Powerful Principles of Small Business Success
There is no one simple rule or process for building a successful small business. Nor is there anything simple about achieving small business success. Small business success requires a lot of focus and clear 
direction to get you where you want to go. It is not something that magically happens after you finish a degree in business, or work in someone else’s business. Creating a plan and using some basic principles of small business success will start moving your firm in the right direction.
Building a successful business of your own is the basis of a series of systems built based on trial and error. Over time, it is about learning from experience, day in and day out. There are, however, a number of systems and factors that can make your efforts easier and more gratifying. Here are 9 Powerful Principles of Small Business Success you should be using. What about you, have you implemented any of these successfully in your firm yet?
9 Powerful Principles
Planning: You have a brilliant idea about how to make money with an awesome product or exceptional service. Once you know that, how can you do it successfully? Without some serious planning, complete with goals, objectives and strategies, your brilliant idea can simply disappear. You have to know where you are going and what it will take to achieve a successful outcome. Develop a focused plan for your small business success.
Performance: All positive things come down to execution. With business, it is all about how you can accomplish your goals. You need to take a serious approach and work hard to assure a high degree of execution. Without these levels of effort, your brilliant idea won’t be worth much, if anything at all. What you do and how you do it are important factors for small business success. Don’t get stuck and let your firm stagnate. Do something. If one attempt doesn’t work, try another and another until you find what will.
Perseverance. Almost anyone can start a business. Millions do it all the time. Some do it more than once. No one is saying it is simple, because it isn’t. Sometimes, it can be really, really tough to achieve your dreams. Go into your business understanding that at times it can be tough. But, you can’t give up at the first sign of difficulty. You have to stay strong and committed to making your dream reach the Vision you had on your first day of business. Learn from your mistakes; don’t let them take you down.
Pivot: David Siteman Garland, owner of The Rise to the Top said:
“There is a big difference… between dealing with challenges and beating a dead horse into the ground.”
You need to recognize the difference and be ready to change direction when necessary. Some call it pivoting. Remember, just because you thought things would work out the way you envisioned, doesn’t mean they will. That said, you need to recognize when things aren’t working. You may need to change directions. Running a business is learning and pivoting until you find what works best.
Promotion: Probably the No, 1 skill you need to develop for your small business success is learning to promote it. Promotion is a number of things: prospecting for your ideal clients, public relations, marketing and sales. Unless you become skillful in these areas, or are able to hire someone who is, your brilliant business idea can crash and burn. You need customers to make sales. You need sales to generate income and pay the bills. So, get out there and let people know what you have to sell them and why it will benefit them.
Perception: Perception is the ability to become aware of something through the human senses. It is about learning something based on actual experience. There is nothing simple about owning and building your own small business. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. Even those with business education and background still have more to learn. Small business owners often find themselves in the middle of a major learning curve. You will make a lot of mistakes. Mistakes can be painful, but that’s OK. So long as you learn from mistakes and do something different and more successful, you will grow.
Processes and Systems: Without well thought out and documented processes and systems, your small business will falter and fail. Further, lack of standardized processes to be followed by every employee for every project or sale can take small business success off track. Your firm will be moving in a dozen different directions at any given point. Not good. Set up those systems and processes that will help your small business move in the direction you set in the way you feel works best.
Pricing: Setting prices for your products or services is a critical component of any successful small business. It’s not just a matter of throwing a price you pulled out of the air at your products. Determining the ‘right’ price is important. If your pricing strategy is to sell massive quantities at a low profit level, you want to set low, bargain prices – like Walmart. However, if you want to provide an air of exclusivity to your business services and products, higher pricing would be appropriate. But, remember, you need to set the right price. The key to setting the right price with reasonable profits is to know the costs and values involved. Pricing is not guesswork, it is a process.
Profitability: Profit is the whole idea behind starting your own company. And, profit is not a dirty word. It is the element behind every small business owner’s efforts: to make money. Profit is the difference between the money that comes in and the amount that goes out.
How profitable will each change or step you make in moving your firm toward small business success? Can new technology software affect the profits of your company? Some will give you new talents and skills to increase profits. Others will just be bright, shiny objects that waste money. Did you know, hiring the right talent can help increase profits? Hiring the wrong person can hurt them. Make wise decisions, small choices and big, expensive ones. They can all affect your profit.
Make one or two changes at a time to get your firm pointed in the direction of small business success. Remember, making too many changes at once only makes it more difficult to decide what is working and what is not. Take a few minutes to sit down and analyze what is not working. Measure your list against this list of 10 powerful principles of success. Select one or two of them to address those problems and give them a try. Find what will fix one of your challenges, and then move to another until you get yourself on a direct track to success. If you need help, give me a call or zip me off an email and let’s talk about how to get you started.
