The One Relationship Strategy You Can Count on to Satisfy New and Existing Clients

Who doesn’t love new clients? They’re the lifeblood of your organization because they write your paycheck. More than any other time in history, today’s business climate demands solid working relationships. It’s not just a trend, it’s here to stay.

The fact is, when clients hire you, most start out with a healthy dose of skepticism. They may not show it, but it’s there because you’re an unproven entity to them.

What if you aren’t what they thought? What if they hired the wrong guy? How do they know you didn’t just present a great dog and pony show and now they’re about to find out your “true colors?” They’ve been burned by a bad relationship in the past and don’t want to repeat it.

Ironically it’s a good thing. Why? Because that’s not you. There are enough shady businessmen and women out there to create an abundance of opportunity for you. You’re the real deal, nothing snake oil about you.

The question is, how can you break through the clutter and prove to your client you’re not just another Schmoe? Here’s a golden nugget that will change everything. It’s a simple method I use to stand out in a bold way. I offer every new client my three “Count-Ons,” which are the key values that matter most to me.

What this means is a simple, two or three minute conversation, by phone or in person. As soon as a deal is struck and you know you’ll be working together, you have the following conversation with your new client.

1. Express gratitude for doing business together.
2. Tell your new client there are three specific things she can count on from you. I like working with a set of three; it’s a nice easy number we can wrap our minds around.
3. List them one by one and explain what they mean to your client.
4. Let your client know that if ever they question something in the relationship that they have your permission to address it directly.
5. Follow it up in writing with an email and ask them to save it.
6. Hold yourself to these standards.

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” – Tony Robbins

As an example, my three Count-Ons are: first, you can count on me to be dependable. From the initial phone call through the presentation and the follow up phone call, I’ll do what I say and I’ll say what I do. And I’ll do it in a professional manner.

Second, you can count on me to be honest and ethical. Even when it’s not in my best interest, you’ll always count on getting the truth from me in all transactions and financial matters.

And third, you can count on me to do my best. I’ll never give you anything but the best I’ve got. Whatever your needs are for working with me, I’ll do everything in my power to see that they are met.

You can present these either personally, or representing key values your company has. If you choose to implement this as a team, decide together what the three values are and get everyone on the same page to ensure brand consistency.

Imagine the impression you make on your client when you start off with a conversation like this. What a way to stand out! But even more important than the words is the way you say them. Say this with conviction, from your heart.

By articulating these values up front, you managing your client’s expectations, you plant the seeds for them to notice as you perform and set yourself up to be accountable for a higher level of performance. As we all know, when goals are measured, you’re much more likely to accomplish them.

Create your own set of “Count-Ons” and make them part of who you are. Keep them posted somewhere as a reminder of who you are at your core and what you’ve promised your clients and catch yourself before they do. Try it with your next onboarding call and notice the reaction from your client.

“You don’t build a business, you build people and then people build the business.” – Zig Ziglar

The last and final step is the most important. Make sure you deliver after you’ve promised. The promise alone is impressive, it’s bold and confident, it cuts through the clutter, it gets you started off on the right foot, but if you don’t back it up with action, the whole thing will backfire on you.

Business and marketing today are all about relationships and more than anything, clients crave trust.

How are you making sure your relationships are your priority in life? Comment below and let us know!

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How to Be Radically Authentic and Align With Your True Purpose

I’ve realized, over time, that authenticity is the first step to true spirituality.  Not only that but a key ingredient to true success in life. Why? Because we are only truly successful when we are doing something we LOVE, something we are truly aligned with. A truer purpose perhaps, and one that reflects your deepest passions and personality.

Yes, authenticity is being genuine, telling the truth and saying what you mean, but it also involves integrity in all areas of one’s life and the ability to be true to one’s REAL self.

What’s radical authenticity?

There are obvious situations in life where, in order to be honest and authentic requires a great deal of strength and courage in the midst of fear, especially when it involves the opinions of others.

So for me radical authenticity is actually stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s about standing for what you think, believe and feel, even when it’s inconvenient. Even when the thought of it gets you quaking with fear!

I don’t pretend that I’m there yet. Like most of us, I want to give in to my fears and take the easy route countless times in a day, to not speak the truth because you are afraid of what someone’s response might be or what they may think of you, say or do.

