Eight business success tips for entrepreneurs

Michelline Nawatises
Being an entrepreneur means that you will often blaze your own trail: No career guides, counsellors or maps will guide you from one step to the next: You will have to make it up as you go.

1. Keep the big vision in sight.

A big vision will take you far. Keeping the big vision in mind will enable you to steer your way back to a successful course. It may not always be the course you imagined, but your big vision becomes your north star, which in turn helps you navigate and orient yourself through the darkness. Your vision is your foundation, compass and celestial beacon, lighting the way forward.

2. Fuel your vision with perseverance.

What should go hand-in-hand with a big vision is the perseverance you will need to keep moving forward. Sometimes, when things get challenging on your path as an entrepreneur, you have to commit yourself to moving forward, regardless of the discomfort and fear surrounding the next steps. When you fuel your big vision with perseverance and the spirit of “only forward”, you eventually meet your success.



3. Make a plan, but be flexible.

You need a few sets of plans, even if each is only a few pages. A business plan, with an accompanying marketing outline, are important blueprints for success. They help you map out the major landmarks of the road ahead, define your success and break the journey into important metrics you can track your progress against.



4. Embrace your

expertise.

If you are already innately good at something, or have a skillset, embrace it. Do not try to be all things for all aspects of your business. Hire out or sign contracts with agencies for the things you can't do, and focus on your strengths as quickly and often as possible. Do not be a jack of all trades and a master of none.



5. Resist burning out.

This is not just a stale piece of advice: Your health is literally the most important thing in your life. When your body gives out, you are done.

Your heart does not care how good a business you have; your circulatory system is not all that impressed with your money or accomplishments.

You will burn out if you sacrifice your physical and mental health on the altar of your business. So, take care of yourself.



6. Keep your sense of humour.

If you cannot laugh at yourself, you are missing out. Laughing is a good cure to diffuse stress, infuse some light-heartedness into life and get some perspective on the fact that, hey, this is only life after all -- you do not have to take it so seriously.

So, try to laugh more and stress a little less. It strengthens your emotional and mental well-being, keeps other people from getting under your skin and keeps you cool and collected, plus it makes you a lot more fun to be around. - www.bdc.ca