2022 in Review: Mindset, Processes, Selling Skills and Growing your Business

Having previously summarized articles from the first quarter and second quarters of this year, in this, our last post of 2022, we review blog series topics from the second half of the year.

Mindset for Self-Employed Business Owners

As a small business owner, having the correct mindset is one of the most important aspects to ensure success and comes under the foundational pillar of personal leadership.

It can be difficult to keep a positive attitude when challenges and obstacles arise from running your own business but having an optimistic outlook can make all the difference. A positive mindset means being open to learning new skills, taking risks, and understanding that failure can lead to success.

But we all have that negative repeating voice in your head that tells you that you are wrong or inadequate.

We all have it in varying degrees and throughout all areas of life. For example, it hits me hard at golf. Despite having had some success in other sports, I find golf hard to master, and my inner critic seems to be always on my case.

Having the ability to manage your mindset is essential in the development of your business.

A fixed mindset does not allow you to change and usually affects people that need to prove themselves. On the other hand, a growth mindset is one where you see yourself growing in your business with an element of willingness to learn and grow.

The keys to developing a growth mindset include being aware of your negative inner critic, reframing the message, and choosing to be positive.

Our third article in this series focused on the difference in attitudes between employees, small business owners, and entrepreneurs, along with factors that limit your mindset.

Let’s face it, when all is said and done, the buck stops with you. A positive attitude will give you the determination to stay motivated and strive for excellence. You will also be better equipped to handle the challenges that come with being self-employed. Our final article in the series outlines six techniques to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.

Standard Business Processes

Standard business processes affect every area of your business, and we have included them under the ‘business fulfillment pillar’ as such processes assist you in delivering on your promises.

When developing your processes, an excellent way to start is to identify the areas of your business that need improvement.

In another recent article, we talked about the Pareto Principle, which says 80% of your results come from 20% of activities. What 20% of activities have the highest impact on your business results? Develop and document systems for those areas first.

Our final article in the series focused on optimizing your business processes, including defining the scope, analyzing the process, and finding options to automate or outsource.

Implementing standard business processes can be an effective way for a small business to increase its efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Standardization helps to ensure that employees complete tasks in an efficient, consistent manner that maximizes customer satisfaction and leads to improved profitability. Standard business processes also help small businesses stay competitive in an ever-changing marketplace by providing greater control over their operations.

Essential Sales Skills

The topic for September focused on selling skills in the business development pillar.

Without sales, a business cannot survive, and like it or not, as the owner, you are – or should be – the number one sales person for your business. However, many entrepreneurs dislike the selling process, often because their perception is based on old-school sales methods of confrontation, pressure, and white lies.

Today’s successful salespeople are customer-focused and would instead refer to themselves as solution providers, relationship builders, service providers, or business coaches.

The new selling techniques can be learned skills putting to rest the old saying that great salespeople are born and not made.

Here are some tips:

• Recognize why you need to update your sales skills using the concept of ‘serve’ rather than ‘sell’.
• Deepen your knowledge of your customers: who they are, what they feel, and what they want.
• Build relationships with them wherever possible.
• Focus on serving their needs.
• Listen, Listen, Listen to your buyers.
• Ask straightforward, transparent questions.
• Work together with customers and educate them.
• Communicate just what your solutions could be.
• Close the sale with ease and confidence that what you have built with the prospect will take care of their needs.

When you have not had sales training or experience, identifying customer buying signals and recognizing the signs that a customer is ready to buy will make you more effective at closing sales.

Becoming a better sales person will help you build a more sustainable future, Click on the links above to study this in more detail.

Planning for Business Growth

Our final topic for the year focused on helping you to grow your business and create a plan to do just that.

When preparing for growth, there are several steps, including:

• Revisiting your ideal customer profile and behavior,
• Clarifying your financial picture, and
• Undertaking a swot analysis of the business.

A SWOT analysis helps identify your strengths and weaknesses within the business, as well as the external factors that bring opportunities for growth or threats to your business.

You will need a team when your business grows. If you already have a team, you will probably need to expand it. This brings challenges, and it is crucial to have systems including procedures around team development. The good news is that there are increasing tools and software to assist you, as identified in the article on “your team and tools”.

The final article in this series is on documenting your growth plan, where you take the information from your research and analysis and formulate it into a realistic plan tailored to your business.

If you want to grow your business, click on the links above to get detailed information on how to proceed.

Well, that concludes of year in review. It has been our delight to bring your valuable information throughout the year to help you run a better business, and we look forward to continuing this in the new year.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is a time to spread joy and cheer, with family and friends gathering together to celebrate. So this holiday season, put aside your worries and responsibilities and focus on making special memories with those you love. There’s no better way to do this than by enjoying all that comes with Christmas – from celebrating the birth of Jesus, to festive decorating and delicious feasts.

From all of us at the Academy, have a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous new year.

This article is part of our series reveiwing 2022 articles. Other articles in this series include:
Holiday Survival Tips for Self-Employed Small Business Owners
Reviewing 2022: Project Management, Reducing Paper and Profitable Pricing
2022 in Review: Marketing and Leadership