How do you define Business Success?

This is my first official LinkedIn post, although I blog for my own website and other channels I felt it would be useful to give a brief bio giving a bit of background about why I feel I can contribute on business & management issues via this platform (I know it shouldn't have to be justified). Due to a mixture of hard work, opportunity and luck I have over the last 35 years acquired and developed accounting, financial, tax and business knowledge, skills and experiences within the private, creative and voluntary sector. I have been fortunate to have the 'freedom' of running my own businesses for nearly 20 years, I have been able to involve myself with volunteering, occasional writing for other publications, teaching and training at all educational levels, International working, advising - and actually earning a living out of it all and providing employment and opportunities for others.

What is business success to you?

In this first LinkedIn post I want to talk about what I think helps achieve business success. The start point is to consider (in advance of doing it) what you would consider success is to you, what your own objectives are and how our own measures of success are, and judge it based on that. Our objectives could be to generate sufficient income to maintain a decent lifestyle and work life balance; achieve social and philanthropic outcomes; to avoid what we might see as the confines of corporate culture; or to be the next Richard Branson, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

I distinguish objectives from aspirations and mission, an absence of SMART objectives relegates us to drift and dissatisfaction. The business that sets out to be wealthy will never be satisfied or be able to meaningfully assess its own journey.

Our mindset is key

Success is also heavily influenced by our mind-set and attitude towards that achievement. Being aware of the common mistakes might seem overtly negative, but an awareness of the main pitfalls enables us to be aware of them and react accordingly - would you go on holiday without some element of pre-planning, and holidays are meant for enjoyment.

A great number of individuals are thinking of working for themselves, either by accident or design, for most this proves to be a life changing event. There are a number of highs and lows to this life change, the positive aspects include flexibility over working hours; greater variety of work; increased job satisfaction & work challenges; autonomy and independence; improved work/life balance and increased earning power. The negative aspects of this life change include no guarantee of work or income; greater degree of isolation and less human contact; increase in financial risks and exposure; increase in stress; and heavier workloads

This life change can be quite lonely and experiences are akin to experiencing a roller coaster ride; for example busy work periods followed by quiet periods and feelings of optimism followed by ones of pessimism. Fortunately these days there are a greater number of support agencies and forums that provide a wealth of aid and assistance.

In my experience some of these common pitfalls include a mismatch between resources and expectations;

• Difficulty in making the attitudinal and financial transition to "running the show";
• poor market research;
• weak operational financial and strategic planning control & execution;
• poor credit control;
• product led and not customer led;
• high level of operational and financial risk; over dependence on a single customer/supplier; lack of commercial formalities, e.g. basic contracts and
• inadequate working capital.

The list is by no means exhaustive or a judgement on anyone who has experienced the above, I have made some of those mistakes that are listed above and by no means expect to have a mistake free working life, running your own business has a different level of risk and uncertainty compared to being 'employed', yesterdays achievements have less of current resonance.

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