Business-Development
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Guest-Post
Powerful Business Tips That Can Improve Your Business Performance and Growth
6:29 PM
In today’s ever-changing world, working on a business is every bit as important as working in the business. There’s an old saying that “If you aren’t growing, you’re dying,” and at no time and in no place, was that ever more true than in today’s business landscape. To improve growth or productivity in business, owners and executives can develop (or continue to develop) these simple habits:
Rise and Grind:
One of the most oft-cited habits of the world’s most successful business people is waking early. The whys and wherefores vary: many like to start their day with exercise to focus the mind and improve health. Some want a quiet breakfast and meditation before they start their day, while still others simply aim to answer overnight emails before getting the kids up and off to school.
No matter the reasons, it’s undeniable that getting up early is a fine habit to have. How we use the time we create is of our own choosing. To see real growth in business, use some of the time to calm and focus your mind, and ease into the workday. Take advantage of those quiet hours before the phone starts ringing to handle some of the day’s most intensive tasks – the things that become exponentially more challenging with interruptions.
This will leave open time during the day to focus on improving business. Finding efficiencies, exploring new sales channels or marketing techniques, and identifying strategic partners are all worth exploring to take your business to new heights, but few can be done effectively with heads buried in paperwork or emails.
Cut the Crap:
Every business owner has them, and they haunt us. Things we do because we always have, because “that’s the way it’s always been done,” or simply because we haven’t spent any time thinking about how we might do them differently. To see big improvements in the results of the business, we need to make big improvements in the business. Radical improvement requires radical change.This is where rising early really helps:
With all of those menial tasks done early, there’s sufficient time left to step back and see the forest through the trees. Why did it just take X hours to accomplish Y? Is Y even necessary? Is it productive? Would it be more efficient to make Z our goal instead? These are all big questions with answers specific to each business and their owner. The goals of one vary from those of another. But to answer them for yourself, you first need the time, and then the intention.
Renew the Faith:
Many of us know the terrible feeling of a crisis of confidence. Success in any field requires absolute confidence. Confidence in our product, in our mission. Every business owner must be their own biggest evangelist – to know in their souls that they are providing a generous service to their clients and that they are needed.
And yet, every once in a while, especially after setbacks, we’re all apt to sit back and ask the deeper questions. What to do when presented with creeping doubt? Be your own cheerleader. Remind yourself of previous successes – of how you provided value to other clients or saved them from going down the wrong path. Boost yourself back up. But then, be honest with yourself. Take a giant conscious step back, and look at where you might bring even more value to a customer. Look for ways to improve, new solutions to offer, new ways to reach your intended clients so you can help them. Put the focus on the customer, and keep it there.
After all, is said and done, the thoughtful exploration at an end, take that renewed sense of purpose into your business and hit the ground running. Blaze new trails and move them to their end! Try new ideas – shoot holes in them, not because they don’t make sense to you, but because they aren’t the best solution for your clients.
In All Things, Find Balance:
The single most critical aspect to consider about any business is why it exists in the first place. Why do we do it? Why do you? More time with the family? More flexibility to travel? Greater ability to determine how best to help your clients?
Every business has to its core vision and every owner or executive a central motivating factor that brought them in line with that vision. Before we can take any meaningful steps to improve business, we need to remember why we’re in it in the first place. Answering this question will help determine the right balance for any business, and that will dictate the steps we take for improvement. After all, we can’t improve a business without first deciding what improvement means for us as owners.
All too often in today’s world, we look at businesses as standalone beings; we forget that they are just a face for the activities we undertake as part of the lives we want to live. Any business owner or executive with the aim of improving growth or productivity need only start with these simple steps as the first on a path to better results. Use your time wisely, eliminate the unnecessary, give yourself a pep talk, and remember why you’re doing it at all. Use this recipe to take your business, and the satisfaction it gives you, to new heights.
Author Bio: Steven McMeechan
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