Whether you are running a small cleaning business or a large tech firm, there are a few things that will help you to get ahead in the business world. Why not try the five point guide below to start you out on the route to business success.

1. Stay motivated

Remind yourself of what you want to achieve and why. Do not be afraid to dream big. Use organiser (such as the increasingly popular ‘bullet journal’ method) to ensure that every day is purposeful and productive.

2. Work well with others

There is a common stereotype of business people that they are all huge narcissists with big, competitive egos. However, this is not a necessary condition for business success at all, and in fact, an overly competitive streak can ultimately thwart, rather than aid, your business ambitions. Learning to work as a team, making use of others’ skills and resources, whilst contributing your own skills, resources, and experience are some of the common traits of successful people (The Peoples Success System discusses these traits in more detail). In addition to helping you grow professionally, such positive attitudes can also help you grow personally. Therefore, cultivate business contacts and treat everyone that you meet well – you never know when you might want to partner up with them in the future.

3. Stay organised

An organised approach to all of your projects will help everything to go much more smoothly. Whilst this applies to big aspects of organisational culture, such as a solid IT infrastructure and a careful budget, it also applies to those small details like ensuring that you always have enough of the right stationery. There is nothing so annoying as running out of A4 envelopes just when you need them the most!

4. Have some perspective

Success should not come at any cost. True success in business does not come from compromising your ethics, sacrificing your mental health or screwing over your business contacts. Achieving that balance between what you want and the levels of stress and effort that you are prepared to get it is crucial to enjoying your business success.

5. Learn from your mistakes

In any profession, you will make some mistakes. The important thing is what you do with them afterwards. For example, if you have to cease trading for a while, this can seem like a big thing to have to deal with, and you may have questions such as “when can a company file dormant accounts?” that need answering, but the time that this can buy you to get things sorted out and restructured within your business can lead to a happier, better future for the company. Successful people do not deny their mistakes and pretend that they never happened or insist that it was everyone else who was wrong. Nor do successful people allow themselves to be consumed by their mistakes and feel like they can never continue with their work again. Rather, one of the hallmarks of success is to see ‘mistakes’ as learning experiences: how can you avoid those mistakes in the future? What did you learn about yourself in the process? How can you set things right? And – how can you pass on your wisdom to other, more junior, people in the business world so that they do not make the same mistakes as you did?

Get ready to succeed!

So all that’s left to say is, Believe in yourself, stay motivated, stay organised and of course make sure you have A good business plan and the route to business success will be yours.