As Michelangelo said, “A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
So if you are looking for quality business building tips, a great piece of advice this wise old business plan consultant can give you is to build your business with your brains, not your brawn.
Just because you slave away at your office for 14 hours a day does not necessarily mean that you are in any way building a business. It could be that you are just filling in the day.
Activity does not necessarily equate to productivity. Regular attendance and routinely performing your trade or profession are not necessarily your highest payoff activities.
Doing those things may cause you to excel as a self employed, labour only sub-contractor. But that is not building a business. It is buying yourself a job and effectively working with your hands.
You must understand the difference! You build a business when you extend your enterprise beyond yourself. Your aim should be to finally make it independent of you. To build a business that you own yet it doesn’t need you …. Now that’s brains!
Even though other people are involved, building your business is still building an extension of your self. You are its brains, so it inherently carries your strengths, your values, your preferences, and your flaws.
Consequently, you can set yourself up for success or failure before you even open the doors. If you actively seek opportunity, value good advice and surround your self with clever people, then you are setting up for success.
On the other hand, if you are internally focused, cutting corners and trying to do everything yourself then you are in for a rough ride and could be setting yourself up for failure.
There is a certain type of business that will suit you better than others. There is also a type of culture that you will prefer. You will have a particular way of doing things. Your stamp will be all over it, so you should consider planning its design carefully.
That is why a business plan consultant can only guide you and mentor you. They may even help you out with some of the more technical stuff, but at the end of the day it is your business. No one else can (or should) ever plan your business without you.
So instead of looking at business planning as a touchy feely exercise or as a chore to please the Bank manager, view it as your golden opportunity to ‘paint with your brains’.
For more business building tips Brisbane, read my article at:
http://garyweigh.com/starting-up-your-own-business-business-basics
Until next time!
Gary
When planning your 2012 resolutions, think about this! ‘Luck’ is an unexpected outcome that befalls people who generally don’t act; don’t do; and love to procrastinate. Luck plays no part in planning and operating a business or managing risk. What appears to be luck to observers is simply what happens to people who act, do and persevere with it. The more you swing the bat, the more you hit the ball. Funnily enough, luck in business is actually the success you planned for, viewed through the eyes of self doubt. If you can deal with your fear and believe in yourself, then most of the time, what might appear to be luck is no more than you should expect.
