When you run a small business, there is no finish line. You participate in a never-ending race with ever changing rules. Opportunities and challenges present as hurdles to be overcome, and these usually appear as daily obstacles, with no signpost indicating their significance (or lack thereof) to the business. Managing stress, while putting out fires is an ongoing lifestyle for most business owners. The luxury to catch your breath is non-existent, and the race is never completed.
There is a beautiful philosophy that when running a business, you only need to be right once in order to make a success. The problem is that beyond not knowing whether you’re right or wrong at the times, is experience required to make tactical decisions that really make a difference to your business.
It is the courage of the decisions that we make and the risks that we take which differentiate between success and failure in business.
In business, there are limited behaviours which create business success. Some of these include hard work, having a vision, managing a team, managing conflict, communicating effectively, working with feedback, solving problems and remaining abreast of industry activities.
The truth is that the greatest challenge is not in performing the business behaviours that really matter, the greatest challenge lies in identifying what those behaviours are, so that when you action them, your business surges ahead in the race and reaches a comfortable pace, so that the hurdles are cleared and the next mountain can be embarked upon.