Tips to grow your business to Full Bloom:

 Establish a clear vision of what you really want.

What does your business look like to you? How much do you want your business to grow? In what amount of time? Consider that ‘bigger’ is not always better. How do you need to grow in your professional development to reach your objectives? Set realistic, time-lined goals with defining measurements.

Move confidently in that direction.

Nurture your business, your employees and your customers with fertilizer in order to grow. Commit to support staff who wish to grow in responsibility with training. Provide solutions to customers before they ask. Do away with oppositional thinking that creates an “Us” and “Them” mindset and limits your ability to grow. And most of all, don’t let self-doubt get in your way.

Take consistent and persistent actions to achieve each level of growth.

Develop an action plan with specific tasks and targeted deadlines. What do you need/want to accomplish today? This week? By the end of the year?

Avoid activities that steer you off course.

Understanding how best to use your limited time is crucial as you grow your business. Develop a mental “yardstick” to apply to every opportunity and be ruthless in your use of it. For example, if you are invited to attend a luncheon meeting and you also have a major deadline, avoid putting yourself in a spot where you are scrambling to accomplish either one. Offer to accept the lunch date on another day, and schedule yourself as “busy” until you meet your deadline.

Surround yourself with positive, like-minded professionals.

We all need a strong support system. Seek out colleagues, business associates and professional organizations that provide expertise, experience and encouragement. Commit to yourself and your colleagues that you will invest time and energy in developing alliances to support each other and your businesses. Over time, alliances help you solve problems, gain perspective and get peer guidance. Learn more about how to succeed at networking.

Continue your professional development and life-long learning.

Keep up with trends in your industry and what is happening in your marketplace. Join your industry’s professional associations to keep up to date with continuing education and knowledge specific for your business. Attend professional association events and network with other business owners facing the same challenges as you are. Share your ideas and be open minded to fresh perspectives and new processes.

Perform with tenacity and perseverance to meet all challenges.

Define what is holding you back. Seek help. Discover resources. Take action so you constantly move forward. Never give up! Learn to think creatively and move out of your comfort zone. Remaining slightly off kilter helps you see problems and solutions from a different point of view, and can yield amazing breakthroughs. Remember, safety is not always the place from which you make your greatest achievement.

Honor your resilience through the process.

Own your successes. Remember to take small moments of time to “stop and smell the posies” like the ones in the photograph above. These grow outside my office and are a seasonal reminder that if we are tenacious, growing a bit each day, we will bloom in full glory as both individuals and as business owners. Appreciation of meaningful achievements breeds satisfaction and reward.

Celebrate your accomplishments as your business reaches “full bloom.”


 

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