Today, both digital and traditional platforms offer countless opportunities to start a business. Almost all marketing and best practices you need to know are just a tap away. Courses, both paid and free, are also available including ebooks, and tutorials.
Take note, however, creating your own business requires more than just having the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources. What matters above all, is a business owner’s mindset. Without this, your business is doomed to fail.
You can have all the funding and equipment you need. Or a team who’s willing to commit to your goals. But again, if you don’t have a business owner mindset, your business will not last. Tony Robbins, a world expert on leadership psychology, once said, “ The chokehold on any business is always the psychology and skills of the owner.”
Here are four practical steps you need to develop a business owner’s mindset, whether you are currently an employee or an entrepreneur.
1. Pro-active Mind
Owner Mindset vs. Employee Mindset
An employee mindset is in total contrast with an owner mindset. Employees typically work hours every day for years and wait for their monthly salary. In short, they are mostly paid to wait.
Business owners, on the other hand, receive their pay in advance, before even accomplishing a task. That means business owners should commit to working hard with their compensation already in hand.
Waiting vs. Making
Employees are conditioned to wait for instructions or decisions from the executive. They are merely doers of obligations and responsibilities. They don’t have the authority to decide and have no capacity to influence new policies and employees.
In contrast, the owners have to actualise and materialise. They cannot just sit around and wait for somebody to give them a signal. They do it once they understood that the indicators mean action. If urgency calls, they make decisions right away based on a sound understanding of an issue.
So if you want to achieve a business owner’s mindset, condition yourself from being a passive waiter to becoming a decision-maker. You have to learn to take initiatives and position yourself to where you can create value. Remember, there are no higher-ups to decide for you.
Commit and Then Accomplish
If you are a business owner, it is easier and faster to address issues that an employee may accomplish within months or even years. Given your control, you have all the resources and personnel waiting for your disposal to solve a problem. But that does not mean that you will not encounter humps and bumps.
Even if you are an experienced business owner, there will always be challenges. For employees, these are waiting moments. But for those with a business owner’s mindset, these are crucial times for creating sound decisions. They have to commit to facing the problems head-on. Eventually, they accomplish what needs to be done, considering the right strategy and mindset.
2. Do Away With The Excuse Maker
I am not good enough.
I lack the skills and knowledge to do that.
I am not passionate about that work.
I’m poor in marketing and dealing with clients.
I am used to procrastination.
I do not like to associate with people.
I don’t like technical stuff.
These are some of the common excuses that can hinder you from moving forward and impede your success. Of course, we all have our strengths and weaknesses. That is a given. But having limitations does not mean that you can’t learn. So if you are not knowledgeable on a particular niche, then take time to learn.
Sure. Going beyond your area of expertise may seem scary and can make you feel goosebumps. But that is the only way for you to level up and achieve growth. We all need to develop new areas of expertise or acquire fresh knowledge and insights which we can incorporate in our business.
If you want to develop a business owner’s mindset, it counts to know how to learn at the last minute. Mistakes are inevitable but don’t forget to tell and remind yourself that you have done your best. And that, you are willing to commit for better performance and results.
As you go on learning and applying the new skill, the less difficult it becomes. You will eventually feel easy and practiced. What used to seem complicated and unattainable becomes feasible on your part. So go ahead and learn new skills which you can use to scale your business.
3. Know and Understand Your Customer
Be on the shoes of your customer. How? Pretend like you are a customer.
As a business owner, knowing your customers is key to developing effective and interactive marketing campaigns. That can increase your business’ efficiency and results, attracting maximum reach at a minimal cost. Unfortunately, this is where many business owners fail. Some of them don’t study and assess what their customers want. Heck, some are not even clear with their target market.
If you want to master a business owner’s mindset, consider the following questions:
- What do your customers need from you before buying your product or service?
- Are your customers able to access or find you?
- Do you have a value to propose to address their pain points?
- Do you foster connection and trust with your customers?
- Does your product or service to fill the gap within your target market?
- What qualities should your business have to capture the interest of your market?
- Do your customers find your product’s quality and price cost-effective and competitive?
Asking these questions will lead you into a deeper understanding of your target market. It will help you properly identify their needs or problems. In that way, you can also develop the right marketing approach to solve such problems.
As you probe deeper on your market and market-relevant solutions, you will be able to establish greater trust and relevance. Ultimately, that will help you grow your business more efficiently.
Let’s say you want to put up a coffee store on Amazon. You should know that there are thousands of stores selling the same product. Now, to market a different proposition, you need to identify the proper market. To do that, you should determine which problems are not being addressed by other coffee stores. Perhaps, some market is health-conscious and prefer organic and locally-sourced coffee. Upon identifying this niche, you can then offer coffee that meets such criteria.
Take note that your business can only be sustainable if it gives solutions to your market’s problems. It’s not just a trend that you have to look at it. What matters more is that your product or service delivers value.
4. Keep a List and Be a Follower
As a business owner, you must learn to develop lists properly and implementing them. That is because, there will be times, wherein, you will have to deal seemingly daunting tasks. But the good thing is, you can always break these down into smaller and more manageable tasks.
Below is a list aimed to represent the proper mindset that a business owner should have. It does not contain particular actions for your business because you should be doing these. What matters is that your first learn and develop the right mindset.