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” – Dalai Lama

The webs we weave

We ALL have wounds and distorted beliefs about our own selves. Authenticity is looking at ourselves with growing awareness & sorting through these ‘untruths’ that have held us back from being who we truly are.

When we take the time to strip this away, we get back in touch with the individual self we were ultimately created to be. Going there takes courage and perseverance and this is such a necessary step along the journey towards wholeness and true success.

The masks we wear

Once we start stripping back these layers – how we think we should behave, what everyone expects of us, what society expects of us – the masks we wear even to ourselves, then automatically we’ll start to see and feel who we really are.

We tend to define ourselves by these created parts of ourselves, the parts that are there to make us feel a bit more powerful and in control, or a bit more desirable, stronger, or whatever it is that we feel we’re missing within ourselves, so we hold onto them for dear life!

New Age circles talk about ‘finding your true self’, but I’ve found that if you go looking as if it’s something you need to ‘find’, all you’ll find is another type of mask.

Personally, I’ve found that as I’ve let go of some of the roles, the obligations, the pressures to be a certain way, the ways of being that make others more comfortable, or that feel safer and more acceptable somehow, that I automatically start to feel more of my real self.

“Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” – W. Clement Stone

Are you a be-er or a do-er?

Particularly in the western world, we get so caught up in ‘doing’ and the myriad of roles we think we have to play. We’ve been taught that in order to be accepted and loved, we have to do things. So we don’t know how to just be. But in order to align to our true self and purpose, we actually have to learn how to let ourselves BE. Slow it down and create the space to be with yourself.

Aligning with true purpose

Asking ‘How well do I really know myself ?’ is a great question. We often assume that we do, but asking this with genuine curiosity can deliver surprising results. What are the reasons I’m doing what I’m currently doing with my time? Do I love what I’m doing? Does it make my heart sing? What would I be doing if I wasn’t afraid? What are my dearest values and what do I really believe in?

Purpose is a great word. It’s definition is actually the reason or meaning behind doing what we do, our intention behind it. So in order for something to be a TRUE purpose it needs to have meaning to us.

We need to really BELIEVE in it. And belief comes from the heart. If you are your authentic self you have no competition! I’m not all the way there yet, and I’m still a chronic ‘doer’, but feeling more and more of the real me feels wonderful, and requires a lot less energy!

I still occasionally ask myself the question: ‘How can I get more real & in truth with myself and move more towards living a life that is more in alignment with who I REALLY am?’ Are you prioritising your time with the things you really believe in and are aligned with?

What could you do today to get more into alignment with true purpose and make room for more of that in your life? Comment below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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3 Simple Steps to Remove Drama From Your Life Immediately

You come home, tired from work, and as soon as you open the door, the drama hits you in the face. Either your boyfriend/girlfriend is throwing a tantrum which ends up in a full-out fight for hours or your boss has a love/hate relationship with you and gives you so many responsibilities that you end up working late in the night. Maybe it is simply your parents who keep forcing you to take the job, partner or university you don’t really want.

Whatever it may be, our lives are out of control when we experience drama. But there is a way we can solve this.

Here are 3 simple steps to help you remove drama from your life:

1. Stand your ground even if it rains or snows

The sentence is said by Script in one of their songs. What does it mean? Most of the drama happens in our lives because we don’t stand our grounds. We let our attitudes and behaviors become shaped by other people’s agenda. What happens when your loved one throws a tantrum at you when it’s not your fault? If you budge and start apologizing for something you didn’t do, it will always happen.

When you stand your ground, you engage in a tough conversation. And our lives are marked by the number of tough conversations we are willing to have. Yeah, it’s easier to just keep your mouth shut and let the tantrum go away by itself, but that way, you create a short-term advantage, but a long-term disadvantage because you just postpone the problem which will just keep popping up.

To solve this, you need to be willing to stand your ground. With this attitude, you kill the monster while it’s still young. If you let it grow, it will spiral out of control. This means hitting the drama in the cause, not the effect. See what is behind the tantrum of your girlfriend/boyfriend, understand why your parents want you to get this kind of education and talk openly with your boss about the tasks. It isn’t easy, but it’s worth it in the long-term.

