Many successful entrepreneurs have rocky beginnings with false starts, failures, and enormous roadblocks. The majority have had to pivot, update the business model, and seriously reconsider the entire vision.
However, entrepreneurs must break old bad habits and form new good habits to see business success. Adi Klevit of Business Success Consulting Group recently discussed this challenge with Victor Nunnemaker, the Founder and Investor at Digital Porcupine.
Listen to the entire discussion here for more excellent advice, and read the article below to learn the five habits of a successful entrepreneur.
Five Habits of a Successful Entrepreneur
Everyone has habits. There are good habits like running or drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning. There are bad habits like checking your phone the moment you wake up or scheduling back-to-back meetings with no time to prepare.
Below are good habits adopted by successful entrepreneurs like Victor and Adi. They can help business owners build scalable companies in any industry.
Read on to find the five habits Adi and Victor discussed in their conversation:
1. Continue to learn.
Particularly in areas that make you uncomfortable
During their discussion, Victor shared that he learned early on how to read financial statements and understand how cash flow, profit, and debt affect a business. He’s seen cash-rich companies fold because the person in charge offloaded this task and didn’t understand how to read a financial statement. It made them uncomfortable.
This is just one of the many reasons why it’s vital to continue learning when building and scaling a company. Not only do you need to understand things like a financial statement, but you also need an understanding of many aspects of your business to ensure the company remains competitive.
For example, if you have to pivot your business into a tech company, you may be thrust into a world you do not fully understand. After all, tech is evolving day to day. While you may not be able to code, you can learn the industry basics, understand the various frameworks and workflows in software development, and find mentors you trust to help you learn all the rest.
While hiring trustworthy experts in a specific area is vital, you must also create a continuing education habit. The habit of gaining new understandings will help you manage every aspect of your company successfully.
2. Build processes and procedures for your company.
During their discussion, Victor shared that he built processes and procedures for his companies from the get-go. He found that these business systems support scalability and set you up for a future exit.
Most business owners do not start with systems. However, you can catch up! Begin creating a habit of documenting existing processes and procedures, then continue the habit by building new systems as your business evolves. This simple yet vital action can help you scale your company, succeed as an entrepreneur, control your schedule, and exit one day.
3. Learn from your adversities.
Everyone has to face adversity at some point, but not everyone learns from these challenges. If you fail or face another challenge, extracting the lesson that will help you move forward is vital.
This can be difficult to do, as often failure comes with a sense of loss. However, making a habit of learning from others, taking time to evaluate the past, and stepping forward into the future are all beneficial steps when seeking to learn from past failures while continuing to move forward.
4. Build tenacity.
Tenacity is a skill that you can build into a habit with enough repetition. Here are a few habits you can develop to help cultivate tenacity.
- Focus on your goal. Set a habit of reviewing and refocusing on your goal each week and doing a quarterly goal review to ensure you are on the right track.
- Review metrics. Creating a habit of reviewing metrics to ensure your company progress aligns with your goals will help you continue on the right path or pivot onto a new path toward the objective.
- Refocus. We all take breaks at some point. Whether you have to go on medical leave, are off on vacation, or are helping family, create a refocusing habit for when you return to work.
- Cultivate habits 1-3 listed above. Learning from adversity, continuing education, and building systems all inspire tenacity as you continue to grow your business and knowledge base and can help you find the inner strength to continue when the challenges seem insurmountable.
5. Work back from an end goal.
Build a habit of seeing the desired end result and working backward from there.
Many entrepreneurs immediately see a short-term vision of what they can accomplish but don’t always consider the far future goals. This makes one veer off path or think too small to achieve the big dream.
Set a habit of considering the far-reaching end goal and then working back from there.
For example, you may want to build a business worth twenty million dollars that serves a particular population. Now that you have that end goal in mind, step back and consider what you must do to get there. As you progress toward that goal, be sure to habitually review it every quarter or so, measure your progress, and review the steps you need to take. This habit enables you to see into the future while taking advantage of new or emerging technologies as they become available.
Are you ready to set up productive habits that help your business scale long-term? Get in touch with the process experts at Business Success Consulting Group. We will provide a no-cost initial consultation to help you take the next steps toward scalability.
