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Successful People Over Come These Big Challenges

You’ve heard the cliches about you being your own biggest obstacle and starting with the person in the mirror to change course. Although inspirational, these leave something to be desired, and, it’s an important element called action. It’s difficult to take on challenges, especially when it’s your own business. These will be a reality, but, it’s how we act and react that ultimately dictates the outcome. The reason successful people act, or, react in certain ways is because they accept one immutable truth — avoidance does nothing but make situations worse.

Oddly enough, just acting without a true purpose or plan, usually delivers the same consequence, which is why Zig Ziglar said many times over, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” Successful people not only act and react in a deliberate way, they do so with a goal in mind.

Successful People Overcome these Big Challenges

The trouble for some entrepreneurs is they let other things get in the way. Let’s be clear, we all have doubts, we all are susceptible to believing the worst, and to give into negative emotions. This is why there are no self-help manuals on how to fail. Failure is something we all do naturally, success is something that’s learned. It’s a combination of experience, judgment, and attitude. When you fail, you ought step into a Thomas Edison mindset, accepting the ultimate answer might be among many failures.

Many small businesses are limited in growth by the number of hours they have in the day. They can’t scale their businesses without adding more people or automating existing processes. Automating sales and marketing processes allow small businesses to gain the efficiencies of their bigger counterparts. —The Business Journals

Within these examples, we see perseverance, but, even the most resolute can be negatively impacted by various influences. All sorts of pressures can put an entrepreneur under a lot of stress and stress stretches thin clear thinking. It’s how you deal with these that determines if, as a business owner, you will succeed or will fail. In other words, successful entrepreneurs don’t let these challenges hold them back — not even the following:

Money. This is perhaps one of the single largest challenges (read: myths) that plague the business world. While money does provide you with resources for options, that doesn’t mean said options are worthwhile. Just ask Facebook, a company valued at about $200 billion with more than a billion users worldwide. Just two years ago, in 2013, the company put a lot of resources (read: money) behind Facebook Home. It debuted with a two-year subscription price of $99. Just two months later, it drop precipitously to a mere $0.99, after consumers put-in their two-cents worth. Having to really think about spending money wisely means having to make informed decisions.
Age. The number of years you’ve lived on this planet might be relatively few or relatively long, but, it doesn’t really matter. Notice the word “relatively.” Age is only a number and it doesn’t mean that you’re naive if you’re young or wise if you’re old. Your age doesn’t give people the authority or right, to tell you what you should and should not do.
Self doubt. This is a primordial trait, and, one that’s designed to make us approach the unknown with caution. Our primitive ancestors simply didn’t know if something would be harmful or helpful until it was tried. Doubt is healthy because it forces us to take pause but it doesn’t have to be an insurmountable barrier. Use it to your advantage and don’t let it take control.
Toxic people. Successful people don’t allow toxic people in their lives. What’s more, they quickly identify such bad personalities and stay clear. The reason some avoid what’s otherwise obvious, is the ability to rationalize certain relationships thinking that the good will outweigh the bad — it won’t.

Another big challenge is one that’s very real and direct: the competition. You are nearly assured to see others succeeding in the same industry, even in the same niche. This can certainly be a discouragement, but, doesn’t have to be one. Instead, look at them as an inspiration, if he or she did it, then why can’t you do the same?

While you might have different beginnings, talents, and resources, you can use what’s at your disposal to your advantage. Set small measurable goals, achieve each one, and built up success in an incremental, sincere fashion.

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Should You Re-Hire a Fired Client