Now, it is given that a person who goes halfway on a particular endeavour eventually abandons the list and create something new. That should not be. To accomplish real results, you need to discipline yourself to complete the list. The more you comply with your list, the easier it is for you to accomplish.
Without further ado, here is a sample list you should create.
- Client Outreach Sales – It includes calls, interviews, and emails.
- Advertising – It may involve local campaigns, the internet, and word of mouth.
- Follow-up – It pertains to calls you need to make for previous clients.
- Networking – It can be done on a community, during events, and with the use of online platforms.
About the above list, let’s discuss some of the things that you need to know.
As a business owner, you’ll sometimes get the most important information from a client who didn’t sign up or subscribe. Don’t forget to follow up on them and identify the reasons why they chose not to subscribe. Also, assess and determine what features of a product or service they are looking for, and what can your business provide to turn them into rabid customers. Knowing this crucial information can help you when a similar client comes to you.
Some people think of the big picture. They project how their company will look after 10-20 years from now. But they also have to contend with the questions, “What should I do now?” “What practical steps should I take to get to the next level?”
Here is where the role of having a list comes to play. Experts would always advise that while you think long-term, you should also think of the small steps you can take. Consider making a list of three items and a roadmap of when these actions will happen. Be committed to accomplishing those actions in the duration you’ve allotted.
After finishing the list, set a time to celebrate or reward yourself. Doing so will make it easier for you to create and complete a new list.
No Security Necessary
The main thing that makes unsecured loans more attractive than secured loans is the fact that they’re no security. It might be an obvious thing to highlight but it clearly matters. You won’t be weighed down by the pressure and worry associated with having collateral hanging over you and potentially being lost to the lender if you fail to make repayments. If you don’t want to take the risk of losing your collateral, you just need to opt for an unsecured loan instead. It’ll allow you to avoid any risks associated with secured loans.
Build Up Your Future Credit Score
By taking out a loan and then paying it off on time, you will help to build or repair your credit score. Many companies are dealing with poor credit, but by taking out an unsecured loan with a lender that is happy to lend to companies with poor credit, you can start to turn the situation around. Meeting regular repayment deadlines shows the world that you are able to stay on top of your financial obligations and pay off the money you owe, and that will only help your business going forward.
Why Your Business Might Want to Take Out an Unsecured Loan
There are lots of reasons why your business might take out a loan, as well as reasons not to. You shouldn’t take out a loan to cover running costs, but if you want to do other things, such as the things we’re going to discuss below, an unsecured business loan can be ideal.
Grow and Expand
Most entrepreneurs have big plans for their businesses. They want to ensure that their business is one that’s got a bright future. So if the time has come for you to grow and expand your business, you should think about whether taking out an unsecured business loan might help you to do that. It could be exactly what you need to get your business moving in the right kind of direction. It takes money and investment to grow your business and a loan might just be the ideal solution.
Take on More Clients and Customers
If your business doesn’t currently have the resources to deal with more customers and clients, it could be time to scale things up. However, that’s something that costs money, whether you like or not. Taking out an unsecured business loan could help improve the resources your business has available. It could mean hiring more people so that you have the human resources needed to take on more clients and make more customers happy. The loan will cover the costs associated with doing that and it’ll pay for itself if you’re able to improve your profits as a result.
Fund a New Marketing Campaign
Maybe it’s the case that attracting new customers to your business is where your problems lie. It’s not always easy to get your voice heard and make people aware of why they should be taking notice of your business. An unsecured loan could be used to fund a new marketing campaign that gets your message out there and makes more people interested in your business and what it’s offering. So if you have an idea for a marketing campaign that you think might work but you don’t have the financing for it, consider a loan.
Improve with Fewer Risks
The chance to improve your business in the many ways mentioned above offers you a real opportunity that you might want to grasp. Secured loans can offer the same access to financing but come with more risks to your business. With an unsecured loan, you can reap all the rewards that come with having the cash to invest in your business without having to worry about the risks adversely affecting the business in the future. The chance to improve with fewer risks attached to that chance should not be ignored or dismissed.
The Requirements for Getting an Unsecured Business Loan
There are some requirements you’ll need to be aware of before you take out an unsecured business loan. These aren’t too harsh or restrictive at all, but they are important.
24 Month Limit
When you take out an unsecured loan from Bizzloans, you have to pay the loan back within 24 months. That’s the maximum repayment term that’s on offer. Of course, that won’t be a problem for the vast majority of businesses out there. It’s important that you look at the finances closely and decide for sure that this is something your business is going to be able to do. You’ll have a chance to do this when you get a quote from us, so you’ll know exactly what you’re signing up to.
Business Bank Statements
To ensure your business is in a financial position to take on a loan of the size you’ve applied for, you’ll need to simply submit your business’s bank statements. This allows us to ensure that we lend responsibly and don’t burden you with a debt that is too much for you to take on. It’s in both your best interests and ours that you’re able to handle the loan that you take on.
Photo ID
To ensure everything is correct and proper, and you are who you say you are, you have to submit a photo ID. This is common practice and ensures that all financial transactions are above board and in order. It’s very easy to do and needn’t be a headache for you. Once we are satisfied with your application, you’ve provided the bank statements and we’ve checked your ID, it won’t be long before you have access to the loan you applied for.
Getting an unsecured business loan for your company could be just what it needs right now. It’s a much safer option than taking out a secured loan and you’ll be accepted much faster. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Bizzloans if you’re thinking of taking out an unsecured business loan.