“Life is 10% what you experience and 90% how you respond to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll

2. Remove toxic people from your environment

You are the average of 5 people you hang out with the most,said famously by Jim Rohn and it seems to be an axiom proven over and over again. Did you notice how some people create drama in their lives even when there is no reason behind it? There is always someone who screws them up somehow, always someone who talks bad behind their back and always someone who needs to get what they deserve.

No matter how much you try to help them, there always seems to be drama which occupies their time, focus, and energy. At this moment, you need to cut these people loose. They are simply not worth it. If you stay long enough, they will just drag you into their drama. With that, you will also start living it, which will sap your time, focus, and energy.

If your working environment is toxic, just quit because it’s not worth it. You will find another job even in this day’s economy. As Jim Collins said in Good to Great “If you come home and talk about the bad employee who just saps your energy, it is time to fire him.” Use the same rule for the working environment.

Don’t limit yourself only to the working environment, look at your relationships with friends and loved ones as well. If it won’t change, you know what to do. Short-term pain for the long-term gain!

“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”- Arthur Ashe

3. The spotlight effect

This effect tells us that even though we are the center of our universe, we are not the center of everyone else’s universe. We tend to think that everyone else focuses on us and marks every single step we take, but in reality, people most often don’t care about us.

If you want to kill drama from your life, start by understanding that you don’t matter as much as you think. This will prevent you from escalating drama in your life. You’ve probably had the situation where a friend stood you up for a drink or something similar. They probably forgot or had something urgent to deal with. They didn’t stand you up to humiliate you or to make you nervous and anxious.

There is no hidden agenda to destroy you in any way. People don’t really care that much about you and as soon as you internalize that, you will be free.  You will forgive and realize that the world doesn’t revolve around you. Did someone postpone a meeting with you? They are not trying to screw you over. Someone didn’t return you the book they borrowed? They probably forgot.

This will give you freedom and it will kill drama in your life. You will feel much more alive because you won’t be using your time, focus, and energy on drama. In turn, that will free up your time to create something valuable and use your time, focus and energy on something great, something people will value, use or read.

If you’ve managed to remove the drama from your life, spread the word about it. There are people struggling with these situations in their lives, and you can show them that life can be simple and great, but only if they remove drama from it. So share this article with your friends who could use it. Trust me, it will help them.

What are some things you’ve done to remove drama from your life? Comment below!

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Early Success: 7 Entrepreneurs Who Got Rich During or After College

Not all entrepreneurs wait until they have years of experience to start out on their own. Many have the confidence in their abilities and ideas to get an early start. The seven entrepreneurs below did just that. They either dropped out of school and found success quickly, or did so shortly after graduation.

1. Matt Mullenweg – WordPress

In 2003 Matt Mullenweg was a 19 year old freshman at the University of Houston. This was also the year he co founded WordPress. He’s also the cofounder of the Global Multimedia Protocols Group. That’s only the beginning. He also spent time at C-Net.

Thanks to these and other ventures, Mullenweg is now worth over 40 million dollars. He supports several charitable foundations including The Innocence Project and efforts to provide clean and safe drinking water to emerging nations.

2. Jen Rubio And Steph Korey – Away

Steph Korey was busy working on her advanced degree at Columbia university when her friend Jen Rubio approached her with an idea for a travel business. Rubio had been traveling when her suitcase failed in the middle of a Zurich airport. She reached out to friends via social media for recommendations on replacements. What she found was that nobody really had any. Apparently there simply weren’t suitcases that millennials found to be functional and affordable.

Jen got Steph on board and they launched Away, a luggage company dedicated to selling suitcases and other items directly to consumers. Since it was formed in 2015, they’ve raised 31 million dollars in capital and hired 66 employees. According to Rubio, “We were very lucky. My background is in branding and creative. Steph’s background is in product and supply chain and operations. Between us, we had a lot of things covered. We didn’t have to go outside for a lot of those things for a long time.”

3. Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook

Likely the most well known name on this list, Zuckerberg is still worth mentioning as an example of someone who decided to stop procrastinating and pursue their goals. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 while he was a student at Harvard. He and his friends created the social media platform to help other Harvard students connect with one another. Then, they began distributing the platform to other colleges and universities.

