Success Advice
How to Incorporate the Vision of Others for Business Success
When you start a business, it’s your vision of a better solution that gets you started. For me, it was the vision of providing a better way for businesses to manage their accounting processes and streamline the fulfillment processes. From the beginning, I knew I couldn’t do it alone and although it started as my own vision for business and my own vision of success, I quickly realized that it in order to empower and encourage my employees and business partners, that I’d need to incorporate their visions of success into my own if I wanted my business to truly succeed.
Even my vision of success has changed throughout the years since I’ve owned and operated my business… Originally, I was dead set on a number. My success was predicated on my ability to become a millionaire. That was it. If I was a millionaire, I would be successful. If I could prove “everybody” wrong and show them that I was capable of earning a million dollars, then I could sleep well at night knowing that I had achieved success.
Well, I shortly realized that my definition of success was attainable but that it wasn’t actually going to help me feel fully fulfilled. I’d already learned after getting my girlfriend pregnant in high school that I could provide for myself and others. I learned how valuable sales are to a business and how to build deep relationships with potential customers and clients. Once you realize that becoming a millionaire is attainable, and a huge boost to your confidence, but not the thing that will actually lead you to feeling fulfilled, you have to revisit the drawing board and look at a better way to create that feeling of success.
For me, I realized that I had to start incorporating the visions of those that had bought into mine. First and foremost, I had to have shared conviction with my business partner, Trevor Cowley. I had to sit down and have conversations with him about what he wanted from the business, I had to figure out what his vision of success was.
This required a level of vulnerability that I didn’t know it was going to… The thought of not owning complete control of the direction of my business was something that seemed threatening to my idea of success. It was counterintuitive but would be one of the best decisions I ever made in business.
Napoleon Hill says a mastermind is, “The coordination of knowledge and effort between two or more people who work towards a definite purpose in a spirit of harmony…no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.” Until I was able to incorporate the visions of Trevor in my business, I wasn’t able to truly understand or tap into this idea of a mastermind. I was unable to tap into the power of a unified force that was more powerful than the sum of its parts.
“A team aligned behind a vision will move mountains.” – Kevin Rose
That doesn’t mean all conversations were easy or that we always had the same vision. When you start looking for business partners and looking to share a vision with others. They will inevitably have a different vision and idea of what success looks like to them. You won’t always agree on what that exact vision is and it will require some amount of negotiation in order to accomplish that shared vision. There will be “give and take,” and sometimes you’ll have to adjust your idea of what success looks like in order to allow both visions to fit into the larger puzzle.
Be prepared to have these conversations and to negotiate with your business partners about what success looks like to them. Tim Ferriss says “your success in life is in proportion to the number of uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have and how well you negotiate them,” I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment and it’s proved true with my business and personal conversations…
Next comes the question of how to incorporate the visions of those who have bought into your long-term vision but aren’t partners in the company… After some time, it was clear that Trevor and I had a shared vision of success and that we were moving forward towards it with momentum. It was also clear that we had inspired some of those who worked for us in a big way. They were fully committed to our vision of success and we wanted to reward them. We wanted them to know that we care about their vision of success as much as they cared about our business.
We knew we had key players in our business that needed to be valued more than just the salary and compensation package that we were currently providing, but we didn’t want to give them equity in the company. It’s easy for a business owner to want to give equity to those that are working hard for your business’s success… but I’ve found that it’s not always the best decision for your business. More effectively, we’ve found that sharing in the profit of the company and giving monetary incentive in the case of buyout is a great way to show your key players how much you care about them without giving away principal ownership.
On top of that, giving key players in your company a voice and listening to their vision of what the company could be gives you valuable information about the direction of your company and ways that you can grow and expand your business to provide better service for more customers.
At the end of the day, I’ve realized that personal success is good but creating success for others is great and a great way to ensure that my business continues to grow. I’ve realized that now that my networth is well north of a million, that I want to provide that for others. It’s amazing to see how much the vision for my business has changed. The new vision for Trevor and I is to create millionaires with our business and allow our customers to spend more time doing what they love with their family.
Success Advice
Why You Shouldn’t Discount A Brick And Mortar Store In 2025
We’re constantly told about how stores are closing down and how shoppers prefer online options, but is it worth questioning this theory?
In 2024, you’d be forgiven for thinking that physical shopping is a thing of the past. We’re constantly told about how stores are closing down and how shoppers prefer online options. But is it worth questioning this theory? (more…)
Success Advice
How to Alter Your Business Approach With Technological Advancements
Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner.
Technology’s evolution has impacted everything, and business is no exception. Keeping up with technological trends has become a challenge for almost every business owner. Entrepreneurs unable to do so are being wiped out of the market.
There is no doubt that AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) have taken over the business world. These technological advancements are impacting decision-making, success percentages, and other entrepreneurial aspects.
Adapting to these developments is integral to business success. Let’s explore how you can accomplish these milestones.
Embed the strength of AI and ML.
