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What Other Successful Business Owners Can Teach You

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Have you ever considered that, as a business owner, you could learn a lot from other business owners? When it comes to running a company, all the most successful people have learnt from others and you should too. If you’re serious about making a go of your business, you need to be willing to learn from other, more successful business owners, starting now.

You can’t know everything, which is why learning from what others have done is so crucial to your business’s success. After all, if a certain strategy worked for them, then it might also work for you. With that in mind, below are a few examples of the things that other business owners can teach you that can be useful when it comes to your business success.

Steve Jobs

Without a doubt, Steve Jobs was one of the world’s most intelligent people. On top of being incredibly smart, he was also charismatic, and in many instances, it was his charisma that got him far. He had the ability to build excitement and hype around his new products. If you believe in a project, it’s vital that you can communicate your excitement to people.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson is one of the world’s most persistent people. He believes that if you’re passionate about something, it’s crucial that you see it out. Don’t be afraid of long-term projects; be willing to work on things that you know will take time to complete, just like Richard Branson, and various other successful business owners like Fahad Al-Rajaan, do. Persistence is the key to success in business, always remember that.

Mark Zuckerberg

If there is one thing that Mark Zuckerberg is willing to do, it’s embrace change, and you should too. Every time Facebook creates a new interface, its users take a while to adapt to the changes, often bad mouthing them while doing so. However, after a few days, people soon adjust, just like Mark Zuckerberg knew they would.

Bill Gates

College dropout Bill Gates isn’t afraid to break the rules and you shouldn’t be either. When he dropped out of college to start Microsoft, he went against all the rules. It was unheard of for college dropouts to make a success of themselves, but Bill Gates did. Don’t be afraid to break the rules if you think it will help your business’s success. Be brave and take a leap of faith.

When it comes to running a successful business which has huge potential for success, you need to be willing to learn continuously. Just because your business is doing well right now doesn’t mean you don’t need these lessons. After all, if these strategies worked for some of the world’s most successful business owners, surely they can work for you too. It’s just a case of taking the time to implement them and determining whether they can aid your business and its success. Be open to trying new things and your business’s success should soar.

What Do You Need To Be Successful?

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Some people in this world always seem to be successful no matter what they do. The interesting thing to note is that these successful people were not born this way, and have not simply been lucky in life. There are certain things that all successful people do that mean their success keeps on coming. If you also want to be successful, then these next tips will help you get there.

They Are Focused

Successful people are always focused on their goal. They direct their energy towards getting there, and they don’t let themselves get distracted. What’s more important is that they focus their work on high-value tasks, tasks that will boost them higher than many low-value tasks would. It can be tempting to take on low-value work because at least it is something, some kind of income, but if you focus solely on the work that will bring in either greater revenue or give you a bigger presence in your sector, then you will be much more successful. Take a look at your to-do list; which of those tasks are the high-value ones? The ones that will bring you the most reward? Those are the ones you need to focus your energy on.

They Prioritize

Successful people tend to also be busy people. However, they don’t become flustered or feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to do. They don’t start panicking and lose themselves, the result being that they get nothing done at all. Instead, they prioritize. They know what the most important tasks are, and which ones they should do first. This is what they work on. Everything else will be much lower down the list.

They Learn

Successful people aren’t afraid to admit when they don’t know something, even if they only admit that to themselves. They don’t continue on a task when they don’t know what they’re doing as they know that disaster won’t be far away. Instead, they learn. They take it upon themselves to find out all the things they don’t know so that they can then complete the job. So if they need to understand how magnetic clutches are installed, or which tiles look best on a bathroom floor, or whether it’s best to use a credit card or a debit card, or any number of other things that could be part of their remit, they will make it their job to find the answers.

They Have The Right Attitude

You’ll have heard it said that having a positive mental attitude is the key to a successful, happy life. Negative thoughts can have serious consequences on your physical health (because you will become more anxious and stressed and this can lead to all kinds of issues such as high blood pressure and heart disease) and your mental health. If you can turn your negative thoughts into positive ones and keep pushing forward, you’ll find that you’ll notice many more opportunities. If you’re feeling negative, you won’t see the chances that you could grab. Having a positive mental attitude could be the difference between total success and failure.

The benefits of getting out of the office

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It might feel safe behind that desk, but there’s nothing quite like getting out into the world and just getting things done at your own pace. The office may have everything that you think you need, but you might be amazed by the mental adjustment that occurs when you step into the outside world. Between fresh air and natural light, as well as more control over your working day, there are a number of reasons that make it worthwhile to escape the cubicle. Here then are the top reasons to unchain yourself from the safety of your desk and head to the outside world.

Face-to-face interaction

Of course you can have meetings in a virtual manner, utilizing chatrooms and group video call facilities to make it easier for everyone to be involved no matter where they are. However, there is a lot of difference between seeing a face on a screen and actually being face-to-face. The level of communication changes, and more attention is paid when the person we’re talking is in front of us. There are even suggestions that face-to-face meetings garner more positive results overall, so the benefits far outweigh the tired alternative of yet another Skype meeting.

Control

There’s little worse than constantly refreshing your inbox as you wait for a vital email to land. Often it’s hard to work out what could be taking so long to answer such a simple question, but of course you have no idea what’s happening at the other end of that high-speed internet connection. However, getting out and about means that you can get problems solved and have questions answered in real time, and there’s nothing better than that.

The change of scenery

Stepping outside can do wonders for your creativity and energy levels, which means that getting out of the office is as beneficial to your working life as replying to that errant email you’ve been putting off all afternoon. No matter how open-plan your office and no matter how much natural light there is, nothing beats a bit of fresh air for getting the brain active.

