Starting a business? Plan for time out like this!
With so much competition around, starting a business has become harder than ever. From facing competitive markets to working within budgets for advertising, taxes, and insurance in order to build a successful business, you need to overcome a lot of hurdles.
According to research conducted by the SBA (Small Business Administrative), about half of all small businesses do not survive more than 5 years. However, if they survive those first 5 volatile years, their chances of making it in the long haul increases.
So now the question is - how can your business be successful?
Preparation is the key to your business success and one of the best ways to do that is through self-reflection. Self-reflection is a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to analyze their skills in a better way and get valuable business insights.
Here are four reasons why entrepreneurs need time for self-reflection.
1. Consider Exactly What You Want From Your Business
If you’re planning to start a business, there are several important aspects you need to think about. Of course, you don’t need to jump into something that you are not ready for. Jumping into something without analyzing it properly can make you feel stuck and unhappy. According to Dr. Jeff Cornwall, professor and co-founder of The Entrepreneurial Mind:
“Beyond understanding, if entrepreneurship is the right path, self-assessment helps entrepreneurs better define the ideal size and scope of the business before it even begins, by integrating their personal financial, family and other personal goals into the mix.”
Self-reflection entrepreneurship is something that can take your business to the next level. Many successful entrepreneurs with multi-million dollar turnover benefit from introspection.
There are several questions entrepreneurs need to ask themselves to know what they actually want. These questions include:
- What are your goals in your personal life?
- What are your goals in your professional life?
- How do you like to spend your time?
- What do you consider success and how do you measure it?
- What motivates you to excel?
- What gives you energy and what gets you excited?
Finding answers to these questions and determining your core values can help you know what you think, what you actually want to achieve, and on what factors you need to work on to make your business a success.
2. Draw up Your Business Plan (Long-Term)
Even if you already own a company, don’t be complacent. Make sure to assess and reassess your business at every stage of growth to keep it on the right track. It helps you in determining where you are, where you are going, and how can you achieve your desired goals.
This type of reflection can be performed as a part of the formal review process. Before making your business plan, you need to evaluate yourself and determine if your startup idea has a good chance of success.
Self-reflection entrepreneurship can help you in anticipating all challenges you may have to face and making a plan to overcome them.
It can also help you in setting your business goals in your business plan.
3. Grow Your Business with a Clear Head
As a business owner, you should not only think about your business growth but also your own personal growth. This will help you to grow in all spheres of your life.
Regardless of your business type and size, self-reflection and self-assessment are essential elements of a successful business. You need to determine not only what has gone well, but also what has gone wrong. Mistakes are fine, but as a leader, you must value your learning.
You need to analyze your business wins and failures precisely and then learn from them. Self-reflection entrepreneurship offers you better opportunities to observe yourself as well as your business. It’s the base to develop a practical roadmap to move your business to the next level.
4. Achieve Self-Awareness
Self-reflection means taking a step back and looking at yourself to determine who you’re, where you are, what you’re doing in your daily life, what you’ve done in your past, and then using this information all together to find out where you actually want to be. Taking a pause to look at yourself isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Here are ideas to achieve more self-awareness:
1. Take a Personality Test
A personality test is a common method most people use to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. Observe yourself to know what you’re good at and what you really love doing and check out where your talent and passion intersect. Here are some questions you need to keep in your mind while taking a personality check:
- What does your company stand for?
- What are you responsible for?
- Are you working hard enough?
- How dedicated are you to your job?
- Are you blaming employees or external factors for your failures?
- Do you share your learnings with your team?
2. Conduct a Performance Review
Another amazing idea is to conduct a performance review. It's hard to focus on self-reflection when you have day-to-day operations to worry about. A more formal type of performance review might help you in focusing.
You can create a spreadsheet and rate each of your core competencies or weaknesses as they relate to your business.
A well-conducted employee review can help an entrepreneur thrive in his/her career and help other team members to deliver better quality work.
If you still need more help, you can actually buy a performance review software that will help you get it done.
Time for Self-Reflection: Wrapping Up
Reflecting on yourself and your business as an entrepreneur can be really helpful for your personal as well a professional growth.
Self-reflection entrepreneurship is the right path to follow for entrepreneurs to better define the ideal scope of their businesses by integrating their financial, personal, and professional goals into the mix.
In this competitive work culture, it becomes challenging to take out time from your jam-packed schedule regularly to look at the big picture. But to stay on the right track for the long run to make your business success, self-reflection has become a necessity.
A clear mind and clear goal can be game changers in your business journey. With regular self-assessment, you will find you have the energy and capability to take on the challenges and get the most out of your opportunities.