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The Five Habits You Need to Be a Successful Business Owner

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By Kayla Matthews

Success as a business owner entails developing great habits that promote efficiency and productivity, as well as an ability to fairly and effectively communicate. Acquiring these traits is easier said than done, but entirely possible for a motivated business owner seeking success.

Efficient, professional business owners share several habits and traits that contribute to their success, including:

1. Enthusiasm for Local Partnerships

Business owners should play a strong role when partnering with local establishments, which can build local buzz and attract loyal customers. It’s a good idea to strive for exposure that fosters word of mouth exposure, which is what partnerships can accomplish. For example, a Nielsen report found that consumers are 90 percent more likely to trust a brand recommended by a friend.

Local partnerships and engagement can provide personal recommendations, both by using opportunities to connect with new customers and showing a genuine passion for the local community. Owners seeking to have a more prominent presence locally should work on their habits relating to community involvement, specifically outgoingness and openness to partnerships.

2. Learn When to Move On

Stubbornness is not a good trait for business owners to have, especially when it comes to sticking with a particular business strategy that’s not working for too long. A good business owner works on their habits of prudence, especially if they identify key performance indicators and conclude that a specific strategy is not working well.

Similarly, a savvy business owner adjusts with trends in their industry, instead of stubbornly clinging onto relics of the past. Business owners should be progressive and quick-thinking while embracing the learning experience aspect of failure instead of lingering too long on that failure.

3. Opportunistic Drive

Being opportunistic is another habit you need to be a successful business owner. A great way to work on this habit is to set aside time each week to educate yourself on new technologies, in addition to examining emerging trends in your industry.

Although the day-to-day tasks of a business can drain an owner into focusing on the now instead of future opportunities, savvy business owners always take some time to examine new technologies with the potential to save time, reduce operating costs and take the business to the next level.

4. Willingness to Hear Advice

Even very successful business owners can learn something new by speaking to others, from fellow business owners to younger consumers who may provide insight regarding a specific demographic of which the business owner may be unaware.

Business owners that close themselves off to new knowledge and rely fully on their own experiences are likelier to fall behind in their industry. Embracing advice or a mentor figure, in the form of a local mentor or business advisor, can provide additional perspectives that help aid important business decisions.

5. Boost Your Mental Health

Business owners often have a whirlwind of tasks and obligations, which can cause long-term stress that impacts both physical and mental health. It’s a good idea to develop habits that help in boosting mental health.

Eating breakfast is a habit that many overlook, despite breakfast being great for mental and physical health, resulting in improved concentration, enhanced memory and advanced cognitive abilities. Only 33 to 48 percent of Americans regularly eat breakfast, so business owners should strive to ensure they are part of that group by eating a healthy breakfast.

Help Yourself and Your Business

Business owners that aspire to greater success should work on these five habits, which promote quality exposure for their business, in addition to greater opportunities and a better foundation for mental and physical health. The result will be someone running the business who is equipped to handle anything that comes their way.

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

 

Featured image: Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

Six Free Online Courses for Entrepreneurial Success

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By Kayla Matthews

Whether you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur or have been one for years, the learning process never ends. Any opportunity to expand your skills and knowledge base makes you more competitive, adaptable to challenges, inquisitive and more able to stay abreast of developments in your sector.

Fortunately, becoming more educated — particularly focusing on the entrepreneurial realm — doesn’t have to be costly. In fact, all the online courses listed below are free to take.

1. How to Build a Startup

This course covers topics such as how to actively engage your customers and find out what they want from your products, calculating costs, conducting a market opportunity analysis and the various types of business partners.

After taking this start-up class, you should understand the basics of rapidly developing and testing different concepts, while getting guidance from your customers and the marketplace at large.

2. Critical Skills for Entrepreneurs

Maybe you’re in the tough position of wondering whether now is the time to quit your day job and pour everything you’ve got into a new business venture, or it’s better to play it safe.

This course goes over some of the most useful traits for entrepreneurs to have, so you can get prepared for what’s ahead. Furthermore, it discusses common mistakes, giving you the knowledge to hopefully steer clear of the same pitfalls.

3. Global Entrepreneurship

Taught by a professor who works in Malaysia as the dean of engineering at Taylor’s University, but who received training in the United Kingdom as well, this course goes beyond pure lecture material and requires you to interact with classmates for a group project.

