Running a business is one of the most stressful, exhausting, all-consuming, and challenging things I’ve ever done – and I’m proud to say that I’ve paid my dues with hard work before I started my own company. Every day there are too many things to do and absolutely never is there enough time to do them. During the first few months of my stint as an entrepreneur I would often get completely overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done (not to mention the fear of failure, but that’s for another article.) Feeling overwhelmed made me extremely unproductive, creating this horrible cycle of having too much to do and not enough time or focus to do it.
So I sat down and wrote down a list of 10 things I’d try to accomplish every day to move my business forward. Once I had the list, I read it, and realized that it was too long. So I cut it down to 5 things and I’ve stuck to doing each one every single day for about a month now. I hasn’t yet made mine a million-dollar business, but I can honestly say it’s made my day-to-day more focused, organized, and has allowed me to get some insights into the business I am not sure I was getting otherwise. So I thought I’d share my 5 things with you and perhaps they can help you succeed with your business!
1. Do 3 things every day to get the word out about your business.
Getting the word out about your business is a continuous process. If you get a huge PR hit, great; if you run an ad campaign and get good results, also great. But great PR hits are rare (and some great PR hits don’t produce any real results) and few small business owners have tons of marketing dollars to spend on advertising. But there are endless things you can do every single day to spread the word about your business, such as
- Participate in discussions on relevant blogs, related to your business or with readers who would benefit from your business. Make sure that any comments you leave are genuine comments and are not just there to pitch your site or product. This will get you nowhere fast.
- Personally connect with a blogger or journalist who writes about your industry or related products. Don’t pitch your business – just introduce yourself and say something (a) nice and (b) relevant about their blog or writing. This is a great way to get on their radar.
- Compile a list of useful data that is related to your business and make it available on your site or blog. You can then mention this useful list – and it should be useful! – to any bloggers or journalists you contact.
Being an entrepreneur is about making tough phone calls – to suppliers, to business prospects, to potential clients, lawyers, accountants, and even competitors. It’s not pleasant but it definitely gets easier the more you do it. If you stick to doing this once a day eventually it will not be a big deal at all. (I’ve now learned this through my own experience.)
3. Spend 20 minutes each day thinking about daily, weekly, and monthly priorities.I like to write things down so I have a notebook where every day I make a list of daily, weekly, and monthly to-dos and priorities. This forces me to not just think short-term and allows time to plan ahead and work out initiatives that might need lead time.
4. Connect with at least one customer per day in a personal way.
Whatever your business is, whether you’re selling a product or service, you have customers. And the best way to build a successful business is to connect with your customers who will then spread the word about your business to new prospects. If you write a blog or send out an email newsletter to your customers, that’s great. But every day aim to connect with at least one customer personally. Send a thank you note to a recent customer. Reply to a comment left on your blog. Send a personal email as a reply to a customer service inquiry. Customers are people – make sure they get to know you as a person.
5. At the end of each day, write down one what went great and what needs some more work. (Look at your notes first thing in the morning the following day.)
This need not be a long and exhaustive list, but I find as an entrepreneur that what I have no time for is reflecting on the business – there is just too much business to actually do! So I’ve made this a rule for myself and by sticking to it I think I’ve learned a lot. And reminding myself about the things that go right has turned out really important. Running a business involves constant challenges and disappointments – not growing fast enough, too much competition, not making enough money, etc. Making notes about things that do go right is a great shot of positive energy and optimism that I think we ALL need as entrepreneurs.
Do you have daily habits that you stick to as a small business owner? I’d love to hear them!
3. Spend 20 minutes each day thinking about daily, weekly, and monthly priorities.I like to write things down so I have a notebook where every day I make a list of daily, weekly, and monthly to-dos and priorities. This forces me to not just think short-term and allows time to plan ahead and work out initiatives that might need lead time.
4. Connect with at least one customer per day in a personal way.
Whatever your business is, whether you’re selling a product or service, you have customers. And the best way to build a successful business is to connect with your customers who will then spread the word about your business to new prospects. If you write a blog or send out an email newsletter to your customers, that’s great. But every day aim to connect with at least one customer personally. Send a thank you note to a recent customer. Reply to a comment left on your blog. Send a personal email as a reply to a customer service inquiry. Customers are people – make sure they get to know you as a person.
5. At the end of each day, write down one what went great and what needs some more work. (Look at your notes first thing in the morning the following day.)
This need not be a long and exhaustive list, but I find as an entrepreneur that what I have no time for is reflecting on the business – there is just too much business to actually do! So I’ve made this a rule for myself and by sticking to it I think I’ve learned a lot. And reminding myself about the things that go right has turned out really important. Running a business involves constant challenges and disappointments – not growing fast enough, too much competition, not making enough money, etc. Making notes about things that do go right is a great shot of positive energy and optimism that I think we ALL need as entrepreneurs.
Do you have daily habits that you stick to as a small business owner? I’d love to hear them!
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