15 BUSINESS SUCCESS SECRETS EXPOSED
Bisi Adewale
Most entrepreneurs that were successful today did not get to where they are, but by trading some business secrets. It’s action, not knowledge, that fosters true accomplishment.
Listed here are 15 Business Success Secrets Exposes:
1). MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR BUSINESS.
Don’t go into that business if you don’t have the passion for it. It is your passion that will keep you going if the business is not rewarding yet. Can you do it even if you are not being paid for it? That is passion. If you turn that into a business, you will likely be successful. Selling is a transfer of enthusiasm. Business owners need to show their enthusiasm for their product or service, as well as for their customers.
2). BE MARKETABLE
To start, you need to have a product that’s wanted or needed except you want to sell it to your wife and friends
3). DARE TO START
Start, yes, start. Stop postponing it; until you start it cannot succeed and there is no time for the every-other-thing-being-equal stuff. You are the one that will make them equal as you go on. That is life.
4) RIGHT PRICING
Don’t over or under price your product and services. If you do it right, it will attract patronage.
5) MARKET IT
There are many references in the Bible about advertisement and marketing of products.
Matthew 5:14 KJV
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Never allow your city to be set in a valley, take it upon the mountain, set your lamp upon the lamp post not under the bushel or under the table.
Matthew 5:15 KJV
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
6) KEEP ALL NECESSARY BOOKS
Business starters do make the mistake of not keeping good records. To them, it’s secondary or time wasting. Not at all! Your doctors keep your health records in the hospitals. It’s not for fun. It allows them to see the state of your health in the past to be able to have enough knowledge for the present.
Keep a good record. Bookkeeping is part of your duties as a business owner. If you don’t know books to keep, it is time you check on the internet for a short course on Accounting for Business Owners.
7) BE DISCIPLINE
Delaying gratification, leisure and pleasure will help your business greatly. When you begin to spend business money for personal use, then you become a bad mother, eating baby’s food while the baby starves to death.
When you begin to dip your hands into the business capital, you will be like a doctor disconnecting life support machine of a dying patient who needs it dearly, because he urgently needs to hire out the machine too.
8) BE INVOLVED
No matter the number of people you hire to work for you, you’ve got to be involved. Nobody can do it like you. Many of them are there for the pay. You are the one that has the passion for your products and customers. You need to be there, to infuse that passion into others. A business owner should never be afraid or feel too big to do the small tasks. He or she should pitch in and straighten up boxes or pick up things. Small things do get noticed, so attention to detail is very important.
9). BE OPTIMISTIC
Business owners must be optimistic. In business, there are all kinds of problems. You have to look for the good in every situation and look for the lesson in everything that goes wrong.
10). FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER
The purpose of business is not just to make profits. It’s to create and keep a customer. You want them to come the first time, then come again and finally bring their friends. How well you are doing is directly related to how many satisfied customers you are having. To increase customer satisfaction, you have to listen to your customers and be involved in their buying experience. Know what they want and give them. Put them on the throne. Let them reign. Always remember they are your bosses; they put you in business and they are also the one that can keep you there.
11) GET PREPARED FOR COMPETITION
Are you ready for competition and imitation? It can really get messy sometimes. Unless you have an exclusive monopoly, competition is everything and differentiation is the key to successful selling. You can’t be a ‘me-too’ company. Stand out, do it better, get to the heart of the customers and win them to your side, turning them to your marketers.
What is your competitive advantage? If you don’t have, create one. Competitive advantage is what makes you better than your competitors. It can be your location or your product but, often, it’s you. When customers can see it, then you are ready for better results. If they can’t see it, show them. Tell them.
12) KEEP EYE ON THE MONEY
Business is a money making venture. Unless you are running a charity, you want to make money. So in putting together a business strategy, you should always focus on sales, revenues, and cash flow, and to know every day how much money is being made and spent. Focus on your net profit, not your gross profit. This gives you a more realistic view of how the business is doing.
13) THINK AHEAD
Look to ‘idealize your business.’ Think about what your perfect business would look like, and figure out what you need to do to create it. Listen to your customers, suppliers, and workers. Look out for the latest technology, raw materials, machines or techniques.
14) BE THE BEST
Somebody said, “The best you can is to be the best.” So don’t be anything less. The successful business owners are always striving for excellence. They want to be the best at what they do. Being the best is about being in constant motion, working harder and faster. Being the best is also about wanting to learn more. Taking better steps and getting better results.
15) MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS
Please, check how far you’ve gone. Check your result against your goals. Measure your result against your plans. You are in business; it’s not a hobby; so it must be measurable. If you don’t measure your success, you won’t know when you are not doing well.
Culled from All Round Success