Zuckerberg left Harvard as a sophomore to continue building his enterprise. By the time he was 22, he became a millionaire. Since then, in spite of having many challengers, Facebook remains the premier social media platform. That, along with other platforms also owned by Facebook, including Instagram, show no sign of slowed growth.

 “Don’t let anyone tell you to change who you are.” – Mark Zuckerberg

4. Isa Watson – Envested

Isa Watson was working at Pfizer and well-entrenched in an MBA program at MIT Sloan when her father was tragically killed in a car accident. When she returned to her home city of Chapel Hill, her life began to take a definitive turn. Instead of following her dreams to head to Silicon Valley, she decided to stay in Chapel Hill and start a business with the goal of getting millennials to invest in local charitable initiatives.

To accomplish her goal, Watson along with other collaborators created Envested. This is, in essence a platform for local charities. Not for profits post profiles,  hold fundraising challenges, and tell their stories. At the same time, givers can sign up, learn more about local charities, and donate. Envested has even gamified charitable giving a bit with friends being able to see what one another is donating. Envested has raised 760K in funding.

5. Kyle Smitley – Barley And Birch

Kyle Smitley founded Barley and Birch in 2008. By 2009, the company had $400K in projected revenue. Her business, which produces an organic clothing line for children, quickly became popular with celebrities. In fact, both Jessica Alba and Sheryl Crow dressed their children in Barley And Birch. In addition to earning a sizeable profit early on, Smitley also committed to charitable giving.

After covering payroll and paying down a business loan, over half of Barley And Birch’s profits went to charity. What may be most impressive of all is that she launched this successful clothing company while she was a full time law student.

6. Lisa Q Fetterman – Nomiku

Fetterman graduated from journalism school at NYU, and immediately started a series of jobs in fine dining restaurants. She also worked as a journalist for several publications. However, it was a trend she witnessed in fine dining that would inspire her to start her own business. Fetterman noticed that several restaurants were using sous vide, a technique involving cooking meat and vegetables in a relatively low temperature water bath while vacuum sealed with herbs and marinades. Customers loved the result.

She and her future husband built a home sous vide unit on their first date. Then, they began assembling DIY kits for friends. This eventually grew into a business. Lisa Fetterman was only 26 when her business launched. Eventually, they raised $600K to launch Nomiku. The company now produces smart units that can be monitored and controlled via app. Their venture was also funded even further when Fetterman made an appearance on the show ‘Shark Tank’.

“When you’re ready to quit, you are closer than you think.” – Bob Parsons

7. Ryan Williams – Cadre

Williams entrepreneurial drive became clear when he was still a student at Harvard. There, he created technology that could track foreclosures. He and other students then used the information they mined to purchase and flip homes. After graduation, he spent time at Goldman Sachs then Blackstone. However, by the time  he was 26 he was ready to strike out on his own again. This time he founded Cadre. This is a platform that allows buyers and sellers to trade in nontraditional assets like they would stocks. He believes that this will create accessibility in areas such as real estate, oil, and energy where it did not previously exist. Currently, real estate is the primary focus of Cadre. Ryan William’s firm has currently earned north of $68 million in funding.

Conclusion

There are so many business ideas that started in college dorm rooms, or emerged shortly after. The entrepreneurs listed here are just a few examples of young people having great ideas and then putting those ideas into action. There are so many more, especially considering that a young entrepreneur can be successful without creating six or seven figures worth of revenue.

What did you learn from the stories of these entrepreneurs? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/early-success-7-entrepreneurs-who-got-rich-during-or-after-college/

23 Inspirational Michael B. Jordan Quotes

Michael B. Jordan is quickly becoming an all-star actor. After appearing in major motion pictures such as Creed and most recently as the villain Killmonger in the blockbuster Black Panther. Hailing from Newark New Jersey, he grew up in one of the roughest places in the U.S. However, he overcame struggles, worked hard, and found success through being obsessed with his passion: acting. 