The things you’ll learn include money management, defining your vision and mission, effective communications and the essentials of marketing.

Due to the geographical limitations, that could prove challenging at times, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from enrolling and missing out on the pros of online learning.

4. Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans

Did you know the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) makes a significant amount of course material freely available to anyone who wants to learn? This program about business plan basics, originally taught in 2014, is one of them. Inc. magazine ranked it one of the 10 best entrepreneur courses in America.

Also, some of the speakers that contributed to it were judges in MIT’s entrepreneurship competition, which offered a $100,000 prize.

You’ll learn about potential legal issues, business models and financial projections. You also have the option to read a text transcript or watch videos of the course.

Maybe you’ve found some productivity hacks that are useful when launching a startup. By applying those, plus the business plan tips you learn in this course, you could find you’re able to make the most of your time and effort.

5. Business Ethics for the Real World

In your entrepreneurial career, there will almost certainly be times when you encounter ethical dilemmas. They might involve doing personal business on company time, or even taking home a box of pens for your family’s use because you’re sure no one at the office will miss them.

This course, offered by Santa Clara University, goes into the impact of ethics on the business world and how to identify ethical issues when they arise. You’ll also discover how to analyze complex ethical choices and determine your responsibilities associated with them.

6. Thinking and Acting Like an Entrepreneur

If you study the habits of entrepreneurs you find most inspiring, they probably have some undeniable characteristics that set them apart in a crowd.

When you enroll in this course, you’ll learn more about the decision-making process successful entrepreneurs use, explore whether an entrepreneurial mindset is something you’re born with or can develop and profile entrepreneurs’ personality types.

No matter if you’re a new entrepreneur and want to get started on the right track, or have been in business for a while and are interested in improving your practices, these courses are worth checking out in the interest of continual education.

Although these are all free online courses, many offer a certificate you can pay for if you’d like physical proof of course completion to frame and put on your wall.

Happy learning!

 

About the Author: Kayla Matthews writes about communication and workplace productivity on her blog, Productivity Theory. Her work has also appeared on Talent Culture, MakeUseOf, The Muse and Fast Company.

Featured image: by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash

Self Improvement for Dummies

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Are you in self improvement hyperdrive at the end of 2017?

Have you bought a new planner, gone over your successes and failures from this year, anxious to do better in 2018?

Once the champagne from New Year’s Eve is digested, you’ll be an energetic, resolution-achieving machine.

Or not.

Or maybe just through Februaryish.

I have a radical suggestion.

Let’s take a break from self improvement, just for a little while.

First of all, you’re beautiful just the way you are. Second, constant focus on self improvement is actually constant focus on yourself. It might be nice to turn that gaze outward once in a while. Third, how much disposable income have you spent on books, courses, athletic gear, bullet journals, etc.?

I’m not suggesting that we’re all perfect. I’m just saying let’s take a brief breather from calling ourselves names (fat, lazy, dummy) and just enjoy life. Every time you buy one of those books “for Dummies,” you’re shredding a tiny piece of your soul.

It’s good to aspire to be better, but when it manifests as constant self criticism, it’s not healthy.

My idea is that we all take the first quarter of 2018 and be a source of joy to others. That’s it. The more joy you spread, the more you’ve achieved.

If I catch you surfing Amazon right now, looking for a book about “how to spread joy,” you’re in big trouble.

Just live. No diet, no crazy exercise regime, no elaborate resolutions.

You can still set up goals for your business and plan your fiscal year. That’s outward-focused activity that’s fruitful. What I’m calling “time” on is the idea that you can’t eat a piece of chocolate cake without feeling guilty. Go ahead and make a chocolate cake for someone else as a surprise, and have a slice with them.

Make your children happy by playing tag with them instead of hopping on the treadmill.

That’s your task. Spread joy for Q1. I’ll bet we all love it so much that we forget to make resolutions for Q2.

What do you think, are you on board?

 

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

The Balancing Act: Succeeding at a Full-Time Job and Starting a New Business

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Many entrepreneurs choose to keep their full-time job as they work to get their own businesses off the ground. Some business consultants even encourage the idea of keeping a side gig to diversify your income stream. Nevertheless, it’s a tall order that requires a lot of prioritization to make it work successfully. The challenge is giving your employer your best efforts during the workday and still having enough energy for nurturing your business after work.

