An admired, wise friend and successful entrepreneur recently sent me a box full of articles, quotes and tidbits of wisdom he has collected over 30 years of running his own business.
This rich and personal collection is on loan. Gradually, I’m reading everything, copying what I want to keep, and soon will return this MBA in a box to my friend.
One article that caught my eye was published over a decade ago on allbusiness.com. The title is “Top 10 Reasons Small Businesses Fail.” We all know that about half of small businesses do fail in the first four or five years.
Being attached to positive thinking as I am, I immediately flipped the content into “Ten Steps to Ensure Success in Your Small Business.” I think the advice is just as potent now as when it was written. Translated into my success vs. failure format, the 10 steps look like this.
1. Do it now. For small business owners, paperwork and “to-do’s” pile up like snowdrifts on a desk, and eventually can overwhelm you. I remember hearing a colleague of Walt Disney say that one of Disney’s strengths was tending to things immediately. It’s a great habit to develop and frees up your creativity.
2. Keep tuned in to the competition. Even long-time customers will bounce away to where they can find the best products and services. So keep an eye on your competitors, copy and improve on their ideas, as long as you’re not violating patent law. Better yet, keep your firm unique by using that freed-up creativity to devise new products or services.
3. Market your products or services well. If you don’t have the time or the talent for doing this, hire the best person you can find to do it for you. Few things really sell themselves. Marketing keeps oxygen flowing into your business.
4. Provide extreme customer service. Treat customers so well that they talk about your over-the-top service when they’re having dinner with friends. As they say, under-promise and over-deliver, or the customers will find someone who does.
5. Hire stars and give them star treatment. Employ only people essential to your business who want to learn. Train them painstakingly and keep them inspired and growing. Make sure they’re having fun and feeling appreciated.
6. Work on your business, not just in your business. No matter how great you are at fixing computers or whatever, you will ratchet up your chance of success by being adept at multiple tasks from accounting to marketing to hiring.
7. Location, location, location. Customers like convenience. An enthusiastic retailer I knew had to close her shop full of wonderful shoes after a year. I’m pretty sure that was because her store was located on the second floor of a professional building. Even if your business doesn’t depend on traffic, customers will want to see your headquarters at some time or another. and you don’t want to feel apologetic. That goes for clutter too.
8. Track the cash. You need to know how to keep track of the money and make cash flow projections. Profitable or not, you can get into trouble if you overspend and run short of cash.
9. Open your mind before you open your doors. We all have preconceptions. Take the necessary steps so that your wrong preconceptions don’t break your heart. Open your mind to advice from mentors, read about small business online and in print and network like crazy. Set your own beliefs aside long enough to give serious consideration to data you glean from all these resources. Listen to the words of The Sutra of Hui Neng, “by defending our faults, we betray an unsound mind.”
10. Plan, plan, plan. Start with goals, including action steps as part of your strategic plan, and consult your plan every day to make sure you are doing what needs to be done to meet your objectives. Revise the plan to keep it alive through the many changes that will be part of your reality, inside and outside of your business.
Well-prepared or not, starting a business is an investment with a lot of risk. If you’re even thinking about it, you likely have the risk-taking entrepreneurial spirit. In most cases, you’ll be out on that shaky limb all by yourself and only other business owners will understand how you feel.
How will you feel when you’ve “made it,” when you’ve started it from seed, fed and watered it and have given it the best of yourself? I’ll wager that you’ll feel it’s time to break out the champagne and toast yourself and everyone who has been with you along this engaging and hilly entrepreneurial road.
Jo Hawkins Donovan has a coaching and psychotherapy firm in Whitefish Bay. She can be reached at (414) 332-0300 or at jo@hawkinsdonovan.com. The firm’s Web site is www.hawkinsdonovan.com.
