How to Become a successful Entrepreneur
When building a new business, you're under immense pressure. You have so much to do and expectations are high, both from yourself and from the people around you.
This means that you need to set goals to track your progress, maintain your motivation and keep yourself accountable.
But doing so can be risky.
This is because if your goals are too big, they can crush you under the weight of unrealistic expectations. And this may defeat the purpose of having a goal to begin with.
However, like many things in life, there's a trick to this. And not all goals are equal. The secret lies in setting a goal that will motivate versus one which will defeat you.
Are you in this position?
One where you keep agonizing over what you have done and if you have achieved enough? Are you struggling to maintain your entrepreneurial momentum?
Setting the Right Goals
Setting goals is important in maintaining entrepreneurial momentum. But setting the wrong goals and having the wrong vision can lead to demotivation and stagnant progress.
This is the opposite of what goal-setting is supposed to achieve. So, setting effective goals in the early days is the foundation of building a successful business.
Set goals that relate to building your business. For instance, ask yourself, "What do I need to do to build a successful business?"
Vision is the key energy that drives entrepreneurship. It's what makes entrepreneurs dare to explore, dare to insist, dare to challenge, dare to keep moving forward, and dare to have the determination to succeed.
Having a Clear Vision
Successful entrepreneurs have achieved their goals and purpose by having a clear and strong vision and pursuing it with passion. So, to maintain your entrepreneurial momentum, have a clear, ambitious and challenging vision.
- Great and successful entrepreneurs persevere and they remain engaged with their business no matter what happens. Having a vision and staying focused on it will help you keep a grip on your business and stay connected to your audience
Many entrepreneurs think their biggest problem is finding funding. But what those entrepreneurs forget is the demon of distraction.
Lack of focus and distraction can destroy any business, making it lose its momentum.
By year three, 44% of businesses fail. This means that focus is essential to a business's success. And maintaining your short-term and long-term goals can help you create and maintain momentum in business.
These 5 tips will help you slay the distraction demon.
1: Where's the revenue?
Each time you're about to make any decision about your business, the first question you should ask is, "Where's the revenue?"
Many entrepreneurs fall into the trap of thinking they won't have revenue in the launch stage. But why shouldn't you?
If you have no revenue, it's easy to get distracted. Most business owners are motivated by the possibility of making money from their business. Keeping the idea of making revenue in your mind will motivate you to try hard to build a successful business.
2: Use your time productively
Entrepreneurs are notoriously busy and short on time. There's always something to do.
If you're short on time, it becomes important to use every minute productively. Ensure you choose tasks that fit the time you have and make use of every minute.
When you have free time, don't waste it on surfing the internet or watching YouTube videos. And unless you're spending time on social media to build your audience, don't waste your time there.
3: Streamline your tasks
Streamlining tasks helps you focus on your company and avoid wasting time.
A streamlined task can be done easily. Streamline your daily to-dos by working on similar tasks at the same time. Focus on tasks you can do and delegate what you can't do to someone who has the skills to work on them. Delegating will help you focus on important aspects of your firm.
4: Wake up early
Successful entrepreneurs wake up early. The most productive hours of the day are usually in the morning when there are no distractions. Wake up early before the rest of the world, and you'll be surprised by how much you can get done in the first few hours.
Use your morning time to handle creative tasks, and avoid doing mindless tasks like checking your emails. Also, avoid focusing on harder things because they drain and reduce your focus.
5: Set goals
Goals can help you maintain your focus as they remind you of what you want to achieve. Without goals, you're more likely to get distracted and pulled into many directions. Your goals can be daily, quarterly, small, or complete dreams that are challenging.
Most entrepreneurs have a few different levels of goals, and each type of goal will help sharpen your mind and maintain your focus.
Every successful business owner has lost their focus and made mistakes in their business at some time or another. It's all part of the learning process. Although mistakes are going to happen, you can avoid a number of common business mistakes. Download my free checklist, The 10 Most Common Business your weaknesses
Operating in your comfort zones makes it hard to grow. If you want to succeed, you must stop making excuses as they'll keep you exactly where you are now.
If you tell yourself, "My business is struggling but I know with hard work it'll get better," you're putting yourself in the right direction for maintaining momentum in your business.
2: Learn to see challenges as opportunities
People with a growth mindset see challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow instead of seeing them as obstacles. They aren't afraid to push themselves out of their comfort zones; they always embrace the chance to learn regardless of what challenge comes their way.
When was the last time you did something outside your comfort zone? Even if it's terrifying to put yourself out there, you may realize things may turn out well - better than if you didn't try.
3: Learn to accept failure
If you learn to accept challenges and see them as opportunities, you also need to learn to accept failure and be willing to take risks. This is because failure is partly growth, and fearing failure will prevent you from doing the best for your business.
You need to accept that no matter how hard you try, sometimes things won't turn out how you hope.
4: Stop looking for approval and focus on learning
People with a fixed mindset often worry about what others say about their talent and intelligence. To embrace a growth mindset, you need to stop being concerned about what other people think and about getting their approval.
Use your time to improve for your own good, rather than thinking about what others think about you.
5: Learn how to accept and use criticism
Accepting criticism is a way to learn and improve yourself and your business. Smart entrepreneurs encourage feedback, reviews, and ratings. And when they get negative feedback, they use that information to improve their businesses.
Being a business owner or entrepreneur can be overwhelming and exhausting. So how do some people seem to thrive and achieve their goals and dreams while others struggle? The answer is mindset. 