In a recent Q&A session with entrepreneur and Shark Tank judge Barbara Corcoran, chef Latisha Sohai asked, “Any suggestions on staying focused and motivated on my business, while working a 9-to-5? I’m a wife, mother of two, and love what I do, but I had to take on a 9-to-5 position to help at home.” It seemed like a pretty common question—and Barbara’s advice was valuable.

“You have a lot on your plate. Holding a full-time job while being a mother of two is hard enough, never mind adding the tremendous challenge of building a business! We all do better with less time if we’re extremely careful about what we focus on. With moms, kids always come first. I use a rating system to prioritize the many things I must attend to at work and home.

“I rate my items A, B, or C (A being the most important) and try to make sure to get all of my As and a few of my Bs done each day. This sort of organization and daily practice helps me stay focused and move my business ahead while still doing a good job as a mom. Last, think about getting another mom as a partner, ideally someone with an opposite skill set to help you build your business. I had my partner Esther and could never have had my family without her.”

Barbara’s prioritization advice is a good place to start—but I wouldn’t stop there. It’s likely that because of the challenges of being a parent, starting a new business, and working a full-time job, there will be some things you just won’t be able to do. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. And, as Barbara suggests, for a mother in this situation, your children will likely be priority No. 1. After that, what comes next?

As you prioritize, here are some additional things you’ll need to consider:

Is there a conflict of interest?

Depending upon the company you work for, the nature of your business, and whether or not there are any perceived (or maybe real) potential conflicts, you may need to rethink your current job while at the same time running your own business. By that I mean, if your employer perceives a conflict with your business (remember, perception will be reality so far as your current employer is concerned), they will likely not look upon your personal business efforts favorably—especially if it’s in the same, or a related, industry.

Early in my career, I had an employer so opposed to splitting attention that a colleague who was a former college basketball player was counseled to discontinue refereeing high school basketball games after work. He did it out of his love for the game, and the paltry amount of money he made doing it didn’t even really pay for the gas it took to drive to the games. Nevertheless, our boss deemed it a distraction from his job and wanted his employees focused on the job he was paying them to do. Had it been his own business, he would have probably been fired.

Granted, this may be an extreme example, but it’s not uncommon for employers to look negatively on an employee who might not be completely focused on their work. Additionally, it’s usually not a good idea to keep it a secret—those kinds of secrets always seem to be discovered. If you need to keep your side gig a secret, you will likely lose your job if it’s ever discovered.

Some employers will allow the occasional consulting gig, but if it’s something that will likely compete with your time during regular working hours, it might be safe to expect your current employer to oppose your extracurricular activities. This is a topic that may even be addressed in an employee manual if one exists. Otherwise, you may want to consider discussing the topic with your boss. He or she might even offer some encouragement or advice.

Can you compartmentalize?

We normally hear of this term being used as a negative, but the ability to compartmentalize isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this case. I’d suggest if you’re going to run your own business while working a full-time job, you need to be adept at compartmentalizing. In other words, when you’re at your 9-to-5, are you all in?

This could be a challenge, and it’s a legitimate question you should ask yourself—because your employer will probably be asking. When you’re at work, you need to give your employer your full attention and your best efforts. What’s more, you’ll need to turn off thoughts of your own business and what you should be doing to build your business until after hours. For some people, it’s relatively easy to focus on two potentially competing priorities, but for others it’s a real challenge.

For example, several years ago I worked with a computer programmer who was running two small online retail outlets at the same time he was working a full-time job as a front-end web developer. Because of the nature of his businesses, his personality, and how he designed his online stores to work without his constant attention, he was content to let them quietly work in the background while he was at work. In the evenings he would review the orders and prepare any shipments, which he would drop off on his way to work in the morning. If there were any changes he needed to make to one of the online stores, he would do that on the weekend.

Because he was able to successfully compartmentalize, this worked for him. His online businesses were in a totally unrelated industry to where he worked 9 to 5, and his employer didn’t mind. He made it a point to share lessons he learned in his online business’ front-end design with his employer—so ultimately it was a win/win. He’s been doing this for 15 years, that I’m aware of, and still works for the same company he was at when I first met him. He is able to compartmentalize like a pro while building a side business that provides a bit of extra income.

How much sleep do you really need?

