‘Designing Strategies’ e-Newsletter

Volume 14               Issue 77

 

unique definition of successSuccess – what does it mean?  From a quick Google search, Success is defined as either:  the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, or the attainment of popularity or profit.  Ask any small business owner or entrepreneur what they want to get from their start-up enterprise and odds are, they will respond with:  “Success.” or “I want to be successful.”  Sounds about right, doesn’t it?

In reality, those answers are simply not enough.  What does success mean to you, as an individual, small business owner?  This isn’t a trick question.  There is no right or wrong answer to this.  It’s time to think about your unique definition of success.  What it might be all depends on you.

Many small business owners don’t really have a grasp on success or what it means to them personally.  It’s not like we think about it everyday.  Life is going on and we are in a constant cycle of dealing with everything involved in a typical – or maybe not so typical – life.  As speaker, author and specialist in behavioral science, Steve Marboli stated in his book:  Life, the Truth and Being Free“If you don’t know exactly where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?”  An understanding of what success means to you is a critical component of owning and operating a small business.  Success will be the epitome of what you strive for, day in and day out over the years.

Why You Might Need to Define Success

Let’s see how familiar this sounds:   You walk into work on Friday, grab a cup of coffee and settle into your workstation.  After just getting started on your current project, your boss calls you into his or her office.  “Shut the door, will you? Have a seat”…. now it’s getting kind of ominous, they never ask you to shut the door or sit down, just toss off a question or assignment and send you on your way.  With little more fanfare than, “Oh, Hi, _______” (fill in your name here), the bomb drops:  “I have to let you go.”

The situation might be something you have been expecting.  Maybe you really screwed up a project and cost the company a ton of money.  Or, maybe you offended a client who is demanding you be pulled from the job or given the ax.  It could be the economy is the culprit:  not enough clients, profitable projects, or low sales.  Staff simply has to be cut.

find a jobWhatever the reason, you are suddenly out of a job and means of support.  You clean out your desk.  Thoughts of rent, car payments or student loans due within a couple of weeks whirl through your mind.  Everything that goes with being independent and having a steady source of income now looks pretty shaky.

Seldom are there a ton of job openings available that you can jump on and get hired immediately.  Job hunting takes time:  calls to friends and colleagues, online searches of all the hot job sites, updating your resume or creating a portfolio of your work.  One week goes by, two, then three or more.  Due dates for bills are looming. Your stress levels are climbing.  Somehow you have to start earning money again.

Take the boss out of the picture.  Maybe you didn’t get laid off.  Maybe you’d just had enough and decided to go and do something different.  In either event, it kind of comes down to this as a next step:  “By Jove, I’ve got it!  I’ll just start my own firm!”  That’s it.  “If my old bosses could do it, so can I. How hard can it really be?” (They probably weren’t really idiots, but if if makes you feel better at this point, go for it.)

So you apply for a vendor’s license, order some cheap letterhead and business cards and declare yourself:  “In Business.”  That’s all it takes, right?  Wrong.  There is so much that goes into a business start-up if it has a prayer of being successful.  It takes some research – into the industry situation, competitors, the market place.  It takes some planning and some financial backing – or a healthy bank account, or credit cards to get up and running.  It takes a brilliant idea, different enough from competitors to let you operate your small business and become successful.

What is YOUR unique definition of Success?

The most important thing it takes, however, is an answer to this question:  “Success – what does it mean?”  What does it look like?  How can I achieve it? More importantly, it requires an answer to “What does success mean to ME?”

Success is not a one-size-fits-all concept.  Everyone has their own vision and definition of what it means to be successful.  Some people go into business to replace a now missing pay check.  Others want to make more money than they can working for someone else.  Others want to make enough money to pay their kids’ college tuition.  Yet others want to make money to fund a charitable venture they believe in.  Still others want to build a business with value that they can sell to fund their retirement.

