There are hundreds to thousands of advice on how to scale your business — from blogs, videos, books, seminars — to help your business grow.
This article will not be about those things.
If you pull back the curtain, most of these advice are alike and repackaged to appear different.
The themes usually revolve around building better teams, improving processes, tactical training, scaling strategies, etc.
There’s definitely a lot of value from the these.
However, they rarely go beyond the confines of the work environment.
There’s more to business than meets the eye
So instead of the usual stuff, I’d like to discuss something different.
Instead of the strategies and tactics of building a successful business, I will talk about about real life things every entrepreneur should consider.
In this article, I will share advice from my personal entrepreneurship experience; things that you may not normally hear.
Let’s dive in.
1. Stay level-headed. It’s a journey riddled with ups and downs.
There’s no such thing as constant growth.
Even the most successful companies face dips along their way. You might get enamored by the stories you read about companies that experience phenomenal growth — but nothing is permanent.
There’s undoubtedly peaks and valleys in business and life. But if you learn to stay level-headed, then you will weather the storm.
It’s exciting to experience growth in your business, but it’s also important for you to mentally prepare yourself for the dips.
When you stay level-headed, you will logically think through things; without knee-jerk reactions.
This is by no means the secret to success, but it will help you stay consistent and through think and thin.
2. What you fear is temporary, even if it feels like you’re losing everything
I’ve experienced this more than I would like — but it happens.
I wrote about my personal struggles since the launch of my own ad agency, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to throw in the towel.
In fact, I’m even more pumped to work harder than ever before. Why?
Because the fear of losing everything is much greater than my fear of the temporary losses, I get fueled by the constant reminder that I could lose it all.
So anything that might scare you in the short-term, like insufficient funding, losing clients, missing payroll, not making enough money, etc — can be solved.
Everything you are afraid of is short lived, as long as you put in the effort to find a solution.
Never make business decisions out of fear.
3. Work is life, life is work
If you’re being honest with yourself, there’s no such thing as a balance.
That’s not to say you can’t separate time for work and have a life. That’s not what I’m saying here.
What I am saying, instead, is you are the same person whether you’re at work, at home, out with your friends, or with your family.
Stop trying to be a different person — you can’t keep up with it. It’s a lot healthier to be yourself no matter where you are and who you’re with.
You’re going to put significant amount of time into your business — let’s be honest.
So why not stop the denial, stop trying to create ideals, and learn to dance to the music.
4. Extend grace whenever you get a chance
There are plenty of examples of what not to do.
As a business owner, founder, entrepreneur, or leader, it is important for your to understand your position of influence.
What do I mean by that?
My friends, you are in the best position to extend grace to people you work with — your employees, partners, interns, etc.
Yes, grace means going beyond your naturally human inclinations of trying to get the upper hand on someone.
It means putting someone else’s needs before your own; letting go of grievances and moving on in goodwill.
Extending grace is a true characteristic of a leader — because it shows your keen awareness of humans’ nature to err.
This will go a long way as you grow your business and surround yourself with loyalty.
5. Do the best you can every day, even if you don’t feel like it
I admit it. There are days when I don’t feel productive. And then there are days I dread waking up to get to work.
But these feelings are OK. Don’t feel bad about it — you are human.
I’m all about staying positive, but the occasional dose of “I feel like crap” just shows that you are human.
What matters most is that you give it your best every single day. Don’t expect yourself to be the perfect person others think you should be.
How you feel should never be predicated by what people say, think, or expect. As long as you are enjoying the ride; don’t let the day-to-day minutiae distract and discourage you.
Conclusion
Sometimes we can carried away with the strategic and tactical aspects of running a business that we forget that the human side of things.
These real life advice are things I’ve embraced through my experience since starting my boutique ad agency a couple of years ago.
I hope this article has given you a new perspective.
What advice would you add?