There are only so many hours in the day, so it’s important to think about when you will be running your business. Working your own business after hours will likely eat into sleep time. Depending upon what you need to do to run your household, your day job and your business, seven or eight hours of sleep might turn into five or six—maybe even less. Because you’ll need to function at your best at home, at work and in your own business, you’ll need to be at the top of your game for more hours of the day on less sleep. Are you up to it?

I have friends who require much more sleep than I do. I have other friends who can survive on a couple hours a night. Tackling the challenges of working a full-time job and running your own business may require you to evaluate your personal stamina and ability to perform with less rest. I have to admit, I’ve occasionally been able to function on 20 to 30 percent less sleep for short periods of time, but in the long run I start to exhibit the signs of burnout and exhaustion. It just doesn’t work for me.

Are you organized? Really organized?

This last piece of advice fits nicely with Barbara’s suggestion. Prioritization and organization are related, and I’ve found it difficult to do one without the other. Whether you use some kind of online calendar (which I personally like) or an old-school paper calendar, you need to keep your schedule up to date and your prioritized task list organized to make sure nothing falls between the cracks. This is a challenge for many people trying to juggle all the responsibilities of one job—let alone run a business at the same time.

Fortunately, smartphones and tablets make it easier than ever to stay on top of things with apps that follow you everywhere and can be accessed anywhere there’s an Internet connection. The world of online productivity tools is readily available with something that will likely meet your needs, will be inexpensive or maybe even free, and easy to use.

I admire those who can successfully pull off running a business while working a full-time job. Knowing the amount of time I’ve spent with my businesses, I know it can be a real challenge. To be honest, the compartmentalizing thing is what gets me. I’m a jump-in-with-both-feet sort of guy and can’t seem to focus on two competing priorities at once. That being said, I have a number of friends who are very successful at it—you could be one of them.

Some people do it temporarily to get their businesses off the ground, while others use their small business as a way to express their entrepreneurial ambitions and make a little extra money while they choose to stay in their current role. Understanding your personal objectives and what that means to you is a critical first step.

What are your priorities?

 

About the Author: Ty Kiisel is a contributing author focusing on small business financing at OnDeck, a technology company solving small business’s biggest challenge: access to capital. With over 25 years of experience in the trenches of small business, Ty shares personal experiences and valuable tips to help small business owners become more financially responsible. OnDeck can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Featured image via Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/hOj3-0lTK8E

Let your dreams and inspiration pour out

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I have a bad habit of using Amazon’s “swipe to buy” tool from my iPhone. It’s downright dangerous, because when I’m reading something online, and a favorite writer recommends a great book…

SWIPE

A package arrives in a couple of days, or I see it pop up in my Kindle app.

I’m at a conference, and the speaker says something is a must-read…

SWIPE

The magic genie delivers a new book to my doorstep.

A few weeks ago, my swiping brought me the most magical book. I’m 20 years late to this party, but I finally got around to reading “The Artist’s Way,” by Julia Cameron.

Don’t roll your eyes at me. I’ve been busy.

The key to the Artist’s Way is the “morning pages.” This is three long-hand written pages, preferably in the morning, full of whatever random junk is in your brain. The morning pages are not intended to be read by anyone, even yourself. You can even write about how dumb morning pages are!

Something about channeling your dreams and inspiration onto a blank page first thing in the morning is magical.

You may not even realize you have dreams. You may be in dire need of inspiration. And stream of consciousness writing will elicit both from the depths of your frenzied brain.

All day long, you are having an inner dialogue. Sometimes you’re a best friend, sometimes a coach, often a big meanie. Pulling that dialogue out of your silent recesses and getting it on paper is so freeing, so wonderful that it can change your life.

Here’s my story, briefly.

I’ll start by saying I’m NOT a morning person. So the idea of morning pages wasn’t really appealing from the start. However, after reading the first couple of chapters, I set an alarm for 6am (1 hour earlier than usual), wrote my three pages, and then exercised for 30 minutes.

That may not seem earth-shattering, but I’ve been trying to coax myself to do those very things for YEARS. I’ve tried reward systems, multiple alarms, punishments, everything. I felt so great that whole day that I did it again the next day.

Three weeks later, I’m still getting up at 6am and doing my writing and exercise for an hour, and even more things are falling into place. It’s like the cobwebs were cleared out and I can see things from a different angle now.

This small ritual has affected my demeanor so much that my son (not knowing what I’m up to) said the other day, “Mommy, you’re acting weird.” That’s my badge of honor. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Creative people need an outlet. If you’ve been stuffing your creative self into a corner in your brain, or just “trying to focus on work,” I’d strongly encourage you to check out The Artist’s Way. There’s a reason it’s been a global phenomenon for decades.

