Many people own businesses. But just a few of these business owners succeed in the long term. That’s because there are several crucial aspects that differentiate an excellent business owner from an average business owner.
Keep in mind that success has a lot to do with the impact you can make on other people. As a business owner, you have a unique ability to influence employees and create a life-long legacy.
This means that exceptional leadership can not only take your business to the next level but also make a difference in people around you — and beyond.
Let’s go over the top five secrets of successful business owners:
Successful Business Owners Learn from Failure
While almost no one enjoys the thought of failure, the experience can produce beneficial effects. Business owners can learn from projects that fail and use the experience to power the next idea. Failure has real value when you think of it as an experience that benefits you in some way. John C. Maxwell, a pastor, motivational speaker, and author, encourages the evaluation of experiences to find how failure can contribute to such character traits as respect for personal growth and appreciation of wisdom. Rejecting the adage that experience provides the best lessons in life, he suggests that “evaluated experience” serves the purpose much more effectively. Learning from failure presents a challenge that not everyone can meet. Enduring it and moving on does not mean the same thing as examining what happened to cause it.
An evaluated experience can occur from understanding the event and using it to gain wisdom. Failure usually arrives with negative emotions, but it is recommended that you counteract them with positive feelings.
Business owners need to keep a long-term strategy in mind and not let short-term distractions derail progress. Even when setbacks occur as they almost inevitably do, leaders accept them as a cost of doing business and use them as evaluated experiences that guide future decisions.
Successful Business Owners Demonstrate Strong HR Leadership Skills
Business owners can attract and retain valuable employees by incorporating innovative concepts along with traditional employee benefits to accompany the necessary compensation. No one can expect you to know everything, but you can seem to when you hire the right business people to work with you.
When you have the right pool of people around you, you create a support network that can take your business to a level that nobody can do alone. Some people can create a better interface than Apple’s IOS, however, nobody can create the business system that Apple has.
To attract and retain the right people, your business must look attractive. In the current job market, you can gain an edge by offering competitive employee benefits to attract talent. Just like Google, Microsoft has many special employee benefits, including on-site gyms, showers, nap rooms, game rooms and several places to eat.
Of course, you don’t need all of that to motivate your employees. You just need enough for them to feel comfortable in the work environment. Improving employees’ health can make a substantial impact on your company’s productivity.
The investment that you make in addressing issues that matter to each employee can provide a long-term return for your company. Besides increasing employee engagement, it will lead them to earn an enduring level of trust and admiration.
Successful Business Owners Focus on Their Passion as Motivation
Among the many writings of American transcendentalist philosopher Emerson, one that still has resonance more than 175 years later reflects the importance of passion. “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” he stated. Perhaps a characteristic of the American spirit of optimism, a passionate belief in the ability to accomplish something provides a business owner with an opportunity to offer energetic and enthusiastic leadership.
Enthusiasm seems to have a magnetic effect that spreads among workers and contributes to positivity in the workplace. An opposite effect can occur when leaders have a pessimistic attitude that tends to discourage workers and delay or prevent accomplishment.
When you choose a passionate approach, you may see it inspire the people around you almost immediately. It may attract particular attention if it represents a change from your previous method of managing employees and providing leadership for your company. Leaders must not only believe in the company’s vision but must also be passionate about it. That’s how leaders inspire the people around them. As someone who has the power to lead and inspire, you can influence others to achieve goals that benefit them and your company as well.
In addition to the better leadership aspect that passion provides, it also contributes to a bigger motivation for the business owner to go through the many obstacles found when growing a business. Many business owners don’t have the guts to keep working hard when they see a negative income. That’s when passion makes the difference. If you love what you do, and truly believe in your vision, you will keep going no matter what.
Successful Business Owners Maintain Persistence and Flexibility
The image of a tree that bends but does not break can represent a model that successful business owners can use as an enlightened vision of wisdom. Flexibility and persistence are two key characteristics of entrepreneurs and successful business owners. Flexibility is important to respond to new data or circumstances by doing things differently.
Flexibility allows you to grow and adapt to changes that occur in the marketplace, the economy or the environment. When it becomes evident that doing things the same old way does not work, you can consider other avenues of approach. As the owner and leader, you have a unique vantage point that lets you see what impacts may lie in your path and do something to divert them. A business owner who continues to work toward the end goal and resists distractions can show the power of sticking to a plan.
Successful Business Owners are Always Looking for Growth Opportunities
As your company’s leader, you have access to a 360 view of the marketplace. Vitality can provide a path to growth, and employees look for it in leadership. As you observe trends in the market, you can demonstrate an intention to lean into productivity and reject stagnation. Opportunity may lie right in front of you as customer feedback that waits for a chance to show what it can do. With input from a customer base that already likes your company and its products, you have a safe place to try innovations that may meet their needs and preferences.
To bring fresh energy and new concepts into your company, consider looking for relevant talent on a systematic basis. A willingness to take a new approach to your competition may come from developing a pursuit of innovation that enhances your long-standing reputation for respecting tradition. In your assessment of prevailing conditions, you may detect an opportunity to anticipate a market change, an observation that only you can make. Seek opportunities that lead to growth for your company.
The Bottom Line
If you want to manage a successful business, you must be a successful leader first. Take the time to focus on your self-improvement, so you can inspire other people to work in your favor. The bottom line is important — everyone needs money. But remember that your position will give you the power to make a difference in many lives. Make this opportunity count, because, at the end of the day, it is all about the journey.