Starting and growing your business can be a daunting endeavour, initially. Getting investors, building a market presence, implementing efficacious processes, and taking market share from the competition may seem like an uphill battle. You may want to focus on financial expansion and taking your business to the next level. Sounds like a tall order, doesn’t it?
However, getting started and garnering momentum is the key. A realistic area of emphasis for any entrepreneur would be to focus on getting things done, instead of perfection at all levels. Like Bill Gates once said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” In a business too, success isn’t about the short-term goals but about being patient and having a long-term vision. Based on insights, let’s take a look at some of the realities that entrepreneurs ought to imbibe before they embark upon their next business journey.
Business is about the cycles
Unlike weather cycles, business cycles can be anything but regular. The four periods of inflation, peak, recession, and trough characterise the gradual rise and decline of a company’s economic development over time. As an entrepreneur there will be periods of rest and hustle. Long working days with short periods of rest are often the norm. However, hustling non-stop could lead to a burnout of both the internal and external cycles.
However, once the business has a market presence and is somewhat well-established then entrepreneurs can get ample time for rest. These periods of rest can give businessmen time to reflect and look at the business and market in a more holistic fashion. Well-timed breaks can also enable innovative ideas to flow in that could make a discernible difference in how operations are conducted as well as business outcomes. Using the business seasons to one’s advantage is something that entrepreneurs will learn through a process of trial and error.
Maximize opportunities
Sometimes, growth is like a tempest, uncontrollable and sudden. This is when success is being shaped by market forces and everything is building momentum as you go along. While it may feel easy and more acceptable to have success shaped by market forces, sustainable growth comes from building upon these factors. Otherwise, the business could fall flat again based on market forces. How can you maximize opportunities while building resilience and agility?
Leveraging the right tools, retaining customers, and value innovation are the key facets of sustainable success in the long-run. Today, professional networking and building connections is critical towards market trust and business continuity in the long-run.
Learning to embrace change
There are two things that drive motivation: The fear of failure and paint or the need for exuberance and pleasure (passion). The latter is better than being driven by fear. Life is shaped by a plethora of experiences. Pushing out of one’s comfort zone to take up new challenges may seem daunting at first but in hindsight, the experience is certainly worth the pain and hardships that one has to go through. Sometimes, the fear is merely psychological and dissipates when one commits oneself to action. It’s about learning, adapting and overcoming self-doubt. Taking valuable insights from those who have steered through similarly choppy waters can go along way towards shaping success in one’s entrepreneurial forays.
The road ahead
A path towards entrepreneurship is like an adventure: Fraught with perils and yet exciting and exhilarating at the same time. While failure can be expensive, success is often well rewarded. As the business grows, an entrepreneur’s perceptions often get challenged and they are required to expand their horizons like never before.
