5 Tips To Help Your New Business Succeed

I consider myself an entrepreneur. I started my real estate business with $500 dollars and in my second year, more than doubled its income. When I decided to start a blog, I approached it and still treat it as a business. Within a year, I had created a nice “side hustle” for myself and have gotten to the point where I can now branch out and pursue other aspects from my blog. 

As I sit back and reflect on the last year and a half, I realized there were many similarities in the way I approached both my real estate business and my blogger/influencer “business” and I thought I would share what I learned with you.

There is no secret “recipe” for succeeding in business, but I am finding there are key behaviors and characteristics/frame of mind that can position you to a path to success.

Side note: I have never gone to business school nor taken any business classes per se. Almost all my business knowledge was somehow embedded in me through shadowing my dad when I was a kid and watching/listening to him when he negotiated, discussed or did anything with his numerous businesses.

Focus:

So many great ideas can go through our minds on a routine basis. It happens to all of us. The key, I have found, is to make a plan to focus in on your ultimate plan/business goal. Take all that brilliant goodness and funnel it all into a comprehensive plan. Establishing short-term and long-term goals can help establish an organized road map. 

If you are struggling with this, work backwards. Identify your goal, then establish the steps you need to climb to achieve that goal and create a timeline of deadlines for each step. 

 Almost all my business knowledge was somehow embedded in me through shadowing my dad…

Ambition/Drive:

All too often, I am approached for guidance/mentorship from real estate agents or aspiring bloggers/influencers and my first question to them is: what are you doing to achieve your goal? It would amaze you how many can’t answer that question. This point is twofold: If you don’t have the drive or ambition, is this really the right business/goal for you? More importantly, if you truly wish to achieve your goal, the business and its potential success is not going to come to you – you have to aggressively and relentlessly go after it.

In the seemingly saturated real estate world, so many enter into it thinking they’ll make six-figures overnight. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way with the exception of a few cases. It takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and hustling to get a client base and to delight them to the point that they refer you to others. I can’t tell you the amount of times a new agent or an agent who has been in the industry for a while but hasn’t really succeeded sit back doing absolutely nothing and wonder why their business isn’t growing. 

Mentorship/Guidance:

Call it networking, call it investing in a business coach or mentor, call it whatever you want but seek guidance from someone who has done it before. Seeking guidance is not always easy. Choose someone who is in the same or similar industry and seek their guidance and mentorship. They have and are living through what you are about to embark on. Someone running a successful restaurant is probably not the ideal mentor to seek if you are starting a clothing company. A mentor, or business coach is an investment that has the potential to accelerate you down the path to your goal.

It takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and hustling to get a client base and to delight them to the point that they refer you to others.

Open Mind:

We all have a certain amount of ego. Whether starting a business or running a successful one, having an open mind to adjust and evolve as your business does is key to maintaining and pushing forward with success. Be in a consistent state of learning and reflecting. Just because your business is successful doesn’t mean you know it all. There are so many angles and approaches out there that can be used to fine tune that success. If just starting out, advice from those who have been there can really be helpful and make a difference as your business matures. Ultimately, you decide what you wish to listen to and not listen to but be open minded enough to take what you learn to heart and evaluate if it can benefit your business.

Photo Credit: Daria Nepriakhina

Leadership:

When some think of leadership, they imagine a CEO leading groups of employees in a large company. It may be counter intuitive but, a one-person-show requires leadership as well. How you may ask?

Let’s approach this within a real estate environment first. As a realtor, you work for yourself under the legal umbrella of a brokerage. When facilitating a transaction of a home purchase or sale, it requires inspection companies, title companies in some states, lawyers in others. There are home warranty companies, vendors to help make repairs along with many other aspects of the transaction. All those areas are part of “your business.” They are a reflection of you and how you conduct your business, so you must ensure they represent you and your brand in the best light. You can be the best in what you do, however, if those ancillary services don’t do their job as promised, it directly reflects on you and your capacity to manage. Your leadership will play an integral role in return customers, clients, and/or audience members and their long term satisfaction.

In the world of blogging, I interviewed many web designers until I found Corine from Heart and Hustle Studio. I had to make sure her design of my website was reflective of me and my caliber of business. If she didn’t create a beautiful website, it would directly affect how I was perceived by anyone who came into contact with it.

When choosing a publicist, KJ Blattenbauer from Hearsay PR held very similar values in business to mine. In order to manage both aspects of the blog, I have to possess leadership to ensure both of those areas are well executed. That’s done through making sure I manage and organize both legs of efforts to be cohesive and work seamlessly.

You can be the best in what you do, however, if those ancillary services don’t do their job as promised, it directly reflects on you and your capacity to manage.

There are many other factors that are involved in creating a successful business, however, I find these 5 have been the most helpful and have consistently been the core of both my businesses.

Do you implement any of the above in your business? Use the comments space below to share what works for you and helps you be successful in your business.

Hugs,

Mama K