Entrepreneurship is not an easy journey and everyone who has put their foot on the journey needs to develop a clear strategy from the beginning.
The major factors in success are discipline and strategy. We need to apply them in our lives and should be aware of its importance.
In the journey of entrepreneurship, you are the captain of your own ship, they are especially important, because, without vision and strategy, you will not be able to face and survive the storms.
Realizing, I have developed a 9P business strategy to help people who want to take the path of entrepreneurship.
Through all my years of trial and error, I have come up with a proven formula that will increase sales and help you to achieve your goals faster and more efficiently than you would have on your own.
1. Perspective
Often when we talk about entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial growth, we narrow it down to sales objectives, hiring the right talent and other such objectives, but often we miss the most important factor: perspective. In entrepreneurship, perspective is about having the mindset of an entrepreneur.
In fact, mindset is most often the dividing line between those who are successful in life and those who are not.
It is important to have the mindset of an entrepreneur rather than that of an employee.
It may be a new shift but it’s worth it.
Some might have the perspective of an entrepreneur from the beginning, whereas others might develop it. But in both cases, the mindset of a successful entrepreneur cannot be created overnight. Rather, it is a process that needs to be nurtured over time.
Often, when you do not have the mindset of a successful entrepreneur or have a positive mindset you will suffer from
- Confusion
- Lack of courage
- Regrets
- Non-appreciation of time, relationship and job
- Dissatisfaction
- Negativity
- Self- doubt
All these can lead to frustration and challenges in everyday life. With the right perspective, you will develop the skills to view your path clearly and have the courage to follow your dreams and ambitions.
2. Passion
In the everyday grind of our lives, we often forget what our passion is.
But to be a successful entrepreneur—or even to live your life to the fullest—it is important to be clear about your passion.
As an entrepreneur, there is nothing more satisfying than turning your passion into a business.
The love, drive, and ambition to do what you do, and the ability to see things differently than others—that is passion.
For entrepreneurs, passion is the motivation to serve the world in a way that others can only envision.
For example, Jeff Bezos had the vision to create a digital store that sells everything as well as the passion to build it. Steve Jobs had the vision to create a phone with only a single button on the front of the screen as well as the drive to build it.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin, said that without passion for your business you will lack the following qualities:
- Drive
- Ambition
- Positive emotional arousal
- Engagement
- Commitment
- Confidence in your vision
- Persuasion skills
The absence of all these salient qualities that are mandatory for running a successful business will eventually result in fewer earnings, which will lead to your failure as an entrepreneur.
3. Pain
Any normal person will avoid pain at any cost, and emotional pain is often considered to be a form of punishment. The overwhelming feeling at times becomes unbearable.
However, experts are of the opinion that emotional pain is necessary for our growth; it makes us emotionally stronger. Emotional pain can leave important messages for us and can often become turning points and leverage us toward success.
Let’s consider emotional pain and its importance in the entrepreneurship. This is a condition where a person is overwhelmed with feelings of sadness, guilt, shame, depression, and fear. When we are exposed to these feeling for a prolonged period of time, they will affect our physical condition and can also translate into physical pain.
As an entrepreneur, we should be aware of each kind of pain and identify them. Identifying them will help you to process the situation and the messages that they have left for you.
Without identifying the painful incidents in your life, you will fail to:
- Realize the importance of life, family and friends
- Gain a clear focus and purpose in life
- Make any positive changes to your life
- Create the impetus to achieve something more
It is not always possible to use pain as a positive force in life. A coach can help you do that. Coaches are equipped to put that pain in perspective and use it as a symbol of courage that grants you the power to do better in life. As an entrepreneur, you will always need courage and determination to succeed. Pain can be used by you to gain the emotional strength required for success.
4. People
We are social beings. It is impossible for us to survive without the support of other people.
Even as an entrepreneur, you will need the support of people to succeed.
To become a successful entrepreneur, it is crucial that we surround ourselves with supportive people, who will provide us with positive energy and be champions of our dreams and ventures.
As an entrepreneur, when you have a group of people who share the determination to achieve the same goal that you envision, then by definition you have a team.
