How to survive in business

How to survive in business 

Before we dive in, we must first address the issues with the title. Why am I writing about business and survival? What qualifies me to write a blog about survival in business? I’m just going to put this out now. I’m not a millionaire. I am not on the Forbes 100 list. I’m not on any of the most influential under (pick and age) lists anywhere.

However, I have been in business since 2001, I’ve changed my business model, and I’ve refocused my energy. I have built up an established brand. I have diversified my model to incorporate different types of businesses. Build a portfolio career and I have cofounded several businesses (some successful most were not?). I have created a model that works for me and that brings in a guaranteed bottom-line income that enables me to build upon my model to develop. 

I don’t say this to brag just merely to establish my credentials as to why I believe I have something to add to the success in business conversation. We have something to add to this conversation.

This blog comes from my experience differ to your experience. I do believe some of my learning is universal and can be adapted, to arrange situations and businesses. 

Define your purpose 

This is quite important because if you don’t have something to measure your achievements by can become difficult to celebrate the wins can also aid in using focus when it gets tough (spoiler alert it will do at some point). 

Ask yourself some difficult questions. Are used to always carry a notebook around with me I will be constantly writing things down now. I just typed them into my phone and I would encourage you to do the same. This makes you accountable to yourself and research suggests if you write it down, it becomes more actionable.

What does survival mean to you? 

Why do you want to start your own business or work for yourself? 

What is the goal?

These questions are for you to answer. It doesn’t matter what somebody else answers these questions. It’s personal. It’s about you. It’s about your motivation. It’s about your reason. It’s about your purpose.

You don’t have to love it, but you do have to care 

Do you read those business books? I certainly do and a lot of them say you need to love what you do to be successful. I disagree. You can’t love what you do all the time. I would change it love it to care about it. 

What do you care about when it comes to your business? 

Answer that and I don’t think you will go too far wrong when it gets tough. Remembering why you care about what you do will be crucial to help push you through. 

Be useful 

You will have heard the phrase ‘What problem can you solve for your customers’ I don’t subscribe to that, personally. It feels far too self-important. With everything going on in the world today it just doesn’t sit right to me. I believe that being useful is a far more positive mindset. I always strive to deliver more value than the project brief. Being a problem solver, making the process easy, and giving your clients and partners a positive experience in my opinion is more important than being the best in your field. 

When you’re on your next project what will you do it be useful?

Keep learning 

Every job is an opportunity to learn something new, to improve your skills (whether that’s communication, technical or practical). I’m a firm believer that learning shouldn’t just happen from books. If you treat learning as an ongoing priority it will make you more resilient, more open and more multi-faceted, a better communicator, increase your skills and help build stronger relationships. 

What are you going to learn today?

Be honest

There is a massive difference between over-delivering and over-promising. Don’t over-promise. It will cause additional stress to yourself and will potentially give your clients unrealistic expectations, which if not met will cause tensions. I have always been honest about projects, what is the actual cost? How many people will it require, what is the timeline and what are the expectations? It’s important to set boundaries as that sets the premise for your current project and all future projects going forward.

Tell people what you do.

This sounds super obvious doesn’t it? But remember people have an idea of what you do but might not necessarily know exactly what you do for example. I’m a Filmmaker and I make very specific films such as documentaries, corporate promotional films, and artist films I also write direct and edit when I’m looking for specific types of work. All of the content I put out is focused on that type of work so I am telling the world what I do and what I am we are also busy living our own lives and for all the best will in the world my life and my work isn’t the priorities of somebody else’s life so constantly reiterating what you do or plant for peoples heads so when they are looking for your services you will be in their mind the other bonus for this is your also have a bank of content online reiterates what you do and therefore add validity, making you more credible.

What content can you put out today to tell your next client what you do?

Be yourself

This one is pretty obvious, isn’t it? But I can’t overstate how important it is. People buy from people, we all know this but have you ever stopped to think what it means? It’s about personal connections, trust, faith and for me having a laugh when I’m working, my clients work with me time and time again because they know I can deliver (so can lots of companies), more importantly id say is that my clients know that I will be positive, approachable, solve any issues that arise (and they will) and make the process enjoyable. Life is serious enough I don’t need to add to that.  Remember not every client will be your cup of tea and neither will you be there. That’s ok, it’s ok to expect your clients to have similar attributes to you. You are on the same team. 

This blog could go on for days but I want to finish it off with one more thing that I believe will help you succeed in business and that is belief.

Believe in yourself, where you are now is not where you will be in 5 years, 1 year or even in 1 month. Trust yourself and enjoy the process. After all, it is the journey, not the destination.