How to stay focused as a small business owner

When you start a business it takes quite a long time or years before it becomes something worthwhile. Most big businesses today started without the intention of the owners seeing it become big. They were trying to survive, then accidentally it became a big company. In Ghana, I understand Osei Kwame Despite used to sell cassettes in small quantities like the guys today who sell theirs on the  road. Then he found a store, soon he was able to buy more and not only retail but whole sale, now he was able to produce some musicians, when he had enough money he branched into radio and TV stations. Then he branched again into foods, this way (drink), Neat fufu, this way mother lack.   A long way indeed. Some of the small business owners we see on the roads, those who carry them on their heads, some in small stores are the future big international businesses. If it is a school, like my remedial classes, it’s only a classes in the beginning, then a primary school, JHS, SHS, and maybe a university finally; a series of metamorphosis.

When we see it we also want something like that. We start deliberately and we use what we learned at school hoping to make a hit quickly. Some of these international entrepreneurs did not go to school like Despite or at most are college dropouts. We tell ourselves that we are better than them because we are graduates. But soon we find we can’t do our own businesses, we lack the patience to wait to see it work. It took some 9 years and others all their life before their companies are what it is today; it was even a gamble because you can give it all your life and nothing comes out of it. I have a friend who has been at it for 12 years and nothing significant has come out of it. With every rule having an exception, some too start and make a hit within some few weeks or months. Remember when I talk about small business it is open; music album, dance, food, store etc.

Lack of finances, planning, land, environmental conditions, understanding of the business and purpose sometimes make businesses take long before the engine starts. After waiting they develop enough strength to conquer these ills. So starters have one big problem, keeping their head straight while they wait for their day. I call this mentality. 

When you start your own business you are in a hurry to make a hit, especially when you are a graduate. You feel you are superior so success is yours by force. Your friends are working in big places, taking big salaries and driving cars and you want to measure up quickly. Now you start and you are been hit by series of difficulties and failures. Your family does not have time to wait for you so they shout at you, ‘go get a job!’ Now you lose your heard (Mentality).

At first you were enthusiastic but now you are lukewarm. You don’t follow your plans with the strictness that you used to. You don’t want to put in the money that you have any more. You talk negative, you complain, ‘my business sucks my money too much’ and you forget that young businesses are babies who only suckle and have not reach the age to take care of their parents. You need to keep your head.

There is a difference between mentality and tactics. Mentality is keeping your head straight while tactics is skills you use to do your work. A person can be skilled (tactics) but if he is not dedicated (mentality) you’d get nothing out of him. Football and boxing coaches like to psyche (mentality) their players up so that they can give off their best. When you have good mentality, you believe in what you are doing, you are self confident, dedicated, tenacious, and persistent and so on. Those drop outs that made it had no choice but to be persistent because they didn’t school so they did not have an option to look for work. They didn’t have certificate and so tenacity and persistence came naturally to them. As for you, you have a degree so you often have a split of decision almost every day! One minute you are doing your own job and another minute you are looking for a job. You are looking at two places which lead to a diffusion in your actions. You talk even changes, ‘I am just doing this to get by, and I shall get a job soon’. 

When your mind dies your actions die too. How well you perform is determined by how well you stay focused. Ventures are babies that you need to give your life to. In the end they might reward you or disappoint you, that’s how children are. Even companies open branches and not all of them succeed. The other day I saw the branch of a certain bank closed on Monday and I thought ‘it didn’t go well for these people in spite of all the money they have’. But such firms have more advantage than you the small business person. They have a host of professionals, money, years of experience, the government on their side and everything that can make a business work. Basically the only thing that spoils their ventures is natural disasters and civil wars and things like that. 

Guard Your Mentality 

This is the right mind to keep; a hunter mentality and a farmer mentality. With a hunter mentality your focus is only on one thing, you learn to function or become good at one thing. So if you had a classes like me, you might focus more on the marketing and administration and you employ one or two teachers to teach. If you do everything you’d soon find out your efforts are spread so thing that your efforts become nothing, business collapses. Using a farmers mentality also means that you serve as an overseer and make sure all the areas of your business are functioning properly. 

 Have plans. Someone said if you don’t know where you are going you would get anywhere. Plans are maps you follow so that when your mentality is down you’d  know instantly because you’d see you’ve changed direction.

Keep the right people. Some people would discourage you. Keep close to the likes of you or somebody who loves what you are doing and can give you morale support.

Burn down your bridges. I read about a soldier who when on the battle field would destroy all the bridges so that they couldn’t run away, his people now knew they had one option to succeed or die. If you want to be persistent you need to burn down your bridges which is not a realistic thing to do as a small business man or woman. Your business is not grown yet to take care of you so you have to do other jobs to support it. However, burning down your bridges implies you stop applying for that job that would take away all of your 24hrs.

Be patient. I think this is the most difficult aspect. Your girlfriend or family would do everything to make you change your mind. Some knockouts from Mr. Failure would make you lose your patience. Your friends who are working in other big firms would make you jealous and impatient. The choice is yours to wait and oh yes, you might have to wait for years. During the waiting period things would be happening to turn the table on the right side. The environment would change to favor your business, you’d get to understand the business better and so on.

Be studious. Your business grows in proportion to your mental growth. These great men who were college dropouts today are better than our favorite MBA graduates; no wonder they are employing and paying the MBA graduates. Some of them need to be awarded PHDs and be Knighted. Let these great men pick any young person and teach him/her how to do business and I guarantee the person would do better than what some professor somewhere would teach. They learned privately and have done wonders to help their families and humanity. When you graduate, your learning time should rather quadruple. 

Stay focused by not having  seconds thoughts, you never know what the future holds.