I was lucky enough to be present at the BQ Emerging Entrepreneur dinner at Birmingham University on Wednesday evening. There were some fascinating presentations and the discussions with the 10 shortlisted candidates were also very interesting.
One question asked of many of the candidates was their top tips for success and amongst the various answers, four themes emerged which on reflection I think represent good practice for anyone in business. So with thanks to all the contributors to the evening, I thought I would share them with you:
Persistence – the belief and drive to keep going, despite setbacks and misfortune is critical to success. Even the best ideas can take time to win support and there will never be a shortage of critics and cynics to tell you why something will never work. Just think how painful it would be to give up and then see someone else succeed with the same idea!
Focus – many entrepreneurs are high energy, creative individuals which makes them prone to losing focus, being distracted by the next great idea before the current opportunity has been completed. Finding a way to capture those ideas and store them so they are available at the right time can be a big breakthrough for any business.
Time is precious – I don’t know many business owners who have lots of free time! Successful people attract many drains on their time – people who want to talk to them, salespeople, colleagues, the list can seem endless. Managing time and being ruthless in eliminating wasted time is vital and working out your own way to say no with minimum offence is an important skill.
Support network – most successful people aren’t all geniuses with no self-doubt. When they face obstacles and overwhelming negativity, they draw on a strong support network to help them. Building your own support network from family, friends, business experts etc. gives you a resource to help when the going gets tough.
Well done to all the shortlisted candidates and thanks for reminding me of 4 keys to success.
Chris