Here are some of Michael B. Jordans best & most powerful quotes:

1. “I’ve never been the guy to hype myself up. It’s just not my thing.” – Michael B. Jordan

2. “I think everyone starts in the mailroom at some point! It’s a rite of passage. Your boss has to throw something at you and order you around for at least two years.” – Michael B. Jordan

3. “So you tell yourself to just do the work and disconnect, because you have no control over the outcome.” – Michael B. Jordan

4. “Sometimes you’re overthinking, you convince yourself to get out of it and you’re like, ‘ah I shoulda did that!’ You can’t live life with regrets. Sometimes you just gotta indulge. But in the same breath, you gotta have restraint and self-control too.” – Michael B. Jordan

5. “Be collaborative. I’ve had some of my best experiences with directors who were able to sit down and have a conversation and ask me what I thought.” – Michael B. Jordan

6. “I want people to leave the theatre and think, ‘How can I be a better person?’ That’s the only way things are going to improve.” – Michael B. Jordan

7. “I think it’s just easier for people to put you in a box or a lane because you look similar. I think that’s unfair for anybody in any situation.” – Michael B. Jordan

8. “Taking a break, taking a moment, is super important.” – Michael B. Jordan

9. “You can only fool reality until the truth comes knocking on your door.” – Michael B. Jordan

10. “As human beings, why does it take somebody to feel like they’re close to us for us to see their humanity? Why can’t we see the humanity in people that are distant from us?” – Michael B. Jordan

11. “Sometimes family doesn’t always consist of your relatives or by blood. Sometimes your best friends can feel more like family than your cousins. I think everybody kind of has that same feeling. When you go through an accident together, when you go through a traumatic event, sometimes that brings you closer together.” – Michael B. Jordan

Like these quotes? Check out more quotes from his namesake Michael Jordan

12. “I think everybody wants to be their own person and be an individual.” – Michael B. Jordan

13. “Sometimes you gotta go with your first instinct. You gotta go with your gut. That’s kind of how I live my life you gotta go with your gut.” – Michael B. Jordan

14. “Equality means having the same rights and liberties and opportunities regardless of our differences.” – Michael B. Jordan

15. “Do as much homework as you can. Learn everybody’s job and don’t just settle.” – Michael B. Jordan

16. “That’s one of the fun parts of becoming an actor: you can become whoever you want to be.” – Michael B. Jordan

17. “I’m not good at everything, I just do my best at everything.” – Michael B. Jordan

18. “Certain things I can’t even explain. There’s a thing about being lucky and…I feel like certain things are just, like, in your cards. I’m just walking the path that’s already set.” – Michael B. Jordan

19. “I’ve been living with that all my life. My name is Michael Jordan, so I’m always being compared to a person of greatness.” – Michael B. Jordan

20. “I think redemption is just about righting a wrong, and in that pursuit it’s about trying. You can stumble, you can make mistakes, but it’s about trying to do the right thing.” – Michael B. Jordan

21. “Just as people, we’re different around different people and in different environments.” – Michael B. Jordan

22. “Don’t pretend to know everything. I’ve been blessed to work with a lot of veteran actors, and I soak up lessons from them like a sponge.” – Michael B. Jordan

23. “Sometimes you’ve gotta hide the medicine in the food. You can’t slap somebody in the face with facts all the time. It’s too harsh.” – Michael B. Jordan

Which quote resonated with you the most? Comment below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/quotes/23-inspirational-michael-b-jordan-quotes/

I Embraced These 5 Characteristics. Best Decision I Ever Made.

The other day I was putting together a guide for my clients on how to succeed in social media.

All of a sudden, I had an epiphany – a life-changing moment of clarity that was so incredibly rare.

I realized that the things I’ve learned about social media actually apply more broadly to life.

The key differentiator between those who achieve a lot of success online are these 5 characteristics:

 

Characteristic 1 – Humbleness

Achieving success on social media leads to a large number of messages from all sorts of people. Remaining humble and talking to people like you’re on their level has helped me to get people’s respect.

Humbleness creates beautiful conversations that touch your soul and make you and the other person feel phenomenal.

A bit of success can easily make you feel superior and so humbleness is the way to stay grounded and not forget who you are, and where you’ve come from.

Humbleness is a brilliant decision.

 

Characteristic 2 – Gracefulness

The world of social media is fast-paced and often frantic. Being graceful has allowed me to move slower at times and reflect on each thing that I do in my life.

