The main purpose of this series of articles is to emphasise 2 things. First, to make you, the “entrepreneur in the making”, aware of the learning curve you need to get into, to make your business thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Second, to point out that your learning span could be significantly shortened if you are prepared to explore the best business strategies readily available to you, which have already been proven to work.

To make it simple, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel and spend a scarce amount of resources on things that have slim to none chances in bringing you the results that you desire.

Be aware of this:

Things that you don’t know, or those you know but choose to ignore, may and probably will hurt you…

But, before we start I need to explain just one more thing about the business building process. You see, in life and business nothing happens without action. Action brings results; no matter how focused and structured you are and the effort you are taking; only action creates change. Thinking and dreaming alone is insufficient here.

Change should be considered in a broader and more abstract way. Nothing on this Earth is absolutely stagnant. Everything moves, shrinks or expands. You too, are either changing for the better or for the worse.

Dynamic plans, smart opinions and wish lists will remain only dreams if you do nothing meaningful to materialise them. Sometimes our actions can be slow in producing results, but you should know that by applying consistent effort while focusing on the right things, will bring you closer to your big vision.

There is nothing sustainable that can be created overnight. You will need to stop believing in all the hype of overnight success stories that some sleazy marketeers want you to believe. We succeed or fail gradually. We build on foundation that has previously been built and we fail in a similar fashion.

Does failure happen instantly?

Failures seldom happen instantly. Many warning signs will occur and if these signs are ignored, could cost you dearly. Your business may be affected if critical tasks are not met. Continuously failing to meet important milestones, will cause issues and problems to compound, which in turn, will slowly diminish what you have achieved so far. This not only affects your business, but also you personally.

Compounded impact of repeated errors 

Trust me on this, if you ever experience lows within your business; just remember that you will not fail because of one small event, you will do so because of a series of smaller bad calls, inaccurate judgements and poor decisions. It could be slow dying, denial of truth and inaccurately thinking that things may improve without efforts on your part.

However, if you do things that matter, your core activities, your big things, right; your business will move along. How fast and how big it will become you ask? No one is able to predict. It will most certainly grow, only the speed and the direction it takes, will fluctuate.

So let us start in exploring this topic in more detail…

I believe that there are certain activities, core processes in any business that if performed poorly and unsatisfactory, will diminish all the efforts, all those good intentions, plans and everything else done in an excellent manner, in other areas not so critical to your success.

Put it this way:

No matter what you do before or after, if you do poorly when it matters the most,

You are out. Gone. No more. Game over. Period.

Your main priority is to identify those core processes and make sure you have enough force and capacity to deal with issues that may affect these processes. Don’t buy into belief that this is unnecessary or somehow over the top. You need to know your core drivers, what makes your business successful. What defines it in the way it is right now? What should your business be and what you must avoid in order to grow it.

Well, these mistakes will most certainly happen. They do exist and you’ll be surprised how many business owners, smart leaders and entrepreneurs just like you, drive themselves into similar traps almost daily.

So here they are:

Lack of Clearly Defined Vision and Mission

It is so alarming that so many business owners and entrepreneurs have never decided what they really want from their businesses. They didn’t devote enough time to project their vision into the future and most importantly, they didn’t come up with compelling reasons as to why they do or intend to do what it is that they do.

 So why having Vision matters?

One can say that the Entrepreneurial Vision is all about the place where your dreams meet clarity or your mind and the determination of your spirit.

• It may be about the journey and some important steps that must be followed and practised.
• It is about one big idea that will serve as a foundation.
• It is about planned persistence, necessary resources and their combinations.
• It is about the building blocks of courage that is needed, energy that will be poured in, motivation to push forward and dedication that moves mountains.
• It is all about visualisation and mental preparation for doing what needs to be done, constantly, precisely and passionately.

In my opinion it is about seeing things through visionary lenses and looking for potential in everything you intend to do. It is about visionary painting of your ideal future. We are looking for how things may be if they are perfect in every way, not how they were in the past or how pressing they are today…

So let me ask you directly:

Why do you do what you do and even more importantly what is in it for you at the end?

If you don’t know why you do what you do, what drives you and inspires you; you are not clear about your goals and strategies to achieve them. You are not clear about your big WHY…