You cannot learn the most necessary lessons in business in B-schools. You have to get your hands dirty to gain the essential experience that imparts valuable business lessons.
Evaluating oneself objectively, especially when there are professional challenges to consider, is not easy. According to expert Jared Davis, having the list peer-reviewed or assessed by a mentor can make a significant difference.
1. Follow-ups are important
Following up on a potential lead is not difficult. It might be trite, but it is also rewarding in most cases. While you are doing a retake of your business and personal goals, do give some time to reach out to your older customers with positive messages and promotional reminders. It can boost your customer retention rate.
2. Start listening to your fans and followers
In business, it is crucial to please your customers, but don’t waste all your energy on your haters. Haters will hate, but you have to keep calm and produce more content for the real fans of your brand. Reach out to dedicated consumers via Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
3. Self-worth is not all numbers
It would be silly to place all your self-esteem in sales metrics, views, engagements, and followers. Being an entrepreneur is fantastic! It is not easy, but you are so much more than an entrepreneur. You are a friend, family member, someone’s husband or wife, possibly a father, maybe a car enthusiast, an artist, or a sportsperson too. Focus on everything positive in life, when business seems down.
4. Make way for marketing
There will be no progress without marketing. When budgeting your capital, keep aside a fixed amount for digital marketing. In 2019, Google was responsible for over 94% of the organic traffic to seller websites.
5. Change is good
Change is the only way we know that things are moving. Most importantly, there might be things about your business that you don’t like. Take this opportunity to list them down. Make these changes your short-term goal for 2020.
6. It’s okay to fail
It is more of a life lesson than a business lesson. Irrespective of how much you prep, some instances will bring you nothing but failure. And it’s alright to fail! You need to live through the failed strategies and crushed campaigns to emerge as a stronger person.
7. Value your time
Time is money – and that is relevant in 2019 as well. When thinking about allocating resources to a new project, don’t discount time. Consider your time expense as well as your employees’ to evaluate its true worth.
8. Don’t chase perfection
The moment you feel that you have perfected something, you begin feeling extremely satisfied and laid back. Perfection can become the nemesis of your business progress. Set new goals for 2020, but steer clear of objectives for perfecting existing practices or operations.
9. Take risks
Not taking risks is equivalent to not opening up to a new market at times. You need to take risks to facilitate growth. When in doubt, always remember that some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs have been penniless more than once.
10. Do not give up
If Steve Jobs gave up after his initial tryst with Apple computers when IBM introduced the concept of a PC, we would not have the iPod, iPad, iPhone, or MAC. Initial struggles can be brutal, but the only way to overcome them is by hanging on.
When heading an organization, it is a must for the founder and CEO to look back for learning from their mistakes. It can begin with a simple list of goals you have achieved vs. the ones you wanted to accomplish all along, the growth of the company and the employees in the last year, your personal growth as a human begin, and anything else you can think of.
