Insider Starting a Business

Want To Start a Business This Year? Here Are 2 Keys to Success

Get your mind right.

Tony M Fountain

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Writer

Entrepreneur/Artist manager/Publisher

January 1, 2021 3 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Starting a new business is an equally daunting and exciting task. The world is changing rapidly, and this phenomenon has forced many companies to rethink their operations. For aspiring entrepreneurs who are starting new businesses, there is an opportunity to do things differently and be part of a new generation of business owners who will succeed in this environment.

There are two crucial steps that every new business owner should complete before starting a new business.

1. Groom Your Mind

Creating a new venture in an ever-changing economy will require a significant mindset shift. If you want to build a brand that will make a meaningful impact, you need to start thinking like a CEO.

Here are some essential tips to start:

Think Bigger. According to Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach, it is easier to grow your life or business 10x bigger than to double it. With the pandemic still happening in waves across many countries, you need to challenge yourself as a business owner and think outside the box. From the onset, you must realize your business's full breadth and purpose and never allow yourself to be pressured or intimidated into compromising on your goals.

Embrace Negativity. When many people are confronted by the seemingly impossible, their default response is to hide. As a business owner, you must enter the market knowing that you will encounter setbacks. Instead of avoiding rejection and failure, embrace these negative experiences as opportunities for you to reassess your growth.

2. Invest in yourself

You probably have a grand plan for your new business, but for you to achieve this vision, you must prime and prepare the ultimate tool: yourself. Investing in your self-development before you even lay your business's first brick is one of the most vital steps to success.

So how do you invest in yourself?

Spend To Make. You must have heard the saying, "spend money to make money." As cliche as it sounds, this is a very valid theory in the business world. A healthy business must have cash flow, and your cash flow is made up of your income and your expenses. For you to break even, you must strike a balance between both. Obtain assets and information that will push your business forward and help you create the brand you have envisioned.

Learn, Unlearn, Relearn. Throughout your life, you have-consciously and unconsciously-absorbed concepts and habits that have affected your view of life and business. To succeed in business, you must possess the ability to examine what you know objectively and don't understand so that you can make the best decisions for your business. This is what separates a good leader from a great one. Get into the habit of reading new books and exploring subjects that will challenge your thinking and broaden your perspective.

Grooming your mind and investing in yourself will get you started on your journey to creating a brand that will eventually evolve into a legacy. There are more than a million things that you will need to look into before you can successfully start a business, such as the actual business plan and creating a suitable structure. However, doing this inner work will prepare you to become a teachable, self-aware, and continuously growing leader.