Motivational author and speaker Jim Rohn says that for a business to succeed it takes about ahalf dozen things. Of all the millions of things you do, it's really that half dozen that count.
Of course, the trick is figuring out which half dozen things to do to help your business succeed. A while back, I sat down and did some thinking about the half dozen things I need to do consistently to take my business to the next level.
One of my half dozen is establishing and nurturing relationships. Relationships are crucial for every small business. Not only do those relationships lead to new business opportunities (and believe me, it's a wonderful thing to have so many opportunities that you can chose who you work with and what kind of work you do), but relationships are a fantastic way to limit the isolation of small business ownership.
Isolation takes two forms. One is the isolation we all feel from time to time being self employed. That's the "it's lonely at the top" feeling we all get. Reaching out to others relieves some of that loneliness and gives us other points of view on how we're running our businesses.
The other isolation is cutting ourselves off from our customers. When you have a strong relationship with your customers, you know what their problems and challenges are. You can use that information to fine tune your products and services or create new ones to help them solve their problems.
Case in point. I'm working on a new service for self employed professionals. Some time ago, I took a really fantastic Marketing for More seminar with Marcia Yudkin http://www.marketingformore.com/seminars.htm.
At the seminar I met a couple of executive coaches. We struck up a friendship and have stayed in touch. Last week, I asked them about the kinds of services they most needed at each stage of their growing businesses.
Their input is priceless. The value will drive my business forward for years. And it meant so much to me that they took the time to answer my questions and that they spent so much time thinking about things for me.
Now, we didn't approach each other with a "what can this person do for me?" attitude. We met, enjoyed each others viewpoints and personalities, kept in touch, and helped each other out. It's that simple.
What are your "half dozen things"? What do you need to focus on to move your business forward? Once you figure out the half dozen, focus on them relentlessly and watch your business grow.
Caroline Jordan, MBA helps self employed professionals discover and relentlessly focus on the areas of their business most important to success. For more tips and strategies for business success visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com