6 Things Every Successful Business Leader Should Know

It’s quite hard to imagine I was the blonde in the computer room now but over the past couple of days, I have been trying to subtle the presence of the geek in me by focusing on non-technology related ideas; my research over the past few days has been focused on helping the CEO’s and the managers.

There are many of you out there and here are a few tips I know will help you work better  and lead your business to success in the different sectors you happen to work in;

Have a focal point

As you keep working, you are bound to see what my brothers and I call “shiny things” these are the numerous business opportunities that look good from afar but when you have a closer look and analyze them carefully, you realize that they are not as shiny as you had previously thought so be sure to focus on what you what you and your business to achieve before you start dipping your hands in too many business ideas and you are not able to take care of each business and nurture it to the success it should have.

Dreams on Dreams

This morning, I was listening to a song today by Common feat Maya Angelou “Dreamer” and in the lyrics, one of the lines was, “there is always a dream to the dreamer…” (I put that song on repeat!) My point is; even when you have reached your goal, set another. You wanted that $5,000 in sales mark and you got it? Put it at $10,000 the next month. Always be sure to write down these constant goals so you are reminded of where you want to be in life. My brother told me that there is a certain kind of magic that happens when you write goals down, TRY IT!

You cannot do it alone

Whichever person thought they could run a successful business on their own, obviously never thought about exactly how much goes into growing a SUCCESSFUL business. I was talking to a gentleman a few weeks ago who thought that anyone and everyone should be an individual business owner. I disagree with that, take VINAJ Websites as an example, we keep growing because we have people in the different areas they are skilled in doing what they do best. A website done by me…. Would probably be created in the fine art section but talking and writing are my things so that’s what I do; I do the marketing and Public Relations. Therefore, employ the right people; do not ever think you can do it alone. Getting advice and mentors would also be a great idea, a good mentor will be like your guardian angel; the person who will keep advising you on ways forward. The experienced and already successful mentors are the most recommended.

Don’t be afraid to fire people

Some bosses find an attachment to some of their employees over-time so when the employees start slacking; they might tend to continuously be lenient. This is not the way to do things, if a person is not doing the job right and has got several corrections to do better but still is not, LET THEM GO! The only thing that is suffering is your business’ productivity but if you do not care about your business, then go ahead and let them keep trampling on your dream Fiji holiday.

Read

There is nothing better than feeding your mind with information as it keeps coming in. There is no way that you will be able to keep your business fresh unless you read the right books. If you are not reading, you are not feeding your brain and you will become mentally lazy; no leader should be mentally lazy. Educate yourself so that you are always asking the right questions, executing the right ideas, calculating all risk factors in anything etc. Stop listening to the radio and iPod music when you are driving or taking a walk, start listening to the e-books, buy books that will help your professional development.

Customer Care

To everyone reading this, make sure that nobody in your department EVER slacks in customer care. Let me give you two examples, I walked into a clothing store the other day, I got no greeting, I was not told anything about any of the ladies clothes until I asked; my exit was as quiet as my time there and I will probably never return to that store or even recommend anyone to go there. Another clothing store I walked into, the lady said hello and just would not stop talking about everything I touched in the store, she gave me ideas of what I could wear the clothes with and where I could wear them to; I ended up leaving a deposit there for a couple of things and will always recommend people (she even remembers my name!) Customer care people, it does not matter who your employees are speaking to, everyone being sold to should be treated well.

Product Check

Good customer care and quality products go hand-in-hand; so always make sure that the product being sold is of good-excellent quality, never promise your customers a tree and they end up with just a leaf. If you remember, there was the horse meat scandal in the UK a few weeks ago; they are paying heavily for not taking the time to check on the quality of their products. Take the time to do routine checks on whatever your company is selling, depending on the product, get a second and third opinion when you can so you know that you are giving your clients a great product. This not only encourages the call backs for more but also the recommendations.