“Rather than trying to walk over the top of what everyone else is trying to do and charge through the battlefield of social media like an out of control soldier who’s gone rogue, I’ve learned to be more graceful”

Being graceful is difficult to explain at times. I see it as making moves with composure, calmness and keeping balance between the many tasks that can pull us from side to side (such as distractions).

Slow down, think about your decisions carefully and be graceful as you make your moves.

Gracefulness is a decision that will make you calm.

 

Characteristic 3 – Kindness

The secret ingredient of all of my online success. It’s also the same ingredient that many of the people you look up to use.

When you meet a stranger, you be friendly.
When someone praises one of your Facebook posts, you be kind and say thank you.
When you see someone struggling and you can help, you offer your time.

Kindness is a characteristic that bonds all of us together. It will bring more good things in your life than any other trait.

“Kindness is a belief in yourself and your fellow humans to do the right thing”

Kindness is a belief that we can all be better by helping each other and doing so in a generous, friendly and considerate way.

Above all else, kindness is the best decision you can make.

 

Characteristic 4 – Vulnerability

There’s a temptation with social media to hide behind a mask and pretend you’re happy and living this amazing life that everyone else should be envious of. Vulnerability has been a trait I’ve used to bring people in and show them the real me.

Vulnerability is when you share your epic failure.
Vulnerability is when you’re not afraid to show weakness.
Vulnerability is admitting something made you cry.
Vulnerability is admitting you’re not okay.

Putting vulnerability into everything you do makes you human. People want to see you be vulnerable and it shows huge amounts of courage at the same time. Rather than getting attached to your critic’s opinions, vulnerability can help you go further and be authentic.

When you crush your fear (like my well-known public speaking one), you should share that vulnerable moment with your family, work friends and online connections.

You’ll sometimes experience some fear when you attempt to be vulnerable and that’s usually a sign that you are going outside your comfort zone which is good.

Breaking your comfort zone is how you grow and that’s what will give you the strength to attack bigger goals in the future. Don’t back away from being vulnerable; face into it.

Vulnerability is a decision to stand out from the crowd and be you – warts and all.

 

Characteristic 5 – Willingness To Share (no strings attached)

Sharing is the act of demonstrating you have enough. It’s a form of gratitude.

As an example, the other day, a guy asked me how I do my video posts and within a few minutes I sent him back, step-by-step, how I do them.

He was shocked!
He couldn’t believe I’d tell him step-by-step and want nothing in return.

I embraced a willingness to share because I realized like most of you, that no one has a monopoly on information or ideas. Anyone can find anything out thanks to the Internet. So, what’s the point of hiding your knowledge? There is none.

Share what you know, and maybe one day they’ll return the favor. All of us have useful lessons, failures, stories and ideas to share. Rather than hide them, share them for the world to see.

This willingness to share has worked for me and it’s fuelled my side business but I’ve only found it to work when you share with no strings attached.

“The moment you expect something in return, people can sniff out your selfishness like a dog at the airport sniffing for drugs”

Most of the knowledge and strategies I’ve obtained that are responsible for my success have come from other people’s willingness to share. It’s only fair that I return the gift and that you do the same.

Sharing is a fantastic decision to make.

 

Why these 5 characteristics work.

These five traits have led me to discover my version of success and I believe they are most of what you need to succeed at any pursuit in life.

Once these traits become habits, you’ll do them without thinking. These traits are what have compounded my success and I honestly believe they will do the same for you.

These five traits are the foundation for anyone wanting to do something big and bring the rest of us on the journey. They are also the same traits that will help you build a tribe of people who want to achieve a common mission.

You don’t need piles of money.
You don’t need millions of followers.
You don’t need to overwork and burn out.

What you need is to make a decision to be humble, graceful, kind, vulnerable and willing to share.

These traits work because they each have an element of selflessness about them.
These traits are not about you as such; they’re about what you can do for all of us.

Embracing these five traits is the best decision I’ve made. Will you make the same decision?

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net

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The 4 Difficult Lessons Every Successful Entrepreneur Must Learn

Successful entrepreneurs are born learners, but often they focus on the wrong lessons. Yes, learning about financing, staff management, selling, marketing, product innovation, decision-making and risk taking are vital. However, there are other lessons that are just as important to the future of your business.

