Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, filled with challenges and uncertainties. However, there are opportunities for support and guidance from various sources. In this article, we will explore the importance of seeking support, learning new skills, hiring the right people, managing time efficiently, and maintaining a work-life balance.
Always try to get support from your friends and family members. Surround yourself with people who have common interests, who would lift you up, who would support you financially, mentally, and spiritually. Being around positive people will lift you up to achieve your goals. Get advice from your seniors and always try to have a mentor at every corner of your roadmap. Go to networking events and try to connect with people from other industries or those in the same market. Always try to buy something from a small business in your network when you need any service or product for your business. At the same time, you can learn how they operate and process their businesses. My former boss always stated that, “If you don’t ask, you would never know.” Always reach out to people who can guide you and help you out when you have bottlenecks in your process, operating system, and business approach.
As a business owner, you need to know every corner in detail, whereas you previously worked as an employee specializing in one area. You might not know everything, so you always need to upgrade your skills and knowledge needed for your business to keep going. It is not limited to reading. Apart from reading, you might need to attend a lot of seminars, workshops, and gatherings. For me, I love to learn from people when I talk to them. If you stop learning, you stop growing.
It is very important to have the right people working for you, just as you have the right partner in your life. You need to see through red flags in job interviews to determine who is good for your business or not. Talent marketing is one of the good options where you reach out to people who have experience and talents that suit your company through referrals and within your network. When you plan to interview candidates, always consider every factor and decide carefully no matter how small your business is. My recommendation is two rounds of interviews, and have your business partner or your senior employee interview them first, then let them shortlist candidates for a final interview with you. (You can review the performance of your employee’s managerial skill at the same time.) Hire someone who has eagerness, a positive attitude, and patience, and conduct background checks and referrals, even if they don’t have experience, especially if this is your first hiring.
It is always important to manage your time effectively. You should have the right judgment on how to weigh urgencies and priorities and leverage them. Keep track of everything you do and monitor progress – with a lot of to-do lists, assigned tasks, planners, organizers, etc. Keep all schedules and meetings organized on your calendar. For a small business, multitasking is unavoidable, but be aware that multitasking can reduce your attention span, so it can be a major challenge for your focus on your daily work scope. It is recommended to focus on something prioritized for a day and make the most of it. Your daily work scope should be bite-sized, and you should take every little step towards your goals every day without procrastination, as it will increase your productivity more than multitasking. My former boss always told me, “Your attitude gets you started, but your behaviors keep you going.”
In conclusion, my definition of success is a lifelong journey. It is not just reaching the summit of the mountain, but it is how you put effort into every little step towards achieving your goals. Seeking support from various sources, continuously evolving, choosing the right people, and mastering time management are critical aspects of entrepreneurship. However, do not prioritize your business over your family. Your family will always be together with you, no matter whether you fail or succeed in your life. So, do not fail to attend your kid’s father day at school, or visit your parents, or pick up a phone call from your mom, dad, or your wife regardless of your busy schedule. Success in life is not solely defined by business achievements but also by the fulfillment found in maintaining meaningful connections with loved ones.
