Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurs: 7 Tools For Improving Your Edge

How can entrepreneurs improve and maintain their edge in business? We can always improve and get better. We can never slack and think we’ve just got it made if we want to keep seeing great results. It may be competitive out there but the key to keep on winning is to find your edge and keep honing it. Here are seven ways to do that.
1. Always Be Trying New Things
Always be trying new things. Mastery is good, but greater results come from testing out new things. It’s good for your brain and spirit. Not everything may stick and work, but those that do will put you ahead of the competition, and give you the real edge. Try improving your personal performance edge with your exercise and diet. You can increase your market and people knowledge by visiting new locations, and level up your business by testing new apps, software, and marketing campaigns
2. Take on the Tough Clients
In business, everyone wants the easy deals. Nobody wants to deal with the headache of a tough client, but the truth is there’s value to be found there if you’re willing to do the work. This is true not just when you’re starting out—and deals are harder to come by—but when you’re more established and can afford to be pickier with the people you take on as clients.
Make a name for yourself and carve out business by being willing to take on the tough deals, those attached to clients that are strong-natured or ask a million questions. Win these people over—you’ll earn yourself deals those clients can become your best lead sources.
“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” – Henry David Thoreau
3. Always Be Learning
Those who gain a serious edge in the market are those who are always learning. They are on top of new trends, new tech and tools and always look for ways to know more about their business than competitors. Don’t just offer the standard service everyone else is offering—explore ways to go two or three levels deeper with that service.
If you sell software, are you also selling coaching on how to best use that software? If you sell a product, are you also offering customers the option to have it professionally installed? Will this require learning new skills? Most definitely. The effort is worth it, though, since the best way to attract more dollars is to offer more value to your existing customer base.
4. Hire Better People
One of the best ways to improve your edge both as an individual entrepreneur and business is to hire better people. Hire people who are more experienced and skilled than you. They will boost your knowledge, performance and business metrics. Just make sure you let them work to their full abilities. Hire better for your marketing department, bookkeeping, customer service, sales reps, general managers, and more.
5. Hang Out With Others Who Challenge You
Having a strong in-house team is vital. It will determine how high your business goes, and how fast. Yet, it is also important to hang out with peers and mentors who challenge you to grow and operate at an ever-higher level. They will lift you up, if you let them.
Find out where they are and how you can get more time with them. Any investment you need to make to work on this part of your development is worth it. Support the causes they support, hang out at the clubs and vacation spots they go to, and attend the events they attend.
6. Have an Open Invitation to Compete
Only competing at anything when you feel in your peak zone is kind of cheating. It can be smart in business. It can also dull your edge. Instead, have an open invitation for people to challenge you. That could be to go with your competition to an auction, to show up at your office with the toughest deal to do, or to show up at your home for a game of tennis or Chinese checkers. It will boost your mind and mental capabilities and teach you to always be ready.
“There’s no shortage of remarkable ideas, what’s missing is the will to execute them.” – Seth Godin
7. Do it More
Whatever you want to get better at—do it more. Want to be better at writing client proposals? Then book more meetings. Want to be able to answer any question your client might have? Read the agreement ten times. Want to be better at networking? Do it every week. Want to be better at saying yes and making bold moves—put yourself in situations to do just that.
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How You Can Start Networking in Style in 2023
By investing your time and effort in networking, you will gain more business through the relationships you make

Are you completely new to networking?
Then this article is a great place to start. Networking isn’t hard on paper…you go along to online and in-person meetings, make new connections and build relationships, and those relationships lead to more work so you can grow your business! The challenge is that in reality, it isn’t quite so straightforward, as our emotions get involved and make things much tougher.
It’s incredibly common for nerves to creep in and to feel overwhelmed and apprehensive when it comes to networking – even when it isn’t new to you. But how can you become more successful at it, feel less self-conscious, and make networking work for you and your business?
Here’s a few tips to help you embrace every business networking opportunity you get, so you can grow your business and achieve your goals.
Rock up with confidence
If you want to keep those nerves at bay and ooze confidence at networking get-togethers, you’ll need to downplay it rather than seeing it as a big occasion. Try not to put pressure on yourself and see it as a casual meet-up with a bunch of people with similar goals to you. To help you relax in the run-up to the event, be sure to set achievable goals and expectations before you go.
Keep your chin up and your goals in mind – positivity is key. One easy goal for your first networking meeting is very simply to speak to one other person and see where the conversation goes. Introduce yourself and your business, but take the time to listen to their story, too. It’ll only take a few minutes and will be over before you know it, so it’s nothing to fear. You may even enjoy it and want to speak to a few more people, too!
Where to go networking
If you’ve never been networking before, it might not be very easy to find a group – but only because there’s so much choice and you don’t know where to start your search! Groups come in different sizes and styles, so it’s important to find one that suits you and your business. Informal, formal, big, small… the choice is yours.
For your first meeting, start small to ease yourself in – a big group could prove too daunting, and stop you from feeling comfortable enough to get involved. After all, you want to make a strong first impression!
If you’re wondering which group to opt for in the long-term, give a few a go! Get a feel for them, speak to as many people as you can, and see which one suits! You’ll know when a group feels right for you, and you can see where those all-important relationships are most likely to be built. If a group doesn’t feel like the right for you, give a different one a go.
Get more leads and referrals
This will happen for you, as long as you put the effort into building those relationships. If you take the time to get to know people, and then check in with them and support them, they’ll see you as a trustworthy and reliable contact who they can call on. And when they feel that way, those leads and referrals you’re looking for will come a-knocking.
Once you’ve made relationships with people who you trust, and they’ve had a positive experience working with you, you can even ask for referrals! But don’t rush this, as you don’t want to inadvertently push people away or try and force the relationship along too quickly.
When you do get an opportunity to work with someone you’ve met at a networking group, go above and beyond to offer more value than they’re expecting, as then, they’ll be much more likely recommend you and introduce you to more of their contacts!
Grow your business
By investing your time and effort in networking, you will gain more business through the relationships you make, and you will be able to grow your business.
We know that it’s not easy, going networking for the very first time. And that’s why we want to give you all the advice and tools that you need so you can walk in with confidence and make the most of the opportunity.
2023 is just around the corner, and you have the chance to make it the year you make networking work for your business. And the benefits could be incredibly amazing for your business, just like they have been for ours, and many business owners we have worked with over the years.
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