July 14, 2021 No Comments

Now is the Perfect Time to Plan for the Next Big Disruption

July 13, 2020 No Comments

Pandemics, natural disasters, and other unfortunate events might be a rarity, but they do happen. While it’s certainly possible we may not experience a major event in the near future, it’s irresponsible to ignore the possibility. After all, there’s an undeniable truth to the old adage, “Better safe than sorry.” Even if it is only a minor occurrence, being prepared is just plain smart. Fortune Favors the Prepared You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “Fortune favors the prepared.” The reason it’s been around so long, is because it’s proven true time and time again. When you have a plan in-place, you’re much less likely to panic. Stress and anxiety are very powerful emotions which can cause you to make rash decisions. And, everyone knows that making decisions in a rush often leads to worsening already bad situations. Today’s business landscape has several unique features, which will add new complexities on top of the historical playbook. This makes it important for business leaders to prepare for the specific circumstances of the next downturn, as well as exploiting the right lessons from the past. —Harvard Business Review So, knowing what you’re going to do in advance provides you with an immense advantage. You’ll be able to follow along a predetermined path. At the very least, you’ll have parameters in-place to help guide you, should your plan not be totally applicable. Planning for the Next Big Disruption We’ve already gone over some of these points before, but most, if not all, warrant repeating. When you prepare, it’s much easier to take decisive action, virtually eliminating the need to debate a course of action. Here are some helpful tips for how to plan for the next unplanned event: Ready your team for truly remote capabilities. When the impact of the novel coronavirus was foreboding and uncertain, precautionary steps were the only responsible thing to do. If you allowed your employees to work from home, they did so on the fly. And, since reopening, might have returned part- or full-time to the office. However, they probably did not have and still don’t have all the necessary resources to truly work remotely. Put those tools in place now and this will offer you a more seamless transition if needed in the future. Prepare your place of business. We previously discussed protecting a business from vandalism. Although this is unpleasant to think about, it is something that you should plan for. Having the right security and structural preparedness is a necessity to limit damage caused by vandalism. Additionally, you should have prevention and recovery tools in place for other events, like natural disasters, criminal activity, and other unfortunate events. Streamline your organization. Due to the global pandemic and subsequent shutdowns, many businesses furloughed or outright terminated employees. But, expenses remained, despite a marked decrease or near complete cutoff of earnings. While you may have made some temporary adjustments or even cut some expenses out altogether, now is an ideal time to re-examine your operations, pinpointing duplication, inflated expenses, and other unnecessary elements. The overall point being, even if you managed to pull through this last disruption, you may not be able to do so again. Now is an ideal time to plan ahead put in place measures so they are ready to go at a moment’s notice. What other suggestions do you have getting prepared? Please, take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences by commenting and benefiting others! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

Do Businesses Really have a Credit Score?

February 26, 2021 No Comments

Do businesses actually have a credit score? The short answer is — yes. And, these measures of financial responsibility are calculated much in the same way individual credit worthiness is determined. Although it’s not something that’s widely discussed or known about in the consumer world, businesses do have credit histories, and therefore detailed reports which give them scores. Read on to learn the basics about business credit scores and what you need to know. How Business Credit Scores are Calculated As mentioned above, a business credit score is measured very similar to the way individual scores are calculated. Meaning, the length of credit history, types of credit used, payment history, debts owed, and other factors. Unsurprisingly, the better a business handles its financials, the better score it earns. Businesses of all sizes may need credit. A carpenter with no employees may want to borrow money to buy equipment. A marketing professional with a few employees may be ready to purchase furniture and computers for a new office. A salon owner with subcontractors but no employees may want to buy, rather than rent, commercial property. Any type of business could benefit from a business credit card. —US News and World Report Of course, there are some differences, one of the most minor being the scores themselves. While individual credit scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 850, business scores range from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest. Additionally, business credit scoring services use different models in order to determine the creditworthiness of companies. Also, instead of there being three main credit reporting bureaus for individuals, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, there are two principal business credit scoring entities: Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. How to Improve a Business’ Credit Score Since business credit scores rely on many of the same elements as individual consumers, nearly the same factors are used to assign a credit worthiness score. So, in order to maintain or improve a business’s credit score, companies must do the following: Keep debts manageable. Opening too many accounts and taking on large amounts of debt will only increase your financial risk. This not only hurts your business’s credit worthiness, it also puts a lot of strain on you as the owner. This is why it’s best to keep your credit accounts to a minimum and pay off as much debt as possible. Utilize different types of credit. Credit mix is also a consideration, meaning businesses having different types of credit accounts. While it’s advantageous to have various types of credit, it is equally advantageous to keep these to a minimum so you’re able to pay what’s owed in a timely manner. For instance, you might finance or lease vehicles through your business, have a business credit card, and maintain vendor credit accounts. All of these will go into determining your business’s creditworthiness. Be vigilant with your personal credit. One misnomer that entrepreneurs have about business credit is that it’s somehow separate from their personal credit and/or financial responsibilities. However, this is completely false. Business credit accounts almost always require an individual or personal guarantee. This of course means that if the business defaults on a line of credit, you are personally responsible for that particular debt. Moreover, business credit is partially scored on your personal credit, so it’s best to maintain a good personal score for the benefit of your company’s creditworthiness. What other suggestions do you have about maintaining a business’ credit score? Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences so others can benefit from your perspective! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.