Making a success of a business venture is not necessarily a straightforward thing, by any means. As we all know – creating a successful business requires plenty of hard work, dedication, and persistence over time. It also requires a good deal of insight into the problems faced by customers in general, and the solutions that might help them out.
For the most part, success in business seems to be largely arcane and mysterious. It has something to do with good investments, something to do with luck, and something to do with professional connections, in addition to everything else.
While it’s not possible to come up with a clear-cut formula that is guaranteed to lead to success for a given business venture, there are certain actions and attitudes that generally correlate pretty well with success.
And some of those actions and attitudes can seem pretty counterintuitive.
Here are a few counterintuitive things that may lead to business success for you.
- Being willing to put elements of your business under the control of other people
It’s pretty common for new entrepreneurs to be, for want of a better term, control freaks.
If you’re running your own business – and especially, if you’ve been entirely responsible for the fate of that business since day one – the idea of relinquishing control to other people can seem downright daunting, and even insulting.
As your business grows, however, you will inevitably need to put elements of the business under the control of other people, due to the simple practical issue that you, as an individual, do not have unlimited skills, or unlimited time.
Being willing to delegate elements of your business to other people, whether that means a company such as Allcott Commercial, or a professional marketing manager, can help you to boost your overall efficiency, expand the total number of skill set at your disposal, and free up time and creative energy, too.
- Working fewer hours (with less distraction)
People who create their own businesses are often highly driven, and are generally inclined to view the idea of working fewer hours as a form of weakness, and lack of dedication.
While, of course, you need to be willing and able to work hard, consistently, to make your business a success, there is a point of diminishing returns.
For many chronically busy professionals, working fewer hours can actually lead to greater overall well-being, productivity, and insight. But, there is a caveat to that.
In order to make this work – you need to ensure that the hours you do spend “at work” are actually spent working, and not just being distracted.
Use web blockers, unplug, and really work, when you’re working. But leave plenty of time for rest and rejuvenation, too, and you’ll likely find that you’re “on top of your game” much more often.
- Adopting more of the blame when things go wrong in your business
Jack Canfield is one of several writers who has commented before on the importance of a “total accountability” mindset and ethos in business.
The idea behind this ethos is that you accept complete personal responsibility for whatever happens in your business – both the good, and the bad.
This is a harsh doctrine to follow. It leaves no room for excuses. But the trick is that we are all pretty bad at correctly judging the depth of our own capabilities. Many people report that when they begin adopting total accountability, they end up naturally being driven to perform to a higher standard than they previously thought possible.
