Thread by @ronaldnzimora

New to Business? Here Are 10 Things You Should Know From the Start

1. Education and learning is a very good thing...up to a point. Spend 30 mins a day minimum, on learning business - your field, your market, your product, marketing, sales, growth. Don't consider learning your...

your craft a chore - relish the opportunity to discover ideas and principles that will bless your life with prosperity. But CAVEAT EMPTOR: the pursuit of an business education is no substitute or excuse for practical real life doing and "on the job training." Some have been...

"learning," almost full time, for many years. Don't do that. Rather, learn as you go about DOING your business. If you wait until you "know it all" you'll waste time you could have used to set up, experience and build a profitable business. And believe me, experience is always...

the best business education.

2. Business can be simple until you complicate it to the point that it becomes very complex. Note: I said simple, not easy. There are actually very few things you really need in order to business a business that is profitable. You need to:

i. figure out your target market and know their makeup

ii. have a product or service to sell (your own or someone elses)

iii. a transaction platform - website or storefront

iv. set up a sales system that feeds your pipeline with prospects and converts them to paying clients

v. a delivery mechanism.

Figuring these steps out is not easy; in fact, selling can be very hard if you don't know what you're doing. Especially in the beginning, keep things simple and spend your time understanding how and where to find prospects and turn them into buyers.

3. Decisions are yours to make and own. Now you can;t pass it off to a superior at work or a subordinate. Your decisions will build or crash your business. You must make them everyday in your business. Don't rely on anyone else to make them for you. Study alternatives, ...

get feedback to help you weigh the alternatives, then be decisive, choose one, and move forward. Even if your choice is wrong, you'll know very quickly and have a chance to go a different direction. Think about your own life. Everything good that's happened to you has been the...

result of deciding to do something. Indecision claims a heavy toll on many business owners because they literally spend years trying to get started with something. Just look around offline or online, compare how people have made decisions when faced with similar situations and...

then do it!

4. Many business owners only focus on the money they'll make. If you do that, you will never be satisfied with the amount you make, even worse, you'll never make enough. A better approach, is to focus on helping and serving your customers. If you serve well and...

provide them with quality products and services, money will follow you around like your shadow. If you take a personal interest in their interests (not yours), they will recognize you for your empathy and concern and reward you with their money. Owning trust in a world full of...

doubt and skepticism is a goldmine because your clients will shower and envelope you with their loyalty and repeat business.

5. Your time is your MOST valuable resource. Guard it like you would a bank vault. Don't spend it doing anything you can pay someone else to do.

Sometimes, especially when you're starting out and you don't have enough money, you have to spend your time on all the tasks necessary to execute your plan. But understand, the phrase "time is money" is very true.

As soon as you can, hire people or outsource your business...

tasks.

Learn to take advantage of the principle of leverage. Your job as a business is to be the vision driver, not the manual labourer. Let go of certain time intensive activities that can be done better and more efficiently by people trained to be experts in that one thing.

This is what allows you to take your business to consecutive and exponential higher levels of income.

It's what the smartest owners use to remove themselves out of the daily management of routine tasks in order to have more free time to enjoy life.

6. No excuses. As...

an owner, you're responsible for everything that happens or doesn't happen in your business. When problems occur, whatever you believe at that moment, it's no one's fault but your own. Period. It's not Google's fault, it's not your mentor's fault, it's not the software's fault...

it's not your ex's fault, or you vendor's fault, and it's certainly not the customer's fault. Don't blame it on your language, your education, your lack of time, your age, the computer, your niche, or PayStack. And in the very rare instance that it really does happen to be...

someone else's fault, IT'S STILL YOUR FAULT! Because you choose to use the service or hire that person.

7. Never even live in denial. Some people are born and live their entire lives in the state of denial, glossing over problems, thinking they'll go away.

If you have a weakness that stops you from doing a necessary business chore, don't ignore it, put if off forever, or deny it's a problem that exists. Get some help, fix it, and move on. If you don't have money to start a business - go get some (it doesn't take much these days).

If you don't have the time to take care of your customers - find the time and quit doing other things that take up all your time, you know, like spending time talking mundane topics on social media.

If you don't know how to attract free traffic - spend some money and go get...

some paid traffic. (Even if you still know how to get FREE traffic, still spend money on paid traffic.)

Find a way to move around every obstacle in your path. Learn how to do hard things or pay someone to do them for you. The better you get at finding solutions, the...

easier they are to see and resolve quickly.

8. Network. Like-minded people nearly always attract each other. If you want to be successful in business, hang around and pay attention to successful business owners. Join masterminds and forums or find people like you and create one

Example: If you want to be profitable as a blogger, hang around bloggers that are making money. If you want to have a money making e-commerce store, then befriend, listen to, and pay attention to profitable store owners are doing.

There are live meetups, online forums and...

many opportunities, some paid, some free, you can use to make this happen for you.

9. Business is not an environment to be timid and shy in. I'm a fairly private and reserved person by nature. But in business, I am a leader or a voice of authority as needed. I can tell you...

without mincing words, if you want success as a business owner, you can't sit back and wait for good things to happen to you. You have to be ferocious, calculating, cunning, and pouncing like a hungry lion on deer. The business is a war zone that claims timid victims everyday.

You have to "put yourself out there" (so to speak) and force your own success. You must demand respects for your intellect and respect for your fees, otherwise you will get neither of them. The best way to do this, of course, is to know your onions, be confident, be authentic,...

strive to always deliver quality and aggressively go after prospects and customers you believe you can help and that you do have workable solutions to their needs.

Believe in yourself, what you're doing, selling and advising.

Resist stupid business terms like the so called...

"black hat" methods, scamming, peddling garbage and claiming to be or do what you're not is the sure road to eventual failure. People tremble because they fear they are not "the best." You can make money without being the best - but it's important to do your best - always.

10. Don't Give Up. Persistence is a virtue. I can think of no other personal trait or characteristic more important in business. If you can't persist on a project, or toward a goal, or in giving your business a chance to develop over time, I would suggest you not even attempt to

start a business. I mean this in all sincerity 100% - because the beginning will be rough. It's like having a new baby and raising them into a successful adult. A lot of times, persistence is the only difference between a profitable and an unprofitable business. The desire...

for instant and quick riches is probably the single biggest reason for failure in businesses. When it doesn't happen fast enough, many people quit, or jump to a new and different business, only to give up again and again simply because they do not have mental staying power.

There you have it. My 10 truths about business I have learnt over the years. There could be more "truths" so feel free to add to the list. I hope this helps you.

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