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My business turned 20 on 1 September. While I knew the anniversary was approaching, the actual fact of it brought a feeling of “wow,” a couple bottles of champagne, some kind words from colleagues and friends, and a whole lot of pondering about what it takes to survive two decades as a solopreneur.
Since lessons learned aren’t much use if you keep them secret, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share what I’ve come to believe are some of the most important keys to business success. Hopefully they will resonate with you too.
1. Sometimes you need a blowtorch.
A friend remarked recently that my last employer did me a huge favor by throwing me out the door. Otherwise, she said, it might have taken me a long time to find my passion. She was right. My one post-graduate-school job wasn’t fun, but it led me to where I am today.
That job experience took me out of my narrow job search box and forced me to reevaluate my career goals early on—and shoved me down the path of discovering what I really love. I might well have ended up a solopreneur eventually—but watching my first plan blow up helped the process along.
2. Work doesn’t drop into your lap.
Have you ever had someone you don’t know contact you about a project? People think this is good fortune—but it’s not. Work doesn’t just drop into your lap.
Successful business development is far more about building your reputation than it is about cold calls or sitting next to the right person on an airplane. You might have the perfect prospect in front of you, but you’re unlikely to close the deal unless you have a track record of achievement and people willing to vouch for you.
3. It takes a community.
A lot of people helped me get where I am today, starting with my parents, who taught me to follow my passion and always believed that I could achieve anything I set out to do. One friend helped write my first marketing brochure; another showed me how to lead great meetings; a third regularly connects me to potential business partners and clients.
I read an article recently about how savvy entrepreneurs understand that they need to outsource the skills they don’t have themselves. You need to ask for help—and accept it. And it’s not just friends and family, but colleagues, too. And books, blogs and the Twitterverse. We may be solopreneurs, but we aren’t getting anywhere by going it alone.
4. The world changes—change with it.
When I entered the workforce, there were telexes and dedicated word processors. My business started up with a computer that had two floppy drives and a dot-matrix printer. I earned my first client based on the concept of writing and faxing out a biweekly newsletter to corporate offices around the world.
The point is this: You need to be adaptable, and you need to keep up. I had an e-mail address before many of my clients, and I can tell you when the Internet became a business tool (in 1995, after Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House and congressional materials started to become available online). Today, you might not be on Facebook, LinkedIn and/or Twitter, but you’d better understand how they can connect you and how social networking and social media marketing are changing the way people talk to companies, colleagues and each other.
5. Invest in quality.
What image do you want your business to project? It’s not important just to dress well for business meetings—you have to project the whole package.
Too often, I hear people tell me that I “didn’t have to pay that much” for everything from business cards to web hosting. True, but you get what you pay for. So I have a web hosting company that answers the phone 24/7, a laser printer that produces client-ready materials, and a business packet that has a cohesive look and a professional feel. Defining my brand by quality signals that I’m serious, and has helped me to stand out from the crowd.
6. You have to have a business mind.
In my first column, I defined independent thinking in part as “the skill set that encompasses marketing savvy and business savvy, and lets you be adept at both time management and managing clients. It’s the seamless way the best solo practitioners can both carve out a niche and know when to break out of it.” In other words: It’s about understanding business and recognizing opportunities just over the horizon.
I never planned to grow up and own a business. But I’ve loved doing it, and in the process, found that running a business lets me work with smart people and discover something new every day. And, 20 years in, I’m still learning and still having fun.
Daria Steigman advises clients on business and communication strategy and public affairs. She also blogs about business, entrepreneurship and social media on her Independent Thinking Blog. She can be reached at +1 202.244.7651,
, or on Twitter:@dariasteigman. |
