By REDC Business Advisor Kerri Salls
Think about the business owners you admire or the mentors you listen to. They’ve told you story after story of what they did to be successful. Those stories were a great way to make a point so that you would remember it. If you think about all those stories, you’ll find some common threads among all those admirable leaders. They offer key lessons you can apply to your own business to assure your success and prosperity too.
Three of those key lessons are purpose, passion, and persistence. These aren’t results from your business. All three are essential drivers you need to bring to your business.
Purpose
When you started your business, you had an idea, a dream, and likely a mission to serve your target market. But behind that, what’s the purpose of your business? What’s your purpose that drives you every day? What’s the purpose of what you’re doing that is bigger than yourself, your family, or the business itself? If your purpose isn’t big enough, it won’t sustain you intellectually, emotionally, or financially.
When you know your purpose, nothing can knock you over. Your intention comes through in every offer to clients, each newsletter or email, every marketing campaign, and each customer service contact.
"There is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for." PAULO COELHO
Passion
Some people start a business because they are very good at something. Some people inherit or acquire a business. Some people go into a business that is very lucrative.
Regardless of how you entered into business ownership or why, there’s one thing you need to sustain you when it gets tough (and it will), when things are not going your way, or when you aren’t having fun anymore. What you need is passion for what you do, who you serve, and the value you offer that makes you the only expert your prospects should turn to. You know you have this kind of passion when you can feel it in your gut. It’s a burning desire you can’t walk away from or ignore. Your passion drives you or confirms that you have to be doing what you set out to do in your business.
When you have that passion and commitment to your dream, then you look forward to getting out of bed each day. You are eager to face even the parts of your business you don’t enjoy or that don’t excite you; because your passion for the business overrides any other driver.
"I'm doing what I think I was put on this earth to do. And I'm really grateful to have something that I'm passionate about and that I think is profoundly important." MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
Persistence
If you’ve ever held a sales position where you were paid on commission, you know how important it is to keep reaching out to prospects for the first time or the sixth or seventh time to offer them what you know is the best solution to their current challenge or need. It’s the commitment to not quit on your goal. Whatever your business is or could become, it doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it only matters how many times you get back up.
Persistence shows the world what you’re made of. Persistence shows your market how committed you are to them and their success. Persistence shows your team and your family that you take your business very seriously.
"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity." LOUIS PASTEUR
When you put them all together: Purpose, Passion, and Persistence, you have a winning combination of traits that set every entrepreneur up for success. These three lessons provide a strong foundation on which to grow your business.