For those of you who have already been doing morning pages for years, what has been your experience over time?

 

Featured Image via Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/y02jEX_B0O0

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

How Ten Minutes of Daily Fun Can Give You A Better Life

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Editor’s Note: I was sent a preview copy of Dave Crenshaw’s upcoming book, and it really grabbed me. In this world where work is often referred to as “the grind,” it’s refreshing to consider the importance of having fun. My key takeaway from reading the book was to work within my natural rhythms, and support them, rather than fighting and trying to become a “morning person.” I’ve found that building in fun breaks injects excitement into the day. (My secret oasis fun is playing loud music from a special playlist. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments.) Dave was kind enough to write a guest post for us, so please enjoy!

by Dave Crenshaw

Think about the old Hollywood movies depicting a barren desert landscape. Our noble hero marches inch by inch through this lifeless plain, hallucinating and dehydrated. It’s drawn out and agonizing. But just when you think “all is lost” or “I’ll just fast forward this part,” they stumble upon a beautiful, serene oasis in the middle of nowhere. It’s usually just a mirage, yet, somehow, it resonates.

These desert scenes are a metaphor for how life can become. We may struggle with a personal or entrepreneurial desert. The key to coming out of that desert is discovering our “oasis.” By “oasis,” I’m referring to meaningful, fun breaks that you consciously merge into your work day. These breaks refresh and rejuvenate your body and spirit.

The Oasis Concept at Work

The Work Oasis is how you go about taking little, fun breaks during your normal work schedule.

Whether you work in a multinational behemoth with tens of thousands of employees or you’re at a small start-up, the Work Oasis is vital to your productivity.

Most often, these are micro-oases (the plural of “oasis,” seriously!) that occur for 10-30 minutes multiple times each workday. This may be out-of- line with company culture, but for you to be more successful, it is important that you take the initiative to take these breaks.

A study by Harvard Business Review and The Energy Project found that employees that took at least three short, daily breaks were 81 percent more likely to stay with a company, and 78 percent of employees reported an increased sense of wellness. Quite simply—when you take fun breaks at work, you improve your productivity and well-being, and that makes a better life.

When Should I Take an Oasis?

You may have heard of the circadian rhythm or “body clock”. This is the 24-hour oscillation of energy your body goes through in a 24-hour period. Well, in a workplace context, you have an optimal cycle for taking breaks as well. Nathaniel Kleitman, a sleep researcher, discovered the “basic rest-activity cycle”—also called the ultradian rhythm.

Ultradian rhythms are shorter, recurrent patterns in our circadian day. Each person has an optimal cycle for how long they can work before needing a break. Similar to how each person has unique nightly sleep needs, a person’s work break needs to occur every 90 to 120 minutes. You can get to the point of diminishing returns where your work suffers if you don’t take a break. You just stop being as productive. Makes sense, right?

Experiment taking breaks between 90-120 minutes to determine what makes you feel most rejuvenated when returning. Once you discover your ultradian rhythm, you can build a schedule that supports it.

Discover Your Fun

You’ve got the rhythm, now it is time to figure out what you will do on the break. Think way back to when you were a kid. What did you do for fun? Did you like to play video games or play outside? Did you color or watch TV? These activities―however silly they may seem―are at the essence of who we are and how we like to have fun.

Now think about the adult equivalent of that activity. Maybe you take a stroll outside, watch YouTube videos, or play a game on your phone. I’m not telling you to be childish. I’m championing being childlike!

Come up with a list of activities you could do within 10-30 minutes and keep them close by to reference when you take an oasis.

It’s time to restore recess to our routine. Try the experiment and measure your results.

Once you implement your Work Oasis, you’ll likely notice than having more fun helps you get more done.
_______________

AUTHOR BIO:
Dave Crenshaw is the master of building productive leaders and has transformed hundreds of thousands of business leaders worldwide. He has appeared in TIME magazine, USA Today, Fast
Company, and the BBC News. His courses on LinkedIn Learning have received millions of views. He has written three books and counting, including The Myth of Multitasking which was published in six languages and is a time-management bestseller. His fourth book, The Power of Having Fun, releases September 19th. Learn more about Dave at DaveCrenshaw.com.