This is a question that’s been on my mind a lot lately. It’s central to discussions with my business partners. It’s very easy for one to sit at one’s employer’s desk, look around at what she or he has or what one perceives they have and believe that one can do it.

After all, you’re a hardworking, self-starter, you know the industry/sector and you have skills that they’re willing to pay for. Surely, you should be doing this for
yourself? Reaping those rewards. Taking time off for long holidays. Whatever it
is you aspire to. There’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to prepare
yourself first.

After 3 years of ‘independence’, lots of lessons, mostly painful, it’s clear that it
has less to do with your particular skill and experience or even education. Those
are a given but will definitely not make your business work.

Here’s what I regard as critical elements for business success.

Lesson 1

If you don’t have a vision, you’re probably not in it for the long-haul. Your vision is the guiding light to keep you going. Think of it as your compass. Without it,
you’ll be easily swayed. Your attention and focus will continually be challenged.
It may seem obvious, but your vision should be linked to your passion.

So, it’s important to have a vision. Your passion will drive it; your purpose will honour it.

Lesson 2

How many times have you heard, “it’s nothing personal, it’s just business”? Really? If you think that you can keep your business separate from your personal life,
think again. The two are intricately linked.

I’m not talking about keeping time for business and your personal life separate. It’s
obvious that you have to schedule those aspects. The people you will interact with are an extension of your personal life. If you and your business  partners, if you have them, do not have a similar value system, you’re going to run into problems. Same goes for your clients, suppliers and staff.

Do not confuse this as saying you need to surround yourself with people who are the same as you. Diversity in business, as in life, is critical. It’s the ‘anchoring’ tenets that you need to be aligned on.  So, from that perspective, there’s no
disparity between your personal and business lives.

Lesson 3

Your relationships are everything; your network is your net worth. You can have 2 million followers on Twitter but if you do not have solid interpersonal relationships, you’re as good as on a paddleboat out at sea alone. Open to the elements, at high risk.   

Trust, honesty, respect and integrity are just as relevant in business as they are in
your personal life. See, there’s that overlap again. There’s nothing worse than
not believing that the people that you interact with don’t have your back.
That’s negativity that will influence your self-confidence and cloud your
judgement as well as your aura. Not worth it.

I’ve also made a conscious decision to go into partnerships. For me, it’s more important to own a smaller share of something that is significant than 100% of something worth very little. It also feeds into my passion to grow with others.

Take some time to get to know the people who are important to your business or that you want to do business with.

Lesson 4

Since I believe in partnership and diversity, I know that I will not always be on the
same page as those around me. This is where communication becomes the number one tactic for healthy engagement. There will be moments when I feel very
strongly about my position, so I need to open up to hear someone else’s,
without trying to convince them of mine. Sometimes I have no position and
listening to others allows me to form my opinion.

I’m still a big fan of quick phone calls or even one-on-one meetings in instances when tone can be misinterpreted over email or text. Some people feel emboldened to certain positions when they can ‘hide’ behind the written word. Social media
falls prey to this phenomenon. Hearing someone explain themselves or looking
someone in the eye just makes them more human. And I’m all about that.

Lesson 5

I’ve mentioned that diversity is important but how does this apply in business? Surround yourself with those that complement and build you. Some of the world’s greatest leaders are those who bring individuals who are smarter, brighter, better, around them. There’s no need for insecurity. It goes back to Lesson 1. If you stay true to your vision, and if it’s big enough, you’ll acknowledge and accept that you can’t do it alone.

Lesson 6

The F-word. 

Failure. When you’re in business, failure is not an option. It’s a guarantee.

If you’re not failing, you’re not improving or innovating. And if you’re not
improving or innovating, you might as well close shop. 

This is something particularly personal for me since my socialisation as a child and young woman did not equip me to ‘fail forward’. Failure was viewed as something to be afraid of.

Go out there and fail fabulously. Seriously though, failure is one of life’s best teachers. But only if you don’t keep on making the same mistakes over and over.

You’ll notice that most of these elements are of a personal nature. To succeed in
business, especially if your journey started with employment, you need to
realign yourself. Owning a business requires all-in and is anything but
glamourous.  

It can get ugly, gritty and sometimes, downright dirty. There’s no single path to success as our lived experiences are so different.  

I’m sure you have other recommendations on your business journey. Feel free to share.