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Six habits for business owners who want to excel

‘Have a plan that specifies your goal and lay out a road map to where you want to go’

- GABRIELLA STEYN gabriella.steyn@inl.co.za

BUSINESS owners and entreprene­urs should dedicate the next couple of months working on their business in order to set up for success this year.

This is according to Cape Townbased digital entreprene­ur and coaching specialist Chanelle Segerius-Bruce as she believes that too many business owners, particular­ly women in business, aren’t putting the right foundation­s in place to make for a successful year.

A financial report by Momentum Corporate in September last year shared the same sentiment, stating that South African businesses are losing up to R89 billion a year due to distracted employees that are seen to be unproducti­ve.

Segerius-Bruce said it was time for experience­d entreprene­urs to get ready to advance to the next level.

“I find that lots of women I coach spend a lot of their quality time working in their business, but dedicate very little time on it, and that’s where problems can arise. To truly move a business forward, you have to view your own business as a client and dive deep into every aspect of it and critique it at every touch point.”

Segerius-Bruce adds that a key component to being successful is to know what you want to achieve for the year.

“It also means clearly mapping out monthly milestones of what you want to achieve, your overarchin­g objectives and the strategy needed to move a plan forward. Now that schools are back in full swing, it’s important for mompreneur­s, in particular, to take a step back off the wheel of their business and spend quality time planning out their short- and long-term goals so that there’s a clear path for the year ahead.”

Here are six tips by Segerius-Bruce on how to excel in business this year:

Write out a plan that specifies your goal and then lay a road map for how you’ll get to where you want to go. The plan will change as you progress and learn more about your customers and competitio­n, but it will still help you stay focused and headed in the right direction.

Plan to succeed. Learn from others.

Find a coach, join groups with likeminded people, learn everything you can about your industry and what it takes to get from where you are to where you want to be. Take training courses when they are available. Buy courses offered by experts. You’ll save a tremendous amount of trial and error by learning from people who have been there before.

Understand the difference 3 between working for yourself and building a business.

If you want to build a business, you need to develop systems and methods that allow you to hire other people to DO the work of the business while you strategise and plan. You limit the potential for growth if you don’t bring in other people to work for you.

Never stop learning and trying new things.

What’s profitable now, won’t necessaril­y be profitable next year or 10 years from now. So, don’t let yourself fall into the “this is the way I’ve always done things” rut. Keep your eyes and ears open for new things. Are there newer or better ways to market your products and services? Are customers asking for something you’re not offering? Is there a different type of customer you should be targeting? Get answers by reading everything you can about your industry and listening to your customers.

Analyse your competitio­n.

Competitio­n breeds the best results. To be successful, you can’t be afraid to study and learn from your competitor­s. They may be doing something right that you can implement in your business to make more money.

Always be looking for ways to improve your business and to make it stand out from the competitio­n. Recognise that you don’t know everything and be open to new ideas and new approaches to your business.

Be creative.

 ?? | Supplied ?? DIGITAL entreprene­ur and coaching specialist Chanelle Segerius-Bruce.
| Supplied DIGITAL entreprene­ur and coaching specialist Chanelle Segerius-Bruce.

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