A friend tells the story of how when she was young, her mother was the typical (then) stay at home Mom. She didn’t have a job outside the home, but set up a small home business making decorations and favors for parties, baby and wedding showers, and wedding receptions.  It wasn’t so much the money she was interested in, but rather the ability to provide a nice vacation for the family each year.

Success isn’t always about money

Starting a small business is not always about the money, but often that is a major factor in the thought process.  Some consider success to be achieving fame, fortune or the respect of others.  A desire to create and build something of your own can be why someone starts a business.  A strong feeling of wanting independence is yet another reason.  How cool is it to take a day off to spend a day in the middle of the week at the beach with your kids? Wanting to work on something that you are passionate about is equally important.  In any case, the underlying need for success is what will make any and all of these various success drivers achievable.

your unique definition of successSuccess is when you arrive or exactly where your ‘arrival point’ might be.  It’s when you get to that place you envisioned when you started out.  It’s the achievement of a goal or goals that will help you along the way. All of your attempts and endeavors have been completed to reach those goals.  Maybe it’s thousands of dollars in income, or millions.  Maybe it’s a new house or car or a tropical vacation with family.  Only you can decide.

What is your unique definition of success? 

“Where should I begin when defining my unique view of success?”  Start with things that you value.  Do you value a high-income lifestyle with all that it can bring?  A nice home, a private school education for your kids, a fancy car or country club membership; these are all examples of that lifestyle.  Do you value freedom to take time off whenever you want to travel or participate in volunteer work?  Do you welcome the opportunity to make all the decisions for your business without a boss looking over your shoulder?  What things do you value in life?  These will form a strong foundation for your personal definition of success.

“If you don’t know exactly where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?”  Steve Marboli

Let Your Unique Definition of Success Guide Your Small Business

Everything you do in your business needs to point toward your unique definition of success.  You need to know where you are going to know when you have arrived.  Pretend you’re on vacation, far from home.  You decide you want to go out and hike in a local park – but you have no idea if or where local parks with hiking trails might be.  Without some research and planning, you will not achieve success.  First, you need to find out if there are parks nearby and if they have hiking trails open to the public.  Then, you have to consider how you will get there.  Are they close enough to walk to, or miles from your hotel?  Until you do the research, put necessary strategies in place to get there and get on your way, success will be out of reach.

X Marks Success SpotSuccess is the “X” that marks the spot you want to arrive at when you achieve everything you want in your business.  Only after you have drawn that line in the sand or set the bar for you and your company’s achievements, will you understand what success means to you.  Once you know the level of the bar you have set, you can do the planning necessary to get you from Point A to “X”.    Everything then needs to be set up to point toward your definition of success.  Anything else just amounts to running around in circles, or taking off in directions that take you away from your Success target.

Your company Vision, Mission and Culture must all be based on your personal view of success.  To achieve your personal view of success, you must set goals to reach each of those important elements of a successful business.  Through those critical filters, you will view each strategy, goal, objective and tactic in your planning process. Be sure you set SMART steps to your success.  Remember, Success is the target you will aim for – if that is where you really want to go, that is.

What will it take to achieve your vision of Success?

You probably already know how much income you need to support your current lifestyle. But, do you know how much it will take to support yourself, your family and a growing business?  How much more revenue will you need to generate to grow the business toward the Success target you set?  Does your level of success include working at home by yourself?  Or, does it include hiring workers, having more than one business location, operating totally in the Cloud, developing and selling products?

Answers to these important questions will guide your planning, goals and strategies to get you where you want to go.  Success is not a static idea.  It can change.  It can grow and expand.  It can go in a completely different direction.  But, it is imperative that you are aware of a clear understanding of what success means to you personally and for your small business.  Not understanding your own definition of success is like taking off on foot to Bora Bora with no map, no compass or direction.  How will you know if and when you arrive there?

I’d love to hear what your unique vision and definition of Success is.  Please share below…