What are the characteristics that successful small business owners have in common? Let’s focus on the personality traits and characteristics which separate the successful small to mid-sized business owner from the majority of small businesses that fail. We have worked with hundreds of small and mid-size businesses over our more than 20 years of service here in San Diego. What are the core strengths of our successful small business clients?
Many of the keys to prosperity are fairly simple: do something you enjoy and are passionate about, focus on the customer and know them well, project a positive business image, become known as an “expert” and offer a competitive advantage. “Buy or create products and services at a lower price than what you sell them for!”
These fundamentals are challenging enough for many entrepreneurs. One of the questions I often ask (and re-ask) my clients is “Are you an employee of your company, or do you intend to manage it?” We spoke recently of the need to free yourself from various tasks in your business so that you can focus on key metrics and running the company. Limit the number of hats you wear. So what does that look like? The characteristics that separate many business owners or entrepreneurs from the competitive field most closely relate to the seemingly simple willingness to focus.
Plan everything. Manage money wisely. Understand the function and cost of every single facet of the development of your products and services. Our successful clients understand the critical nature of planning. They set aside a large portion of their day/week/month to evaluate their business and plan next steps. They put systems in place to capture the raw data at every point of their business processes. This critical data informs their business decisions.
What other personality traits do we see in our successful clients?
Inquisitiveness. This simple characteristic is a trait I recognize in almost all of my most prosperous clients. They ask questions. They want to truly understand everything – their customers, their employees, their supply chain, their products and services, their competitors, and most importantly, themselves. They are curious about other successful businesses and the strategies they’ve deployed.
Openness. They are open to new ideas, and receptive to the realities of their business and the marketplace. They are accessible, easy for their customers, employees and business partners to reach and communicate with. They realize that there are many ways to solve any problem or challenge and welcome the input and creativeness of others.
Persistence. Finally, they are persistent. All of my successful clients tenaciously work on their business. They take consistent action every day to improve and grow their business, instead of becoming lost in the delivery of their company’s products and services. They welcome challenges and change. For they understand one of the greatest business secrets of all: challenges and change are the greatest source of opportunity and profit, and always will be.
Allen Barron exists to serve small and mid-sized businesses. We honor the entrepreneurial spirit that thrives here in San Diego. We have the experience, skill and expertise to support you in whatever business mission you’ve embarked upon. Our team has successfully started, managed (and in many cases sold) many of their own businesses from one person companies to being a CEO for a multi-national technology market leader.
If you are open, inquisitive, driven, persistent and want your company to be one of the minority who survive and thrive in San Diego’s small business community, we invite you to contact us or call today to schedule a free consultation at 866-631-3470. Let’s discuss your challenges, your opportunities and your business and how the tax, legal, accounting and business consulting services of Allen Barron can support your success. Together, we will work to ensure that it not only survives, but that you meet and exceed your business objectives.