Having a dream of a business you wish to succeed in is great, but only as long as you are doing something about making that dream reality. If you go on about it without making any steps towards it, that beautiful and inspiring idea will slowly make your life sour, and you will feel unfulfilled even if you do become relatively successful and have a good life.
Everyone who has ever wanted to start a business knows the fear and all the reasons that can keep you from doing it. They would also tell you that it’s better to try and fail than to never make any attempts and regret it. There is, of course, no recipe that would work for everyone. Otherwise, this article wouldn’t even exist. Nevertheless, if you examine the general tips successful people have to share, it’s easy to see there are some common suggestions about reaching your goal.
Dream Big, Dream Real, Dream Reasonably
Your dream should always be pushing you forward. So, simply dreaming of starting a business or founding a company is not enough, because once you do it, the feeling of accomplishment might lull you into a false sense of security, make you disinterested in running that business, and, eventually, destroy it not long after its inception.
No, you should set a goal of what your ultimate vision of your business should look like, the one that you want to reach in the next 5, 10, or 20 years. It should be something grand yet plausible. For example, becoming so successful in your business that you buy Microsoft may not be the easiest thing to realize. Although still possible since the world knows quite a few examples of successful startups that became multibillionaire corporations in just a few years, it’s doubtful that their founders had such ambitions from the very beginning. Most likely, they adjusted their goals over time, seeing the rate at which they were reaching their current idea of success.
Besides, you should take into account the nature of your business, look at the most successful representatives, and aim at becoming slightly more successful than they are at first. Maybe you don’t want to become another Mark Zuckerberg, maybe you’ll be more comfortable being at the helm of a moderately large company that grants you steady income and is the best in your local area or industry.
Take, for example, Homeworkfor.me, a writing company that provides help to students. It’s a successful website based on a great concept that offers specific services, and there’s not much you can do about expanding it. The most logical thing for the people behind this service to strive for is hiring more expert writers so that they can serve more customers and offer coverage of a wider range of subjects. It just doesn’t make sense for such a company to launch a streaming service and start creating TV shows with Hollywood A-listers, it’s fine where it is.
Set Checkpoints on Your Way to Your Vision
Once you have the final goal (which is not really final as you get closer and closer to it), you need to make a plan of what your smaller achievements on the way to it should be. If you don’t do it, your end game will seem too ambitious and daunting, constantly making you feel like you will never reach it and that the current status of the business is infinitely far from it. That is why setting milestones is extremely important. Start with something smaller, something that can be done in six months, three months, a month, or even the first week. By accomplishing each of them, you will feel like you are on the right track, and it will give you a boost to reach the next checkpoint, which should be a bit more daring than the previous one.
And don’t just set those intermediate goals as you go, write them down right now to have a clear understanding of what your plan is. This is going to be your road map, which can still be adjusted later. If you feel like the next milestone is too hard to reach, you might want to set one a bit closer just to elevate your spirit and motivate yourself to be more successful during this next period, compensating for previously losing speed.
Tell People, Meet People, Find the Right People
Don’t carry your business dream in your head, keeping only as some concept for some distant future. Share it with your friends and family, and don’t worry if they don’t get your vision and try to discourage you, that’s another reason to tell them about it. That should motivate you to prove them wrong by doing what you intend to do and achieving success.
Now that you feel accountable for your words, you should also share your idea with some of your current coworkers or potential business partners. Whatever your dream is, it will probably need more people than you alone to achieve it, so having someone else who is passionate about it by your side will help immensely. Not only will you be able to combine your experience, but they may inspire you when you feel that it’s just not working out.
Finally, acquaintances are very important in the business world. So once your business is up and running, keep looking for people you could get advice from or collaborate on some projects. The more people you know, the more people you help in some way, the more connections you will have that will land some wonderful opportunities in the future.
Although most of us want to be the leaders in our dream companies, you may learn that you are not great at some things. Surround yourself with a team of people who can contribute to your company’s success. Don’t be afraid letting someone else being in charge of some things, they may have a greater experience, and everyone should appreciate your ability to step aside from time to time and let someone else do what they can do best.