AI has modified business operations in major ways. For instance, companies have employed bots for customer support. These bots go through an effective learning process via Machine Learning before being able to answer like humans.
Bots can also perform detailed data analytics and make business moves with high success percentages.
ML is used more for the analysis of data chunks and generating successful predictions. This simply means that business owners do not have to worry about large-scale financial losses.
In terms of deployment and usage, a reputed company like Netflix employs machine learning for decision-making.
Blockchain is increasing the count of business opportunities
Tampering of financial transactions is quite common and causes severe monetary damage to customers. With the rise of digital payments, this risk has increased.
Blockchain is used to elevate your experience for monetary transfers. It combats penetrating events to extract confidential customer information.
Most business sectors are using block chain but finance and supply chain management sections have a higher count. These two corporate sections have several monetary deposits and withdrawals taking place.
In terms of percentage, approximately 72% and 5% of finance and supply chain firms have implemented block chain successfully.
Dedicate Yourself to Continuous Learning and Individual Development
You invest in learning some of the very important skills, including digital marketing, financial management, and how to gain customers as an entrepreneur.
You need to set up your knowledge base about doing business on Coursera and Udemy with the basics that are necessary for the business, building further by networking with experts through webinars.
Besides, Agile methodology will introduce elasticity to your company: this review and feedback system with further correction regularly will allow for enhancing efficiency and promptly reacting to the market.
Developing key skills to achieve goals
Running a business successfully is not only about having niche/domain knowledge. Business owners need to have communication / soft skills as well in addition to niche information.
Here are some key technical/domain-related areas that business owners should have a strong grip on.
Data Storage on Cloud: These days, companies do not store their data on physical servers. Therefore business owners should know how data is stored/edited/removed/updated via AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other platforms.
Data Analysis/Interpretation Qualities: These days, data is as precious as gold. Business owners with data analysis abilities make correct predictions. As a result, their ventures grow in volume.
Development/Coding Knowledge
Programming knowledge gives business owners an edge whether the application is developed in-house or outsourced. It assists in getting updates deployed and handling application underperformance without getting professional support every time.
Hacking proof framework
There is no benefit of having an advanced automated system if can be penetrated. Successful business owners have above-average knowledge of cyber security and hacking attempts. They are able to choose top-notch anti-hacking software without much of an ambiguity.
Communication Abilities/Soft Skills
Here are some key communication qualities that business owners should have:
Communication/Conversation: Business owners should use to-the-point sentences in both written and oral communication.
Issue Resolution Abilities: Business owners should be able to drill down to problems and solve them. This is done successfully only if an entrepreneur has in-depth business domain knowledge.
Agile Implementations
It is mandatory for business owners to have knowledge of iterative/agile models. With such a competitive environment, it is impossible for business owners to succeed without adopting an agile framework.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
A productive business venture starts with a clear vision. The first factor making a business successful is the idea behind it. It helps with endless growth and combating competition successfully. Katherine Philips once mentioned that business goals are inevitable if goals are set concretely.
- Goals should be based on smart achievements instead of complexity. Focus on the value that each one of them adds.
- Business objectives should not be vague. Key indicators should be constructed to measure the success/failure of each milestone.
- Be realistic when setting goals. Do not aim at impossible milestones since they can be demotivating.
- Milestones/goals need to be time-bound. Set a completion deadline for each one of them.
- Business goals should not be alien. Owners can think out of the box but not be obsolete / unrelated.
Create a productive well-crafted Business Strategy
Business owners cannot succeed without having a network. Some tips help in this case. Attend conferences and professional gatherings to connect with other entrepreneurs.
Here are some other related points business owners should pay attention to.
- Attend meetings and conferences to stay updated with trends and meet business owners who already have well-set ventures. This helps in enhancing the learning curve of new / growing entrepreneurs.
- Being a part of business communities/groups is very productive. When one shares opinions and discusses decision-making tactics, it helps in preventing errors and enhancing success rate.
- Even the most experienced business owners have mentors as learning never stops. Take part in mentorship programs so there is an assurance that you are following the correct roadmap.
Conclusion
There is absolutely no doubt that business dimensions have evolved with technological advancements. Successful entrepreneurs have grabbed these changes in due course of time and continue to evolve. On the other hand, people following old paths and conventional steps fade out of competition. In a nutshell, keep an eye on the processes and practices you follow as these factors decide success rate.
Success Advice
Understanding the Power of Yes and No: How to Create Boundaries For Success
These words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds
The two smallest yet most powerful words in life, “Yes” and “No,” have a big impact on our growth on both personal and professional levels. In addition to affecting the choices we make every day, these words have a significant impact on how our success unfolds. (more…)
Motivation
From Couch Potato to Go-Getter: A Step-by-Step Motivation Plan for Everyone
By understanding what motivates you, you can turn your dreams into reality
Are you tired of feeling like a couch potato? Do you want to transform your life and become a go-getter? You’re not alone! Many people struggle with motivation, but the good news is that change is possible. (more…)
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