The success of a business often rests as much on the team as it does on its founder. Selecting a group of people who will support you is important.
Without a supportive group of people on your road to success, you will fail to:
- Impress investors
- Execute your plans
- Define the culture of your start-up
- Have people who will complement your skills
- Have people who will bring synergy to your efforts
- Have people who will support you
As an entrepreneur, you have to arm yourself with people who can help you and your business grow. Start looking for people who can help you.
5. Positioning
If you decide to enter the world of entrepreneurship and marketing, you will hear the term ‘positioning’ quite a lot.
Every company, brand, and entrepreneur tries to position their product.
In this day and age, everyone wants a clear and tight position in the market, allowing them to make their claims stick in the minds of prospective customers.
In the world of marketing, ‘positioning’ refers to how you differentiate your service or product from that of your competitors while deciding which market niche you intend to fill with your product or service.
For any new company, the last part—that is, positioning—is crucial because without it an entrepreneur will fail to:
- Identify a gap in the market
- Find a niche in the market
- Find a target audience
- Identify competitors
- Create a unique selling position for your own product
Positioning your business or product will allow you to know how your business or product will suit the target market’s requirements.
By identifying your industry positioning along with your timeline positioning, you will know how to project your product with respect to the needs of the target market.
Ultimately, this positioning will help you establish your business’s brand identity or image so that consumers will perceive it in a certain way.
6. Prepare
‘Prepare’ refers to where you start your business-related actions.
You are well prepared when you have done your homework on yourself first by sorting out the strengths and weaknesses of your skills as they relate to your business.
Knowing something at a high level is not good enough to lead a business. You need to polish your skills, do deeper research on what else needs to be done. For example, if your business has any connection to recent technology, then you need to be up to date on those technologies and how they have been implemented in similar industries.
Ideas are important for a business. However, preparing yourself with proper skills and resources is more important.
Many people have not only good but great ideas. However, they do not develop their skills. Complacency, laziness, contentment arising from the contemplation of the idea without taking the proper follow-up action, and so on—these are the common causes that explain why people fail despite their great business ideas.
Preparation often involves deeper research, the investigation into what you can do to be triumphant in your endeavours.
7. Product
At this stage, you will be focusing on your product (or service). It is a common trend that people jump into marketing their product once they decide to do business. But I suggest you should do extensive research on your product or service.
The following questions can help you:
- What is the demand for your product?
- What are the similar products or services already on the market?
- How is your product or service different from the others?
You need to have a thorough knowledge of your own product as well as similar products with high market demand.
You must also have similar knowledge of businesses that have been successful.
If you do these things, then you will be able to set a high standard in making your own product unique.
You will be able to have informed pricing and presentation strategies, which will allow you to compete with existing competitors in the market.
Remember your product or service must be relevant to the customer, not the company.
8. Promote
‘Promote’ refers to the make it or break it strategy of your business: How you will design your product or service and how you will be reaching your targeted clients.
In a nutshell, your marketing strategy is the key to success for your business. Until a few years ago, marketing strategies would vary between products and services. However, recent market trends have followed a common path: digital marketing.
Digital marketing is available and accessible anywhere, anytime, by anyone and has become the most popular marketing platform.
Becoming a market leader depends on the branding of your product or service. Your branding should be comprehensive.
It should make your brand name familiar with a wide range of people, have visual appeal (the look and feel/aesthetics), and open up opportunities for referrals through word of mouth— both real life and virtual—and so on.
By doing this, you will create a trust factor regarding your product/business.
Without proper promotional strategies, there will always be a chance that your business/products/services will remain unnoticed among many competitors.
9. Profit
Profit is the money a business pulls in after accounting for all expenses.
Profit is something this program is designed to get you.
Tony Robbins has a plan listed on his website about how to achieve profit and as you will see, my program includes some of these strategies too.
These are his top strategies to make and increase profit:
- Think in terms of small steps
- Identify what is holding you back
- Find where you can drive growth
- Add real value to your customers
- Focus on strategic innovations
- Supercharge your connections
- Customize your engagement
- Make a plan of action
- Track your progress
