Beat The Competition: Self Discipline For Business Success
How would you describe the business landscape in today’s time?
Would you describe it as competitive? Ruthless? Cutthroat, aggressive, or maybe a dog-eat-dog world? Well, all of the above are accurate discussions of how the business world truly is. Indeed a world full of ambition, it is still a world where simple hard work won’t be enough to guarantee success.
Once it was easy to prosper with your business ventures, simply some common sense, a good balance between spending and saving, and the thirst for success. Today it is not that easy. Just like you, there are a hundred thousand young minds out there, with their own ideas and a thirst for success. And competing with all of them is not going to be easy.
Why So Competitive? A Quick Analysis Of The Business World Competition
According to statistics — only 40% of new businesses become profitable after a certain point. And if you are thinking that you can easily make it into that 40% club, then you’re not only ambitious but also a tad bit arrogant.
The truth is that everyone out there is thinking the same. But after a certain point, they are all going to be losing money. No matter how client-specific services you have, or how much of a good businessman you are, it is going to be very hard for you to beat the business world competition.
This increasing competition can be the result of the increase in internet usage and the rise of smart device users. People today have a bigger pool of resources they can dive into and find the one solution that works for them. They are willing to conduct hours of research just to find the perfect match of a solution for them. This can be problematic for your business.
One of the main reasons why businesses might fail can be the lack of self-discipline among business owners. And no, when we say self-discipline, we don’t mean military-style discipline that requires you to wake up at 6 am every morning. We mean the kind of discipline that drives positive growth and success, and sadly enough, in this “live fast die young” world, businessmen are lacking in it.
The rise of big corporations resulted in a very limited amount of space in the market for startups. If you want to take that space for yourself, then you have to find some kind of strength and self-discipline in yourself. And if you are still wondering what kind of self-discipline I’m talking about, you should check out the list below!
Self Discipline: The Key To Business Success
The growth of your business depends on your personal self as much as it does on the market. Having no sense of discipline in individual life can lead to an ultimate business disaster. So, what kind of personal discipline do you need to make it into the world of business?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn and go for a run. The kind of personal discipline we are talking about sustains personal growth and positivity. With this, you’ll feel the positive effects of the business in your personal life as well. Here are a few personal disciplines that are going to help you on your way to business success despite the cutthroat competition.
Think Outside The Box
The first thought in everyone’s mind when starting a corporation is what the majority is doing.
We look at our contenders, how they are solving the client problems, and try to imitate them, but only in a better way. But THIS is not the secret to success.
We have discussed how clients today have a larger pool of resources to pick their solution provider from. During this research period, they would basically compare you along with all the other competitors out there and decide whether investing in your solution is going to be worth it. In order to be successful, you have to break this chain of comparison.
To be unique is one of the most common thoughts today, and yet it is incredibly useful. To be truly successful, not only do you need to think outside the box, but you also have to reinvent the box completely. The key here is to come up with a solution that makes all the other available solutions in the market completely obsolete. When you do THAT, you’ll know that you have started on the path of business success.
Be Patient — Things Take Time
In this world of instant gratification, patience is truly a virtue, especially when you are looking to succeed in the business world.
Let’s try to understand this with an example — both Joe and Dan started a software development company around the same time. After a while, they both made the same investment decisions to increase the annual revenue amount. The investment decision, however, was not effective immediately. While Joe lost his patience and scratched the investment idea fast, because it was not giving him results, Dan stayed patient and stuck with his decision, which ultimately brought him more revenue than he was expecting. In the end, Joe’s business failed, while Dan’s business flourished.
You see the problem with Joe’s decision, right?
The truth is that when controlling a business, you have to be patient with the decisions you take. The world of business is not a food delivery app where your results will be ready after 30 minutes of making decisions. Good business decisions take their time to come to fruition. And that’s why if you’re a business owner, and feel impatient when a business decision is not working out, you have to give it time. After all, all good things come to those who wait!
Plan, Plan, Plan, And Then Plan Some More
Whether you are spontaneous or a planner in your personal life, it doesn’t matter. When it comes to your business, you need to make sure that you know the value of planning ahead of time.
Sure, all the variables that affect the success of your business can not be controlled. But having a plan for all of these variables and their fluctuations can prove to be more than useful.
Let’s think of the present situation, shall we? The global pandemic situation has definitely affected the entire world and businesses around it. Now there are some businesses that planned ahead and already had a remote work from home policy in place. As soon as the self-isolation/quarantine measures started in effect, these companies executed their plan. And now they are working smoothly from home, without any hitches and slowdown in their productivity levels.
Now, what happened to the companies and businesses that didn’t have any plans in place? Well, they had to scramble around and try to make sense of the situation before making a plan, which means delayed action.
Having a plan in place helps you to make the right decision at the right time, which means there won’t be any kind of slowdown in your business growth. Planning and executing the plan at the right time will help you to prepare for anything.
Be The Master Of Your Own Thoughts
We all have around 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts every day. All these thoughts in our head can seriously impact the success of the business venture.
For this reason, controlling the thoughts in our mind is more important than we think it is. Being able to capture all the thoughts and ideas and turning them into action is important to achieve success in the competitive market.
Controlling and channeling the thoughts in our mind is one of the most important self-discipline we can use to achieve business success. Without it, we won’t be able to conduct any kind of business decision with the much-needed clarity.
Leave Some Room To Breathe
Calling oneself a workaholic may seem trendy, but in reality, being a workaholic is actually more harmful to you and your business than you think.
Working for hours might seem like the best way of beating the competitive market. But at the end of the day, it affects both individual and business life. Too much work stresses us and makes us question if all this is worth it.
Not to mention, the long work hours will affect your personal life as well, which in turn will affect your business. So, do yourself a favor and leave yourself some room to take a break.
See Also: 5 Effective Tips To Maintain A Healthy Work-Life Balance
Stay Healthy For Success
We have all grown up hearing the phrase “health is wealth”. As children, it sounded silly, but as adults and business owners, this phrase seems too real.
Being healthy is definitely key to success. If you are sick and bedridden for days because you did not take care of your body, then you will be nowhere near being successful. Hence, fostering good and healthy habits, along with a positive mindset is crucial for your business success.
The tough competition of the business world demands business owners to be at the prime of their health. They have to keep up with healthy and happy habits that lead to better success for your business venture.
See Also: The 11 Most Important Rules For Healthy Eating
Believe In Self Sufficiency
For a business to be really successful, you have to ensure that it is self-sufficient.
It is important for the organizations to have the right kind of investments, that is true, but the more outside investment you have, the less of control you have on your business. That’s why today’s startup methodologies such as Lean startup and Bootstrapping are becoming popular. With these methodologies, startup owners can start with as small an amount of investment as needed, and then eventually grow their companies from the revenue earned.
These methods are not spoofs, but the real deal. Developing a self-sufficient business that does not need any other investment to run itself is the key to beating the competitive market. If you’re still skeptical, then read up on the benefits of bootstrapping your organization.
So What’s The Last Thought?
The matter of self-discipline has always been portrayed as something we HAVE to practice, not something we need to in order to succeed. However, with a little bit of personal and professional discipline and, along with positive and practical thinking, we have better chances of really succeeding in the competitive market landscape!
