Being in business for 6 years, I have learned a lot things such learning new strategies, techniques & dealing with people, most of all I found myself. I know my worst & I know my best, most all I found my strength.
Being able to endure the ups & downs of commerce–business, will force you to learn quickly & adapt to the circumstances which your business brings, good or bad, I have to constantly remind myself of my faith. You find what works best for you & overtime you learn to implement new strategies & self-motivate to kick-start yourself in drive. You will find motivation if you want true success for your business.
You will explore all options, and giving up is not one of them!
Learn to stay focused
Legal topics can difficult; sometimes I zone out and have a hard time staying focused during legal research. So I give myself a 10 minute coffee break before I start working, 10 minute break before the noon and a 15-minute 2 hours after lunch. I drink a Red Bull to stay alert & pray throughout the day. Find what works for you!
Know You Are Going To Make Mistakes
Be willing to correct your documents, proof read, proof read and proof read again.
Never let your friends & family join you at the office
You are gonna have so much fun having them around you are going to let the phone ring just to get your point across or to listen to your friend or family member chitchat.
Always send out invoices
This is your bread & butter, this is how you make your money, E-mail your invoice to your client & mail out another one just in case they didn’t get the email.
Do Not Forget To Say Thank You
Always thank your customer for their business because they could have went somewhere else, and always ask if they have a friend or family member they would like to refer, and if they do, say thank you and send them a letter or an e-mail saying thank you for the referral, nothing travels like word of mouth.
Always Be In The Know
Be Up to Date & current on news, information or changes in your industry, take a class, attend a seminar, and always be in the know! Stay on the cutting edge.
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
What good is a product or service if no one knows! Have a marketing plan, business cards, flyers, a website, a blog, you must have a social media profile because all your potential clients are online these days and you must tell them. It takes money to spend money, spend money on radio ads, newspaper advertisement or commercials because in the long run it will be worth it, you will be glad you did.
Be Willing To Do What You Do For Free
Start a non-profit this is the best way to give back to the community, be a positive influence, help out, donate your time, I know on the inside you will feel good you did. Donate to charity & the organic exposure from the event will make people wonder who you are & what you do, be willing to make a positive impact in the community.
Stay Committed, Stick to Your Goal
If you are willing to see it through, stick to one thing, grow, shape & maintain it, you will create stability & not be a fly by night business, be consistent, people do business with people they know, like & trust. Have Brand Consistency. The more people see you, the more they will trust you, don’t go underground for too long, people will forget you, people will forget your brand & what you represent.
Learn To Pace Yourself, Be Patient!
Just recently, I burned myself out, I was too exhausted to work, I was suffering from Anxiety, and I was simply doing too much, wanting instant results with all that I have accomplished. I now know, it will come because I set things in place to come back to me. Being inpatient will teach you patience, it will all happen, think positive & know that hard work & dedication is bound to pay off, nothing you do is for nothing; there is always an end result. For every action, there is a reaction. Take a vacation or a stay-cation, to recharge, regenerate, renew your mind & you will come back with new ideas to grow & expand your business.
Knowing When To Lead
As the boss, CEO, you have to know when you need to step in and make executive decisions based on the overall good of the company, always know what you need to get the job done & know who you need to get the job done, if you are not meeting the quota needed to gain the projected sales growth, take action, set up a new marketing plan, invest in new strategies, brainstorm, be solution-driven, do not focus on the problem, give all your energy towards solutions. Create some form of a think tank for your business, join a mastermind group!
Get Up!
Even when you don’t feel like it, get your ass out of bed, push yourself, 90% of small business fail within the first 5 years because they fail to plan and the owners are lazy, very lazy. Implement a new strategy to motivate yourself because no else will, this is your business, your goal, your dream, believe in YOU! This should self-motivate you to Get Up! Running Your Own Business means you are in control of your destiny, you are in control of your money, don’t let yourself down.
Find Your Customers
Know where they are, are they online, watching TV, reading the newspaper, listening to the radio, surfing through my blog, where are they, find them! Develop a Target Market analyses know who your customers are & what they are doing! Go to networking events around town, spread the word, and find new leads.
Caution! It Takes Time
It is not going to happen overnight, no one I know was an overnight sensation; it takes most people at least 1 to 2 years to be great at what they do because they were consistent with their brand, consistent with their marketing, all is quiet before the storm, then boom, and your brand will become a household name. There are no get rich quick schemes, it will happen, people will began to notice your brand, it takes time! You have develop a presence in the community before people know, like & trust you—your brand.
Author,
Gigi King 8/30/2016
Dakota's Document Preparation 