It doesn’t matter whether you are aiming to be successful in your business or personal life, successful people all have similar habits so we’ve put together 8 of the best for you to put into action.
These are aimed at business users but you can apply them to anything, sporting success, home life, hobbies or any area of your life you’d like to be more successful in.
Aim – decide on the aim of the business
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your aim should be the same as anyone elses or that there is a standard aim of a business that people have.
The aim for your business should be something that excites and motivates you – after all you won’t have a boss telling you to go to work in the morning so you need to want to work in your company. See our Aim setting guide for more information and methods to help you set your aims and goals
Strategy – work out how you will achieve your aim
An Aim is just a dream unless you have worked out a way to achieve it. Your strategy is your statement of how you’ll go about it. Whilst the aim of your business is unlikely to change, your strategy may.
Tactics – what will you do to put your strategy into action?
Tactics are the day to day actions that you’ll take to build your strategy leading to you achieving your aim. These are the smaller tasks that will definitely change from day to day or week to week depending upon conditions.
Planning – put them all together in a robust and living business plan
This is a really important step and one that many people leave out. The discipline of having to write down all the things you’ve decided upon in the previous sections will really sharpen your focus. But your plan has to be a living document. Things change, you’ll reassess and re plan and so you should keep your plan up to date
Mentoring – find someone you can trust that will tell you the truth and has the experience to offer positive alternatives
One of the key success factors of new SMEs is having access to experienced and positive backup. Big companies simply employ high powered executives full time – smaller companies need to be a bit smarter about it.
Learning – don’t stop learning and make sure you are open to change
It’s vital to keep up with the latest trends in your technical field, but it’s also vital to ensure that wider business events add into your planning. So having access to someone who’ll alert you to new things is a must.
Flexibility – keep your business agile, it’s one of your greatest assets
The world is changing quicker than ever. Building in flexibility to your business is key. It’s just as important to build the flexibility to cope with downturns as increasing sales.
Review – build in a regular review process to ensure you are on track and adjust your tactics
You’re not just the person who works in your business. You are also the MD,CFO,COO and cleaner! Make sure you take time to think about your strategic direction, preferably with an unbiased input from your mentor.
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