefore it is important that as an entrepreneur you have a team that makes sure that all projects are kept afloat if not these projects will  die a natural cause. It is important to have FOCUS so that you learn to be accountable to yourself and to your team.