Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
Many people have trouble getting their business to the next level. As an owner, you spend a lot of time and money on your company. If your business growth stalls, it can be really frustrating. This is the time you most need a little bit of work motivation. Sometimes the solution is your work on your own personal development. Use these self improvement tips to improve your personal skill set to improve your business.
Take A Personality Assessment
As a starting point, take a personality test to determine how you prefer to use your perception and judgment. Myers-Briggs is the most popular assessment tool.
These assessments evaluate you based on pairs of personality types. For example, Myers-Briggs will determine if you prefer to make decisions based primarily on logic and consistency, or based on people and their circumstances.
Knowing your preferences is critical, since you need to work with people whose preferences are different than your own. Say, for example, that you’re a business owner and an engineer by training. You lean toward making decisions using logic. To balance your decision-making process, you need sales-oriented managers who will consider the needs of people. In fact, you should consider preparing leadership assessments to manage your business.
Exercise
Exercise is an important facet of self-improvement that many business owners unfortunately let fall by the wayside. Paying attention to your physical health is important. When you are sick, you are less productive. When you are tired, your performance suffers. As a business owner, your sick days have a serious impact on business operations. Exercising will improve your overall health and fitness. It will improve your immune system, so you will be better able to stave off infections and other illnesses. You will have more energy and feel better and more positive emotionally. This will greatly improve your capacity as a business owner and support your employees wellbeing overall. Make sure you do not forget it in your attempts to prepare for growth.
Take College Courses
You may need training in a new area to grow your business. Look into taking college courses to grow those skills.
If you own tax preparation business, for example, you might want to add financial planning services. Attending financial planning classes while you manage your business can be challenging. Gwynedd Mercy University explains that many schools offer flexible class schedules to meet the needs of their students.
Find A Mentor
You may benefit from finding another business professional that can serve as your mentor. A mentor can use their experience to help you make better business decisions, and also help you on the path of self improvement.
A Kauffman Foundation study interviewed many leading entrepreneurs to determine the skills that they most need for success. A mentor can help you develop these skills:
Drive For Daylight
A race car driver needs the skills to find open areas on the racetrack to pass other cars. Just like the driver, a business owner must quickly adapt to change. Your customer tastes may change, or you may face a change in your industry’s regulatory environment.
Finding The Gap
Entrepreneurs need to find ways to better serve clients. Uber is a great example. This firm uses technology to improve the way people find and hire drivers. Many customers prefer Uber instead of traditional taxicabs, and not because they provide a better customer service experience. It is because they offer consumers more convenience.
Fail Wisely
The entrepreneur community’s view of failure has changed dramatically in recent years. It’s now expected that entrepreneurs will have to try and fail before they create a successful business. In fact many famous people have failed towards success in recent years. The important point is that you need to learn from failure and apply that knowledge as you move forward.
Your mentor can provide a “reality check” for the business owner. Mentors can look at a business situation and provide an honest, unbiased assessment. Find a mentor and ask them to help you develop these success traits.
Read A Book
In fact, do not just read a single book. Read a book every single day. This is one of the most effective self improvement methods you can use. Reading is proven to improve cognitive functioning but even more importantly, books are a treasure trove of business information. Whether you choose to read management books, books on personal time-management or even just the latest best-selling fiction book, you are learning new ways to deal with your day-to-day life. Reading also helps you relax, as well. So keep your stress levels down and your IQ high by picking up a new book as soon as possible. This is much more effective than anything HR analytics could produce. Trust us.
Stay Organized
Of course, staying organized is one of the best self improvement strategies that help business owners succeed. Definitely, it helps to finish tasks thoroughly and make sure tasks are done. Also, you should implement a to-do list daily. Then, after you complete each task, you can mark it off your list. Therefore, you can ensure your projects, tasks, and prioritizes are not forgotten to maintain the survival of your business. For sure, staying organized is a great self improvement strategy to help you succeed.
If your company is struggling, consider the personal impact you are make on the business. Take steps toward personal development and improve your work life balance. You may find that making personal changes can help you grow your business.
