Key Factors of Successful Small Business Owners: Tap Into Them and Thrive
As a professor of entrepreneurship, I am always trying to find the secret sauce for success. While I fully believe that we can all become skillful small business owners, there are certainly areas where those successful entrepreneurs excel. I have been working with The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute over the past two years, and I was fascinated when we identified the Six Key Success Factors from our research. These factors include:
Collaborative. Success-oriented small business owners learn how to delegate effectively to others within their business as well as build strong personal relationships with their management team, employees, consultants, vendors and customers.
Self-fulfilled. Success-oriented small business owners place a high value on the personal fulfillment and gratification that their companies provide them, relishing the self-determination and respect that come from being their own boss and being in control of their personal income and long-term net worth.
Future-focused. Planning for both the short- and long-term future are key traits that characterize success-oriented small business owners.
Curious. Success-oriented small business owners are more open to learning how others run their businesses. They actively seek best practice insights regarding management, business innovation, prospecting and finding / motivating / retaining employees.
Tech-savvy. Technology is a key point of leverage for success-oriented small business owners. They more intensely value their company’s website and are significantly more likely to rely a great deal on technology to help make their business more effective and more efficient.
Action oriented. Finally, success-oriented small business owners are more proactive in taking initiative to build their businesses. They see adversity as “a kick in the rear to help move you forward.” Not surprisingly, they are less concerned than other small business owners about the overall state of the economy.
If you are interested in learning more about these success factors, I invite you to join myself and John Krubski, Research Advisor for The Institute and Founder and Chairman of the International Thought Leadership Council, for a free webinar with The New York Enterprise Report on May 12, 2011, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.
For more information, or to register visit http://www.nyreport.com/successfactors
We certainly hope you will be able to join us!
Patricia G. Greene
President’s Distinguished Professor Of Entrepreneurship