35 business tips from successful people

Don't rush to quit your job

Your own business seems like a tempting prospect when you’re jostling on the subway on the way to the office. Working for yourself allows you to calmly wake up whenever you want, go on sick leave and pick up your children from school on time.

But when you quit, it won’t become any calmer:

To get everything done, you have to wake up early
Going on sick leave means losing income
Picking up children from school in the middle of the workday will still be inconvenient

And all this against the backdrop of unstable earnings. To avoid regretting your choice, prepare the ground before leaving the office. The most comfortable option is to start selling a product or service in your free time. And quit only when you have developed a primary pool of clients and received your first serious money.

If combining employment and business doesn’t work out, factor your time and salary into your business plan. This makes it easier to understand whether it is advisable to do your own business, or whether it is better to remain an employee.

how to find a business idea

How to choose the ideal business
Seven ways for ideas or where to find an idea for a new business
Business Basics: Know how to find your place in the market
Know how to find your place in the market 2
Jumping into the abyss or how to start a new successful business
What would be a good thing to do? or where to look for new business ideas
New ideas in business
I have an idea! Practical methods for generating new ideas
Readiness for a new business: Entrepreneur Test
One Hundred Small Business Options
Business in times of crisis: promising directions

Make a business plan

Arguments against a business plan are divided into two types:

Why waste time if everything is so unpredictable in this country?
But Steve Jobs\Henry Ford\Roman Abramovich achieved success without business plans

There is some truth here. It is impossible to calculate everything, and many famous businessmen simply did what they loved without a clear plan. But it’s still worth calculating the basic business scenarios and market volume. This will help structure your thoughts and get rid of doubts - or, conversely, doubt the viability of the idea. All things being equal, good planning will not prevent you from becoming the next Steve Jobs.

Face your fears

Fear is one of the worst things that can affect your business and your entire life. This condition distances you from things that can ultimately move you forward.

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Strive to understand and explain your fears to yourself in order to reduce their power. As Richard Branson said in 2020, “Overcoming fear is the first step to success for entrepreneurs.”

Work on product and marketing

“What is more important: the product or its marketing?” is a question that causes stabbings in marketing communities. Some say that if you know how to sell, a client will happily buy even a 1:6 scale copy of Jason Statham’s head. Others believe that if you make a really cool product, everyone will know about it without marketing or advertising.

The truth is in the middle. A bad product with good promotion may show impressive initial sales, but it will be difficult to retain customers. Such a business will not last long, especially if the market is small. Most likely, no one will know about a great product without marketing. Yes, sometimes entrepreneurs achieved success only due to quality. Salvatore Ferragamo grew an empire from a 2x2 meter shoe store without a marketing department. But this was at the beginning of the 20th century. Nowadays, to break through the information noise to consumers, much more effort is needed.

So develop your marketing, product, sales - and don't get into pointless arguments about what is more important.

Be prepared to receive new information

None of us can know absolutely everything in the world. Business is constantly evolving, and you must not fall behind.

It's not about getting a qualification. It's about learning and understanding the field in which you work. You learn new ideas, theories, or techniques and reduce the likelihood of making costly mistakes.

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Take the time to learn from successful people you admire. Read case studies, identify common challenges, and see how others have overcome them.

Learn to be a sponge that literally absorbs the necessary information that is relevant to the case.

Accept changes in yourself and in everything you encounter. Change is something you can count on and be prepared for at all times, and it is important to growing your business.

Pay taxes

Many businessmen believe that working “in white” is difficult, expensive and pointless.

“Are you going to pay the repairmen through a legal entity?!” - a real phrase from a regional entrepreneur who suspected the tenant of paying taxes.

Companies pay contractors in envelopes and issue “gray” salaries. Still, they work like that - and nothing.

Now imagine that such a company fires an employee. After that, he sends a statement to the Federal Tax Service about “gray” salaries and other violations directly from home. Then the entrepreneur will face fines of hundreds of thousands of rubles, forced labor or prison.

It's better to work honestly right away. It’s more complicated, but there are some things to help budding entrepreneurs:

Benefits for small businesses (see Federal Law No. 477-FZ dated December 29, 2014, Letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated May 26, 2017 N 03-15-05/32582, dated October 21, 2014 N 03-07-03/52967, dated 08/30/2017 N 03—07—08/55656, regional sites to support entrepreneurs)
Accounting services: “Contour”, “My Business”, “Sky”
Outsourced accountants

first problems

A good employee is a fired employee
Your employees don't care about your problems
Don't share workers
Small Business Basics or 18 Fatal Mistakes of Beginning Entrepreneurs
Business Basics: Tips for Startups
New Business: The Hardest Lessons for Startups
Death on takeoff: three typical mistakes of a starting business
Merchandising or how to increase sales in a store
How to evaluate advertising creative
The downside of the discount
Everyone steals or the anatomy of shoplifting
Where does the money go? or all about theft in public catering
Stop the thief! How to minimize damage from retail theft
How to protect yourself from thieves?
Office ecology or work that is killing us
Mystery shopper
Methods to protect a company from a hostile takeover
Maximum Benefit: Secrets of Tough Negotiations
The principle of compound interest is your ticket to the world of millionaires
Sampling as a way to increase sales
Organization of a safe environment at the enterprise
How to organize an advertising tender
Business Basics: How to Increase Store Profitability by Organizing a Self-Service System
New business: assessing the effectiveness of distribution channels
Business Basics: Documentation of business transactions and recommendations for identifying counterfeit documents
WebMoney workshop
10 common mistakes of corporate websites
New Look: The Curse of Competence
Conflict in the team: salary inequality
Career dead end or new horizons?
Ideal Advertising Media: The Art of Effective Packaging
12 Keys to Family Business Success
11 commandments for a new entrepreneur or the basics of a new business
Prevent a crisis: Why, despite successful investment, some companies fail
Total control or is it worth monitoring subordinates?

