What is the most beneficial thing a small business owner can do to set themselves up for swift and consistent success? One way to do this is to set up a cycle of success which gives sustainable, repeatable results that empower you to stretch yourself to higher levels and achieve more meaningful results. When creating this cycle of success, there are some important things to keep in mind; like keeping one eye on the action, and another on the end result. You also need to ensure you are accountable and that you have a practical plan in place to produce repeatable successes. So what are the six key steps you need to take as a business owner in order to ensure repeatable positive results?
1. Have a clear picture of what you want
It is easy to understand what you don’t want: You don’t want to fail, alienate clients, or employ unproductive staff. But understanding what you don’t want is not what will help you accomplish your highest goals. To ensure this you need to have a very clear image of what results you hope to accomplish. To ensure success you need measurable, trackable and achievable things in mind. This will cover areas like specific revenue and your staff compliment. The clearer you are on this plan, the easier it will be to implement your success cycle.
2. Create a plan
While knowing what you want is great, you also have to have a plan in place defining exactly how you’re going to get there. This “how” is essential to any success cycle. It should include daily, weekly and monthly action items. It needs to be applicable to your business and industry and should include the smartest solutions in order to maximise your time and efforts.
3. Get help
Just because you are an independent entrepreneur, doesn’t mean you need to know how to do everything on your own. In fact, the biggest challenge for business owners is that they hate asking for help. But actually getting help from a coach or mentor can be like a secret weapon. This might take the form of another business owner who has a stronger track record than you, be it from your industry or another one. It might be a business coach or an expert attorney, accountant or strategist. The point is that surrounding yourself with smart people (who may even know more than you) can give you the edge that you're looking for.
4. Take consistent action
This step usually isn’t so difficult. The challenge here is that you need to know what each day and week needs to look like in order to achieve your goals. Once you have the plan in place it’s simple, you just have to follow it day in and day out. And remember to stick to the points listed. Doing something once or twice really isn’t enough to achieve sustainable long-term results and bear in mind that consistency is central to high levels of success.
5. Check and review your progress
This crucial step is often overlooked. Just knowing your results are working, is not an excuse to overlook the reviewing process. It is important to constantly review where you are at in your success cycle to check you are on the right track or perhaps to indicate whether you need to tweak your plan more strategically. This begins with asking questions like where are you now and where do you want to be? How far along are you in the process? Is there anything you can do to get there quicker? And can smart funding options help you improve your plan of action?
6. Renew your goals
Always keep striving to reach the next rung of the ladder. Don’t rest on past accomplishments or take a break, you have to keep climbing each and every day. So at every rung, assess where you are and where you’re going and create mini-goals to aid you based on what you have learned so far.
The bottom line
Building up your small business takes time and effort. But by setting up a robust small business cycle, you will put yourself in a strong position to make meaningful systematic progress and watch your business grow.