The journey is the reward

Physically traveling to a meeting gives you time to mentally prepare yourself for the discussions ahead. A car journey, whether you’re off to meet a client or if it’s an in-house board meeting, is proven to clear the mind of clutter and can help to re-energize you. Of course, with all of this traveling you’re going to have to make sure your vehicle is up to scratch, and if you haul a trailer, then you need to have access to trailer spares in case of emergencies. It’s worth keeping some in your car, just in case.

The best thing about getting out of the office is that it doesn’t have to be for a long period of time. Schedule a walking meeting rather than a sit-down meeting as usual. That way it’s not just you that benefits from the revitalizing effects of the outside world, and you’ll notice the difference in your team immediately.

How to Improve your Productivity

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Staying motivated and productive can be a major struggle for a lot of people. If you find your attention wavering while you work, then you might just need a boost.

Here are some of the ways that you could boost your productivity, at home and at work.

Reward Yourself

Treating yourself to a small break or snack after you finish a task will keep you pushing forward. Sprint style working, where you work for a set period quickly and then take a break, is big in business for this reason. Treats can be small items, like a snack or a walk around the building, which you can easily fit into your working time.

Set Goals

Setting yourself goals gives you something to work towards. This can be great for keeping you motivated with a larger task, as you can split it into smaller tasks to keep you on track. Being able to check smaller tasks off your lists will make you feel accomplished, instead of slogging towards a larger, overall goal.

Track your Progress

There are lots of online tools that you can use to track yourself and what you’ve managed to complete during the day. Some of them will even allow you to break this down into individual tasks, so you can see which tasks take you the longest. This serves two purposes, you can see what you’ve spent your day on and you can also budget time more accurately for these tasks in future.

Have the Right Equipment

There’s nothing worse than having to undertake a job without the right software or equipment. Even small things, like having the most up to date versions of Word and Excel, can save you time. Dynamics 365 software can be kept up to date by a Dynamics 365 partner to make sure that you always have the right tools to get the job done.

Tackle Undesirable Tasks

The amount of time that you take putting off tasks that you just don’t want to do can be costly. This is a pitfall that we all fall into from time to time, sometimes it’s better for your productivity to face this head on. If you do so, you will get the worst tasks out of the way and you can enjoy the rest of the task with this in mind.

Steer Clear of Distractions

Distractions are the enemy of productivity, so try to keep your workspace clear of them. This could be a digital distraction, like Facebook, or a physical one like your phone. Stay logged out of digital distractions and put any physical ones away where you won’t be as tempted by them. Remember that these are designed to grab your attention, with notifications and pings, so try to avoid them where possible.

Staying productive can be tricky, but if you track your time and push yourself to complete goals then you can keep this motivation up. Take breaks when you need to and come back refreshed, ready to smash the task at hand.

7 Top Tips For Progressing Your Career

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Are you an ambitious person who is determined to achieve higher and progress your career quickly? If so, you may be unsatisfied by the pace at which you’re progressing in your current position, in which case you’ll need these tips to help you recognize your ultimate goals and assess your plan of action.

Obviously, your performance level at work is spotless, and your attitude sets you apart from the rest, but just to make sure you’re getting everything you can out of your job, follow these 7 easy steps.

1. Take on new challenges and responsibilities

To ensure your career progression is constantly moving forward, you should endeavor to take on as much responsibility as possible. Not only will it indicate to your employer that you’re serious about your position in the company – in which case they may be more inclined to offer you a promotion or a higher salary – but being challenged will make you work harder, fine tune your skills and open doors to new opportunities.

Request to take over with client liaison or to manage new projects and teams. Or, for something more challenging, why not call and meeting with your boss and colleagues to share new ideas and future plans that will benefit the company. For this, you should use an app like MeetApp event – the best event app in 2018 – to help you organize and schedule meetings and conferences with other employees, as well as encouraging interaction and the discussion of business ideas.

2. Reshape your current position

If you’re getting restless with your current job tasks and lack of variety, take matters into your own hands. Talk to your boss about switching up your role to maintain motivation and learn new skills.

If your role entails the implementation of one tiny percentage of a wider project? Demand to take on more, and prove to your employer that you have the right skills and qualifications for a higher role.

3. Request training

Every employer should offer training, and if you feel like you haven’t been adequately trained it can make you feel resentful towards your company. Training will not only benefit you and future-proof your career, but it means your employer can get more out of you, too, so it’s really in everybody’s interest to train you on new skills, software and programs.

4. Take on freelance work outside your 9-5

If you’re not getting enough out of your job, whether it be skills and progression or money, consider taking up a side hustle, such as on-the-side freelance work. It will require great amounts of motivation and organization, but the benefits mean you can do more, be better, and experience other options. Cast your net wider!

5. Network

Networking is crucial for career progression; the people you network with can introduce you to a whole world of new possibilities. Remember: even the most unexpected scenarios are great networking opportunities – you may meet somebody in a coffee shop who may be searching for someone to help him build their start-up business, and you could be the best person for the job.

6. Negotiate

If you aren’t happy in your current position, don’t settle. It doesn’t help anyone, especially yourself, if you don’t ask for what you want: more responsibility, variety or money. Plus, your employer is most likely to respect you more for being assertive, and you’ll come across more valuable and a greater asset.

7. Trust your instinct

Lastly, trust your instinct. Aren’t sure your talents and work ethic are valued in your current job? Move on. Feeling underappreciated and under-paid? Talk to your boss or move on.

A job that has a clear path to progression with set goals and motivational mentors is what you should aim for, so if your job is dead-ended, hatch an exit plan and get out of there! Always strive for more, good luck!