Don't work with friends and family

At first it seems like a great idea to start a business with a friend (brother, matchmaker) who has the necessary competencies. This is a person you have known for a long time. You can rely on him. But keep in mind that in our culture it is difficult to distinguish between work and personal. An American can threaten an employee with dismissal, and an hour later sit with him in a pub and ask about the health of his children. But Russians find it difficult to negotiate toughly and share profits with a loved one. Either you ruin the relationship or the business suffers.

If you are not ready to quarrel with a friend over a deadline, it is better to separate personal and business relationships.

Plan everything

It is necessary to plan things - and there is no doubt about it. There will be time left - you can unwind and relax.

The interface of Maxdone is one of the most convenient schedulers. Allows you to break tasks into categories

There may not be any time left for entertainment: when you start a business, there will be more work to do. The result of working without rest is burnout and long rehabilitation.

The planner should include not only business matters, but also entertainment. Consider this as part of your workflow.

Understand that you will need to sacrifice something

To be successful, you must understand the need to sacrifice. This applies to your social life, time for hobbies in the early days of building a business, even needing to take a pay cut to gain experience and then move forward.

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Reluctance to sacrifice means a lack of passion and commitment.

Look at the areas of your life that are distracting you. How could you reduce them to increase your development? Where does the time and energy spent go?

No successful businessman would ever achieve success if he only invested 50% of his time and effort. You must put your business at the top of your priority list.

However, over time, learn the concept of balance and understand that there is a time for everything. We need to manage them wisely. Don't sacrifice too much, instead learn to balance like a pro.

Test the product on a real audience

Telling everyone you know about a new project is a useful idea. But this is not full testing. Friends may praise a product, but that doesn't mean they'll pay for it.

Don't ask for product ratings. This is useless: we received positive feedback from 95 people, but none of them booked a tour

Quote from an aspiring entrepreneur from an article for vc.ru

To “feel” the audience, conduct interviews with strangers from the desired segment. Where to look for them:

Professional forums. Look for active participants and knock on their PM. If the forum rules allow, create a thread with an invitation to testing.
Reddit. It is a social news site with a huge audience. Find the topic you need and write messages to the most friendly discussion participants.
Social network. Join niche communities and invite members to try the service.

Just write to a potential buyer about the project and your desire for advice. Offer a gift or review of their product in return. Many people are happy to express their opinion to an interested interlocutor. And you will receive honest feedback and understand the needs of the audience.

Save

Beginning businessmen are afraid that if they start saving and bargaining with suppliers, no one will cooperate with them. In fact, when you start cutting costs, nothing bad will happen. Save as much as possible. If you suddenly delete an important expense item, employees will report it.

Robert Phifer spoke best about saving in business in his book “Costs Down, Sales Up.” He writes that little things like L'Occitane soap in the office or expensive pens will ruin you faster than you think. And you need to regularly bargain with contractors and suppliers.

The book “Costs Down - Sales Up” is sold on Ozone

Who is a businessman? How is he different from an entrepreneur?

Most people believe that a businessman and an entrepreneur are the same thing. Actually this is not true.

A businessman is a person engaged in entrepreneurial activity with the goal of generating income or other benefit. This is a person who works for himself, and all income is his personal achievement. A businessman can own either one retail outlet or a large chain of stores.

In a broader sense, a businessman is a person who treats business not as a profession, but as a way of life. And his goal is to organize profits, which he will either use for further business development or use for personal purposes.

The famous expression: “What goes around comes around” perfectly reflects the activities of a businessman. A businessman can do business himself or hire a hired manager. He can simultaneously develop several businesses at once.

The main difference between a businessman and an entrepreneur is that an entrepreneur comes up with a new idea or improves or modernizes an existing one. A businessman either buys a ready-made business, or starts and develops a ready-made and time-tested business model.

A businessman and entrepreneur pursue one goal: as a result of their entrepreneurial activities, to earn as much money as possible.

Today, entrepreneurs and businessmen are considered to be people:

owning their own company or organization;
company founders;
project investors;
other sponsors.

Be friends with clients

There is an opinion that not all clients are equally useful.

Thinking about the client is good. The question is - why? Why do I need an idiot who spoils my nervous system. I'd rather work with those who admire me

Quote from a discussion of an article about customer relations

A few months after the launch of the project, the entrepreneur understands which clients are beneficial to him. But at the start, a selective approach to the audience is dangerous. Potential buyers can easily find replacements for intractable companies. And if you think your customers are idiots, like the commentator above, you will lose not only sales, but also your reputation.

Communicate and be attentive with every potential buyer. Sometimes dating leads to success.

conclusions

Before you quit your job, collect a primary pool of clients and get your first money.
Don’t joke with the tax office, do your homework.
Product and marketing are equally important. Develop both directions.
Avoid working with friends and family and filter their recommendations for your project.
Plan everything: business development in general, work and personal time.
Don't cut off unnecessary clients at the initial stage. You don’t yet know how the business will develop and who will benefit from your offer.
Remember about rest, health and family.

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Be prepared to wait the allotted time for the desired results

Commitment to yourself and your career is a long-term commitment. Even a businessman who, as it seems from the outside, achieved success overnight, made efforts for this and waited for his success.

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Dedicate yourself to your business as you would to your family. You must know your goals and focus on how to achieve them, recognizing that it may take years and that is not unusual.

Finding motivation from examples of those who are winning in their chosen fields can help.