I reviewed some Biz Tips articles from last year, and noted a few of my favorite tips.
Building and maintaining a successful business is hard. Passion and commitment are critically important, but so are many other skills. You probably do not possess all of the skills you will need. Be humble, and embrace the fact you need to learn from others. Humility is the most important leadership skill. Be just as ready to follow as you are to lead.
While humility is important, so is confidence. Face challenges head on to identify your strengths and weaknesses. As you experience success, you build confidence. To build your confidence, focus on your strengths and hire people to be responsible for your weak areas.
Success is great, but you don’t want to win all the time. We learn some of the most important lessons in life from failure. Learn everything you can from your mistakes, but stay motivated and do not let failure define who you are. When handled well, even the worst situations can be beneficial.
Rather than setting goals and having dreams, think of them as missions instead. It is too easy to give up on a dream, and most people do not expect to achieve their goals. For some reason, people seem to be more committed and successful when they are assigned a mission.
Be as efficient with your time as possible, it is your most precious resource. Take some time management classes, utilize time blocking and avoid distractions. Spend the majority of your time achieving your mission. Consider investing in system and process improvement. The more efficiently your business runs, the better.
Finally, learn to benefit from your competition. What do they do well and what do they need to improve on? Are they using new technologies or marketing to different target markets you may not be aware of? How could you work with them, instead of competing against them?
