A new year brings opportunities to reflect on our growth and identify areas that need to be improved on. This is especially important for small business owners and entrepreneurs, considering the most common cited reasons small businesses fail are a lack of capital, a lack of management skills or both. Yet management skills can be developed and grown, and so 99FM’s MYD Smart spoke to successful small business owner, Franklin Angermund, the managing partner at Think Training Solutions, which specialises in accredited driver related training services and obtaining heavy motor vehicle driver training and licenses, to get four tips that will help develop you as an entrepreneur in the new year.
Four Tips For Entrepreneurs In The New Year by Franklin Angermund
1. Same Challenge Different Perspective
Setbacks, obstacles and challenges are painfully common elements of entrepreneurship.
One of the most challenging entrepreneurial traits is training your brain to view challenges like an opportunity to learn and grow. What I’ve learned was that when you’re faced with a problem and your mindset is not in a problem-solving space this task will get the better of you. However when you’ve slept on it or thought it through, then that same problem doesn’t look so daunting anymore.
Same problem just a matter of perspective.
2. Self-Development is Key
As entrepreneurs learning must always stay top of mind.
When you’re the startup you’re basically the CEO, Marketing Manager, Operations Manager, Tech Geek, Driver and Tea Lady. At this stage you’re everything your business requires you to be, so be prepared for it. Generally a business has 5 main pillars namely, Finance, Marketing, Operations, HR and Legal and you have to know the basics of each for obvious reasons.
As an entrepreneur you are the business – so invest in yourself.
3. Don’t be Afraid to Lose, it’s Your Greatest Win
Successful entrepreneurs make mistakes often, they aren’t afraid to make mistakes and know how to learn from them.
As an entrepreneur you must have heard the saying ‘It’s the fear of failure that holds you back’. This is so true because we tend to focus on the negatives as oppose to a ‘this thing just might work” mentality.
I try to approach every project with a positive mindset and then unleash my full potential. If it works, it usually involves a victory dance and if it doesn’t then it’s a ‘uhh so that didn’t work, but how about if we…”
Forgive yourself when you make mistakes – it’s just another lesson you have to learn (and life has a way of teaching you the same lesson until you learn it).
4. Plan, Execute and Celebrate Your Goals
Celebrating your goals gives confidence for the next milestones and closure to the ones you’ve reached.
Be goal orientated. You have to deliver results. So set out your goals for day, week and month and use everything in your arsenal to meet your targets.
Doors will be shut in your face, your calls will be unanswered and there will definitely be straight up no’s! In this case please refer back to the pointers listed above and get those results. When you ‘close that deal’ or ‘bring home the cheese’ be sure to celebrate those victories regardless of how small they may seem. The little bursts of accomplishments are the feelings that fuel you and serves as a reaffirmation that you can do this!
Find Think Training Solutions through their Facebook page by clicking here, or through their website by clicking here