Ways to Succeed in Business

Five Ways to Succeed in Business

Whether you are considering starting a business, have just started one or are already in business, you will find this article relevant.

You may be an employee deciding if the business world is for you, seeking solutions to a business problem or looking to grow your successful business to the next level.

There is overwhelming advice on business strategies and techniques, about ways to succeed in business. It can be challenging to sift through them for what is useful in your situation.

My focus here, however, are the subtle but crucial aspects which are taught in NLP for business programs that set apart the successful entrepreneur from the rest.

They are some key aspects which are often overlooked, much to the detriment of the business. These aspects run through the very core of every successful entrepreneur.

In this article I see success as inclusive of a person’s personal life as these aspects can be applied at work and home. I prefer a holistic approach rather than separate the business and personal side, to avoid creating some kind of artificial split in their persona.

This internal conflict is a subject we address at great length at the NLP Practitioner certification program. As an example, an entrepreneur who values integrity may be opposed to an unethical advertisement campaign but goes along for the sake of wider exposure. Over time there is bound to be conflict.

You may have come across people who are very successful in their business but do not have a successful personal life. They could probably give you a hundred ways to succeed in business but are clueless about life outside the company.

There are of course, other elements for a successful business which involve more technical, tangible skills such as financial knowledge, marketing and sales, and operational matters. Such services can always be outsourced or the right people hired for it.

Let us now consider five ways to succeed in business, which to me is the soft ware that often makes or breaks a business:

1. Right Frame of Mind

Desire alone cannot lead to a successful business. A mindset geared to succeed is the driver - the necessary frame of mind to make it happen. In fact, this is the key to the rest of this list as you need a frame of mind which is open to these ways to succeed in business.

Being too set in your ways is not going to cut it. For example, if you are trying to come up with the perfect business plan before taking any action, think again. Or if you feel too attached to your plan and are unwilling to tweak when needed.

“How can I learn new ways to help me succeed” is a more useful frame of mind rather than a “my way or the highway” attitude. In NLP for business we call this reframing. Learning the skill to efficiently change a frame of mind and do what is needed.

It migrates your mind from the unproductive stuck ideas. You would, of course, also learn how to apply the five ways to succeed in business outlined here.

2. Be More Action Oriented

By all means do have a business plan but do not make it The Plan. Plans are outlines of what you plan to do. A business plan serves as a guide or even a trial run. It is not written in stone.

It can be changed when something does not work out as you expected. There are other ways of achieving the results you want. A plan is just the beginning, it is ultimately meant to be put into action.

It is not about having the ideal plan or lofty ideas. In fact I have seen many who fall into the danger of trying to perfect the plan. It is a serious waste of time and money.

Successful business people demonstrate that one of the ways to succeed in business is by taking action. They have a mind set that pushes constant action, there is no such thing as perfect conditions or perfect timing.

Day in, day out, they do the work that needs to be done: strategising, networking, brushing up on leadership skills, building relationships, negotiating and a myriad other details before a deal is struck.

3. Learn Your Lessons

Learn the lessons from everything you do and from every single experience. There are lessons to be learned in order for your business to grow and succeed. Even from your so called ‘mistakes’ or ‘failure’.

At an NLP for business program, one success belief is that “there is no such thing as failure, only feedback”. This emphasises the point of learning - it is a mistake or failure only when you do not learn from it.

In fact, you cannot afford this faux pas because the same pattern repeats itself until you change it. For example, if you find yourself having repeated relationship issues with staff or partners, it is time to reflect on how you are contributing to this problem.

Find out how you can stop this pattern by acquiring an NLP practitioner certification. You will learn valuable skills on building and maintaining rapport with people, which is essential for your personal life too.

4. Become a Good Leader

Good leadership is about integrity, emotional intelligence, rapport, accountability and decision making abilities, amongst others. The path to business success is never a solo trip. It is about surrounding yourself with suitable partnerships, teams, managers or even a coach.

In fact, a good leader is one who is open to learning new ways to succeed in business. This openness augurs well for their success as they often hire the right people for the business.

An accelerated approach to enhance leadership qualities is to hire a coach or attend an NLP for business course.

5. Observe Ecology

At an NLP Practitioner certification program, ecology is emphasized as an important tenet of every thought or action. It is about honestly looking at the impact of your actions for a win-win outcome. If there is no ecology there is a high likelihood you will be disappointed with your outcomes or maybe not even achieve them.

Ecology is about the consequences of your actions on yourself, others and your environment i.e. organisation, physical surroundings or even nature. For example, if you want to cut cost by letting go of staff. You wonder how it would impact you, the staff member and their families.

Ecology checks are a must when you are considering ways to succeed in business. Asking questions on how a certain action could affect your business, staff, partners or family might seem insignificant but believe me it can prevent a lot of disappointments and regrets.

To wrap up, there are many ways to succeed in business but it pays to leverage your success by paying attention to those involving your thoughts. Choose to get into the right frame of mind and your journey will be much smoother. Things will just fall in place when you are in flow. Choose to ignore it and the road ahead is bound to be rocky.

The best part is that, along with your business success will also come personal success.

Sylvia Fernandes is the Founder & CEO of VIA Frontiers. She is a Master Trainer of NLP who is specialised in corporate applications. She started her business in Sydney in 2002 and has been operating in the Asia Pacific Region ever since. She is currently based in Singapore. She is also the author of Bye Bye Black Cat -- Turn Your Luck Around and Realise Opportunities. Visit VIA Frontiers for more information.