9 Habits Of Successful Business Owners

The habits below have helped a lot of business owners succeed. It’s also worth noting that the habits will serve anyone at any level of an organization. The better you can lead, communicate, think, and execute on tasks, the greater your success will be.

9 Habits Of Successful Business Owners

1. Wake Up Early

After all, the early bird gets the worm. I got my start in advertising, and my first boss in the ad world was Rob Guenette – a man I would still run through a brick wall for if he asked me to. He took any opportunity to offer up a catchy quote: “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise!” He is an excellent leader! The quiet before the rest of the world gets up can be a creative time, providing mental space. Also, this is a great chance to move and fuel your body for the day. Establishing a healthy morning routine will set you up to be sharp and balanced for the rest of the morning.

Begin Your Day With A Great Morning Routine

2. Are Excellent Communicators

All effective leaders must be excellent communicators. You need to lead your staff, lead your clients and inspire growth and ensure that tasks are done as effectively as possible. Think about how often you don’t understand what someone is talking about. Be clear, decisive and inspiring. This goes a long way toward building an effective business!

3. Have Clear Boundaries

It’s important to know what you will do and what you won’t do. What you will tolerate and what you will not tolerate. Setting boundaries are a great way of clearly demonstrating what you expect and what will not be acceptable. Setting boundaries works exceptionally well, and it’s important to note that it takes ongoing effort to enforce these. Keep in mind that boundaries are not utilized with the force of a hammer, but will a self-awareness and patience with yourself and whomever you work with. Implementing appropriate boundaries helps create a great working environment for others and a place of consistent trust.

4. Hire Smarter People

You don’t want to be the smartest person in the room. If you were the smartest person in the room you would have to oversee every step of the business – you don’t want to be in the minutia. Be wise when it comes to hiring staff. Hire for skills that you are not as effective at. Hire people who are smarter than you. These people will fill in the gaps not only in your skillset but that of the business. The more well-rounded your team is, the better off your service and/or product will be. Look at the tech giants, Apple, Google and Microsoft – these companies are known for hiring brilliant people.

6 Tips For Building Effective Teams

5. Understand Finances

You must have an effective understanding of finances. A working understating is important. If, at any point, your business finances are too complex for our knowledge-base, make sure you hire someone internally or an outside party to handle the books. It’s unfortunate how many great ideas die off because of financial mismanagement.

6. Keep A List of Ideas & Act On The Best

This is a never-ending list, as any leader knows. I, for one, have a list that has gotten longer over the years, much longer. From time to time, I remove ideas that no longer suit my interests. I often re-prioritize the list to ensure that the stronger ideas are near the top. A list that you aren’t acting on will get you nowhere.  Like anything in life, if you don’t act on an idea, it won’t get done. As the great Wayne Gretzky once said: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Start with a list, then put the best ideas into action.

7. Discerning About New Opportunities

Opportunities come and go all the time. Keep in mind that not all opportunities are worth saying yes to. Be discerning about which opportunities align with your mission and goals. Does the initial and ongoing financial and energetic investment make sense? Is there a market shift that necessitates taking a chance on an opportunity? Take time to think through your options and seek outside wisdom. Having an advisor goes a long way towards clarity. Also, saying no can be a good thing.

8. Open / Growth Mindset

Having an open mind is liberating. It’s common to have pre-conceived notions and judgements about people, business and life. Catching yourself on these assumptions can liberate your views. By acknowledging where you may be making up an assumption and judgement will give you a chance to have an open mind – this is where growth and opportunities exist. Carol Dweck‘s book is a game-changer for anyone looking to understand what a “Growth Mindset” is. A profoundly impactful book that shows us the many ways we can positively impact how we see the world and those we work with.

9. Have A Life Outside Of Work

Having a life outside work keeps you balanced, and this allows for outside inspiration and insights that can really impact the business. Read books that are unrelated to business. The more knowledge and inspiration that you can obtain, the better! Follow popular culture. After all, your clients are interested in the outside world, so why not understand what they are following and influenced by. This will help you know what your marketplace really wants so that you can better position your offering to them.

As a leader and business owner, it is important to think and discern your next move. I act as an outside thinking partner, someone who can advise from an objective level. I challenge my client’s thinking and encourage where necessary. Click here to begin taking your communication and business to an entirely new level.