10-Point Plan for Entrepreneurial Success
By Joe Love
What’s stopping people from starting their own business? The answer is simple: People don’t know how to be an entrepreneur. They feel it’s too risky. Well every one one of us takes risks every day in every part of our life without even realizing it. With all the downsizing, outsourcing, and layoffs there is certainly no job security working for any business today.
The fact is that starting a business today has never been easier or more affordable. Because of the Internet you can have a business up and running in a matter of days and be able to reach hundreds of thousand of potential customers around the world in just a few minutes.
Here is a 10-point plan for entrepreneurial success that has never failed me. Yes, I’ve had businesses that have failed, but when I look back at those failures I always find that I didn’t follow one or more of these points.
- Choose the right business. It must be a business that you are interested in and in a field where the sky is the limit.
- Have a vision. You must be able to see every detail of your business. How it will look and operate. Most importantly what it will look like when it is finished and you are going to sell it for a handsome profit.
- Set goals and make plans. Set written short, medium, and long-term goals for where you want to be. You must make detailed plans on how you are going to achieve each one of your goals. Most people spend more time planning their summer vacations than their careers.
- You must have a business plan. Your plan needs to include detailed plans for financing, marketing, and management of your business.
- Get out of your comfort zone. You’ll never make money in business if your life feels too easy.
- You must be persistent. Success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time. The most successful entrepreneurs have had the most failures, but they never gave up until they got what they wanted.
- Be positive. Don’t listen to all the negatives. You’re going to hear your friends and relatives tell you that it won’t work, you can’t do it, and just get a job. Don’t listen to them!
- Develop your ambition. Always try to move to the next level and become the leader in your industry.
- Listen to good advice. Educate yourself everyday by reading business magazines, books, listening to business and motivational audio programs, and regularly attending educational seminars.
- Be disciplined. Don’t let distractions get in your way.
If you’re seriously thinking about creating your own business, you like the idea of being your own boss and reaping all the profits, don’t just quit your job and strike out on your own until you’ve really explored all the side issues. New businesses need the dedication of the owner until there are enough profits to hire some help.
I suggest beginning a new business on a part-time basis. Work on this project after normal working hours and on weekends until you are sure this is what you want to do. Be sure the business is making enough profit for you to live on before you cut the ties to a regular salary.
If you’re concerned about bosses, co-workers, customers, the workspace, the building, or any aspect of your new business, remember that you are the one who is making personal laws for yourself about your career. Change your beliefs, and your working life.
You decide what you want your working life to be like. You can have the working life you want, but it’s up to you.
Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and success coaching programs. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization specializing in career coach training. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing.
