Ever wonder what it takes to succeed in a business of your own? Even if you’re already in business, focusing on developing key traits will build your ability to succeed.
Here’s a quick quiz to see if you can identify the 5 traits that are crucial to self-employed success:
1. It’s a beautiful day outside. You keep looking out the window as you work in your office. You’ve got a client project due, so you keep your head down. Still, you feel the tug of the outdoors and a tall cool drink in an outdoor café.
Choose one of these 2 options – do you:
a) ditch the work and head out for the rest of the day? or
b) complete the project and send it to the client on time?
2. You’ve been working on this freakin’ product for days. It’s still not at the level of quality you have set for your business. But you’re so tired of working on it, and you have other things that are calling for your attention. Even if those other things aren’t that important, they would provide a welcome break.
Do you:
a) put in the additional time to make your product really good, up to your standards? or
b) submit it as is, because, well, nothing’s perfect, right?
3. A client calls asking for last minute help to finish something you suggested over a week ago. They didn’t do anything about it at the time, but as they inch closer to their own deadline, it’s now urgent.
What do you do?
a) skip your daughter’s birthday party to take it on, to avoid upsetting the client, or
b) decline and offer a clear alternative to the client that will address at least most of their concern.
4. You’re not bringing in new clients as quickly as you would like, and cash flow is becoming an issue.
Which option do you choose?
a) keep experimenting until you find a way to draw clients that works well for you, or
b) give up and let yourself get into debt.
5. A client doesn’t call back about confirming a contract when she said she would.
What’s your response?
a) think, hey, she’s probably in a meeting, and follow up after a reasonable interval, or
b) think she’ll never call and get depressed.
What were your answers? Did you ace it? Let’s look at each scenario:
1. Self care is important. And as a hiker and fan of outdoor café sitting, I get the call of a gorgeous day. But in order to build your own self-confidence and momentum in your work, you’ve got to be self-motivated.
Distractions will always be there. Your client may not. In this scenario, draw on your own strength to stay in alignment with your commitment to deliver on time.
Decide what’s important to you in your business, and discipline yourself to stay committed to that by being self-motivated.
2. Set standards in your business for what you believe to be the best work you can do, without getting into perfectionism. Your focus on quality is one aspect of the value and service you offer your clients. Being service oriented means a happy client experience and often, repeat business.
3. Service orientation doesn’t mean you have to drop everything at the expense of what’s important to you. The ability to set clear boundaries is also key for success.
When you remain aligned with your own goals and intentions, as well as using your Entrepreneur Energy effectively, you’ll not only be more successful, you’ll be better equipped to serve all your clients, not just one.
Setting a boundary can feel like a wall at the receiving end. Be gracious. Offering the client with a clear alternative when they feel pressured will help build your relationship, even when you set a boundary.
4. Not everything you try will work. And that’s ok. The key to success is to persevere. You may have to make many attempts. Keep learning from each attempt. What part of this worked? What can I incorporate in the next effort? Keep going, and you’ll eventually arrive at the right place.
5. Your own thinking is critical. Are you thinking in a way that supports your success? Be resilient by thinking the best, and taking action from that point of thought. It will always be more constructive, and lead you to where you want to go faster. With empowered thinking, you’ll bounce back from disappointment more quickly, and have a happier experience.
So those are 5 key factors to succeed in your own business: self-motivated, service oriented, able to set clear boundaries, perseverant, and resilient.
Regardless of how you did on the quiz, now that you know these success factors, you can choose to get better at them. They can be learned. You may naturally be better at one than another.
It’s all a big adventure, this being in business for yourself. Having these success factors as a guide can help you find your way.
Your stories are so valuable. We all get a lot from hearing them. Share your experience of these success factors in the comments below!
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Here’s your Alchemy Assignment, your chance to transform what you learned in this article into awareness and action for you and your business:
Which one of these success factors would you like to work on? Think about your own business and how you might apply that factor for greater success. Start writing about it, to expand your thinking. Bounce ideas off a coach or trusted friend or colleague.