3. Change your approach
[Check out PART I of this business advisory HERE.]
You must change the way you have always approached your business in the past. You can’t do normal things and still be ahead of the pack. No, not in 2023.
You will be like every normal business person out there struggling to break even. Just add extra to whatever you have been doing right.
You must dare to do something that is outside your comfort zone. For instance, be a little bit aggressive and proactive in generating leads, marketing/sales, and giving your customers unbeatable serve experience. Sometimes, to experience transformational change, it comes with discomfort but that’s your plug to a more rewarding business year.
Expect the new year to be more tasking than the previous ones. You only have to be tougher and ready for it. You must consciously adopt a more responsive strategy that will make each day count in every department of your business. Don’t just wait for things to have to you. Just take some radical intitatives and make them happen the way you want them.
4. Re-create your physical and digital ecosystem
The environment you surround yourself with matters for it holds you where you are. If you want to do great things in business, you have to create an environment that supports it. The life of your business is so important than to hang out in an environment that is not adding value to it.
The environment (i.e. the people) you interact with or spend most of your time matter will forge you into becoming like them in thoughts, words, and deeds, consciously or unconsciously. There is a saying, ‘Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dreams.’ I have proven this to be true.
Your capacity for success in business is embodied by the people you surround yourselves with. You will never outperform your inner circle whether it’s physical or digital.
You need a great environment and network that will inspire you, push, and motivate you. Otherwise, you’ll keep being average in life and business. As you know, we become like who we hang around with. So, you can only be as successful as your business network.
Being selective about who we surround ourselves with is going to be one of the biggest factors in transforming your business in this new season. Why? When you intentionally improve your business relationships, you improve your business.
Consciously create the ecosystem that you want, especially people who always raise the bar so that you push yourself. Stop being a nice guy. You can’t please everyone. Don’t hesitate to cut out the people who are not adding or bringing value to your business table.
Your ecosystem has a way of manipulating you, your business goals and dreams. So, you are responsible for creating your own environment which acts as a booster to achieving great business success.
Again, if you want to grow in 2023, you should be in a room where you are the least successful person. You need to constantly keep adding new people in your environment who are better than you, and who have achieved what you desire to achieve.
Make a habit of ‘reaching up’ in all of your relationships – toward people who are better connected, better educated, and even more successful. That is a proven way to grow.
Similar to the physical environment, your digital space is equally critical. Someone said, ‘If you want to check what environment you are creating for yourself on the web, then just go to your YouTube channel now and see what suggested videos are popping up. If you see a lot of entertainment-related videos, then this is a wake-up call for you.’ Where do you hang-out on social media? What website do you visit? This is shaping who you are becoming, directly or indirectly.
Clement Stone warned, ‘Be careful of the environment you choose, for it will shape you; be careful of the friends you choose, for you will become like them’. Hence, the people you hang out with, the websites you visit, the media you consume —everything in your environment holds you and your business exactly where you are.
Remember, one is coming to save your business but you. When you get it right, the ball will always bounce your way all through the year.
…To be Continued
About the Author
Tony Ajah is a Business Growth Strategist, and the author of BUSINESS SENSE, and ON BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR.
He maintains a personal blog, where he shares proven business ideas and principles for SMEs.
