Running a successful business yourself can be a challenge. For many owners of small or self-employed businesses, there are many things that can hinder success. Even just trying to balance personal life with work life can be a test. However, running a successful business yourself doesn’t have to be just a dream that you will never fulfil.
In this article, you will learn to identify factors that can hinder your success and then find out ways how to overcome them.
When running your own business, you have a joy and freedom to make your own choices and decisions. However, entrepreneurs have to deal with factors that can affect their success.
The journal Technological and Economic Development of Economy mentioned a few factors in one European country that can negatively influence the success of someone running their own business.[1] Some of these are:
How to can you run your own business successfully and avoid these negative factors affecting your success?
Here are some ways to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones and reach the business success you desire.
You can boost any hints of low self-esteem by visualising your own success. Of course, this won’t bring overnight business success. Being in the habit of thinking negatively of your success or mulling over past disappointments are bad habits that hinder success.
Try to get into the mindset of picturing where you want to be and how your success will look. Try and be specific. For example, how will your desk look? What kind of furnishings will your office have? How will you speak to any employees?
According to Tom Seabourne Ph.D., imagery can help you reach our potential much quicker. It conditions pathways in your mind so that when you come about to actually performing the task, it feels familiar and is easier to perform.
You also need to know who you are up against. After all, any battle is only fought and won by exposing the opponent’s weaknesses and exploiting them. This doesn’t always mean getting into a cut-throat competition war with your competitors. It usually means looking for gaps in the market that your business can fill.
One easy way to do this is to take a look at their websites and focus on what you could do better. Find out what kind of products and services they offer. Look at what they do well and areas that they aren’t performing so well.
It can be difficult to measure success without any benchmarks. In this respect, it’s important to set specific goals and then analyse your success. There are many online tools that can help to track clicks on your website and find out keywords that brought visitors to your site.
While this may be a steep learning curve for some small business owners, it is another way you can look for gaps in the market. You can also identify what works for you and then capitalise on that.
Analysing your marketing efforts is also necessary to use social media in promoting your business. You can see what kind of posts on Facebook or pictures on Instagram had the best impact. When you discover these, use them as a format for new posts.
It can be difficult to perform all tasks of your business yourself and keep your balance when it comes to work and personal life. Try to outsource some tasks that you can and then use the extra time for yourself and family. That is the true measure of success.
Source:
1. Evaluation of the impact of self-employment factors. Technological and Economic Development of Economy Volume 19, 2013 – issue 1.