Learn these four lessons, really embed them into your psyche, and you’ll be in great shape to build a successful, sustainable business:

1. It’s essential to pivot

Startup businesses often go off like a rocket. You invest your money in building a top-line product or service, putting together a fantastic team, and making sure the design of your website and marketing material is just right. You invest so much time in this before you launch that you forget about sales and demand. You launch – and, well, all those customers you thought would be knocking down your door aren’t there. It’s a struggle to get through your first year in business.

Growing a business is all about product-market fit – matching up your offering with what customers actually want, ideally at a price that is profitable and appealing to the customer. The important lesson is that while every entrepreneur is passionate about their sector, very few can hit product-market fit first time. Don’t beat yourself up. Instead of getting frustrated about customers not buying from you, ask them why they aren’t. Then take what you’ve learnt and pivot in a new direction.

2. Process geeks are cool

I’ve worked with many brilliant and inspiring entrepreneurs. Some have gone on to build international businesses and others have foundered. What separates them? The truly successful ones all have one thing in common: scratch the surface and they’re process geeks.

Successful entrepreneurs enjoy the detail, they love separating each job into separate actions, seeing where they can make efficiencies and freeing up the bottlenecks. Every element of their business has a written process with clearly defined steps.   

If you’re a visionary, and most entrepreneurs are, the actual nitty gritty process of your business probably leaves you cold. You’re focused driving sales, bringing in new clients and building relationships. It’s the bigger picture all the way for you. Nonetheless, if you don’t put proper processes in place, your business will fail in the long run, no matter how many sales you’ve made or how big your client roster.  

“Details create the big picture.” – Sanford I. Weill

3. Hiring people smarter than you is clever

Everyone knows this one, right? The problem here is that though we all know it, we very often forget it. I’ve seen lots of entrepreneurs fall at this hurdle with sometimes catastrophic results. The reasons for this are very clear to me because some entrepreneurs are control freaks. They are big, extrovert personalities, and they have to be the top dog in the workplace. That means when it comes to hiring, though they think they’re focused on going for smart people, they’re actually choosing people who won’t threaten their ego. Hiring for a startup is difficult – there is no doubt.

Successful entrepreneurs know and understand themselves. They know their strengths and their personal weaknesses. Driven, go-getting extravert founders can be incredibly successful, but they need to surround themselves with people who are unafraid to challenge them. Otherwise, what you end up with later down the line is a business full of yes-men. Smart, yes-men, maybe, but still people who will go along with any mad idea you might have at 4 o’clock in the morning.

The best way to ensure this doesn’t happen to you is to get a second opinion from people you trust, even people outside the business or let your team interview the person, not you. Clearly this plan isn’t foolproof, because if you’ve already built a business full of yes-men they’re just going to pick someone like them. Nonetheless, nine times out of 10 you’ll end up with a new team member who’s not going to be afraid to tell you when you’re being an idiot.

4. All entrepreneurs are afraid – it’s normal

Every entrepreneur has sleepless nights. All startup founders worry that their business is going to go bust tomorrow. All entrepreneurs think they’re going to get found out. This is perfectly normal, and absolutely nothing to worry about. In fact, it’s all part of building a highly successful business. The trick is to ensure that it doesn’t start to impair your judgement or your health.

We’ve all heard stories of entrepreneurs who only sleep four hours per night, and work 80 hour weeks for years and years on end. While some do, most come to the correct conclusion after a few months that if they and their team must work 80 hours per week, they don’t have a viable business. The effects are more harmful than you might expect. Getting a good night’s sleep will calm you down.

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

If your business is sustainable and you’ve just got into a cycle of fear that’s driving you to work ridiculous hours, then stop. Look again at your product-market fit and processes, hire some people smarter than you who will tell you you’re an idiot and go on holiday. Yes, one of those things where you leave the office and don’t come back for at least a week. Holidays are definitely not for wimps.

Successful entrepreneurs understand that it’s the big lessons that count. They are the portable life lessons that will carry you through the tough times ahead. If you can really nail these four lessons, you’ll not only be in great shape but you’ll be ahead of many of your fellow entrepreneurs.  

Which one of these four lessons do you need to implement most in your life? Let us know in the comments below!

from
https://addicted2success.com/entrepreneur-profile/the-4-difficult-lessons-every-successful-entrepreneur-must-learn/