11 Principles of Business Success

Posted on 3 June 2009 | by Ryan Battles

No matter what your role is in your business -- whether employer, employee, or solo artist -- there are a few principles that are universal to your success:

Get Organized

Spending 5 minutes at the end of your day to unclutter your desk can work wonders for your productivity the next day.  First of all, you won't have to worry about cleaning it, and risk spending the entire morning off-task.  I personally try to clean my desk, and type out a brief plan of action for the next day before I quit working for the day.  This prevents the situation of sitting down for work only to dilly-dally on useless stuff that isn't important.  Also, when your workspace is organized, you spend less time looking for things because they should be in a predictable spot.

Control Stress

One of the biggest principles that I have learned is that a client's stressful emergency isn't my stressful emergency.  Now, this may sound harsh, but I try to think of it like an Emergency Room doctor would.  If the doctor freaked out every time someone came in with an emergency, there would be chaos, and those docs would be the most stressed out folks at work.  Instead, remember that you are the professional, and systematically help the client find a solution.  Remain calm, you'll be more effective that way.  Now, what if the stress comes from another source?  The idea is the same, remain professional.  Step back and think about the situation, accept it, and determine what are the next steps.  Try not to participate in stress-pausing activities such as overeating and wasting-time.  Participate in healthy activities such as talking it out with a friend or taking a walk.  I often love journaling when I feel stressed.  Pray about it.  Meditate on a solution.  Remember the last time you felt stressed out and think of the outcome.  Controlling stress is very important to prevent burnout.

Research

Devote time to learning more about how to be successful at whatever you do.  If you are a teacher, spend breaks reading books on how to be a better teacher.  It will refresh you and motivate you to return to school with new ideas.  There are a plethora of books available on how to be successful at everything from selling to sailing.  Scour the web, subscribe to magazines.  Have lunch with someone who is better than you at your business, or at least something that you would like to be better at.  Be intentional about this, don't just wait until you have free time.  Make free time. 

Be Passionate

If you are not passionate about what you do, work will become hard work.  Think of all of the positive things about your job, and renew that joy. If you are not passionate, fake it.  Perhaps you will forget that you are faking it.  Who knows.  Talk to someone who loves their job (the same as yours), and reflect on why they love it.  If there is absolutely no way that you can become passionate about your job, perhaps you should think about a career move.

Budget

Sometimes life is good, sometimes life is challenging.  Store up for those bad times.  Resist the temptation to live above your means.  I have been in debt and at other times had surplus in my accounts.  Which times do you think I was less stressed?  When you are in control of your finances, you can stop stressing about money and focus on what makes you successful.  Also, you don't waste money on stupid interest rates.  Instead, you make money off of them.

Value your Health

A healthy person has the energy to tackle the day.  Also, personal appearance says a lot about you, and people base their opinions off of what you look like.  It is the cold, hard truth.  You will become more successful if you take care of yourself and look more presentable. 

Embrace Selling

Don't avoid or hate that which makes you successful.  The challenge can only strengthen you.  If you are a salesperson, this is a no-brainer.  If you have nothing to do with a sales department, you are still selling yourself.  You are selling yourself to your boss in order to get that raise, and you are selling your company to your customers every time you have contact. 

Satisfy Customers

Customers are your boss.  If the customers stop coming in, you might be out of a job.  I have personally seen businesses slowly laying off people as the customers started to decline.  Now, there are probably a variety of reasons why customers leave, but don't let dissatisfaction be one of them.  Go over and above what you say you will do, they will remember you for it.

Grow Your Network

Have a business card and use it as often as possible.  Collect cards (or just people's contact info), and store it in a database.  Make regular contact with those you know and go out of your way to meet new people.  You will then have a vast resource of people to help you in your time of need.  One of the best ways to network is to introduce people to each other if the relationship is mutually beneficial.  Both of those parties gain something from the relatinoship, and they'll remember that you went out of your way to help them.  What goes around comes around.

Maintain Cashflow

This is more for the business owner or manager than the average employee, but it is crucuial to keep money coming in.  I suppose this is similar to the budgeting category, but more related to budgeting for the business.  Always be exploring ways to make money.  Know what spending can be cut if business is slow. 

Achieve a Work/Life Balance

This is crucial to personal success.   I'm sure you can become a very successful businessperson by sacrificing a personal life.  However, most who pursue this route end up dissatisfied with life overall.  Remember what is important, and stop working at time so you can spend time with loved ones and do things that you enjoy outside of work.  On the other hand, if you spend too much time on leisure activity, perhaps you need to be disciplined in carving out time to get down to business.  It is a balance, and once it is found, success is right there with it.