Successful Entrepreneurs Think Long-Term

 Many people who start a side business do it with the intention of building a business that they can replace their full-time income with. But, a lot of people start a business with short-term thinking of making money immediately by putting in limited and very little investment in terms of time and money. However, building a business is a long-term game. Many businesses do not see a great amount of revenue for a while, perhaps up to a year depending on what business you are building. 

Thinking long-term is vital to be a successful entrepreneur because that will keep you committed to growing your business and not ditch it because your unrealistic goals are not reached. 

This mindset difference is what separates the successful business owners to the ones who are unsuccessful. Those who stick with it, give it a real chance by putting in effort and hard work and prioritise providing great value and service are more likely to see the returns. If you give something a genuine effort and you do not see positive results then it might be a sign to give up, you could come back to it later or move on to something that would be more worth your time. 

It is really important to recognise when something is or is not worth your time, but being able to make this distinction and decision will only be possible when you are thinking long-term rather than being impatient and short-sighted.

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How Thinking Long-Term Leads to a Successful Business?

1. Making Better Decisions

When you think long-term you are likely to have a successful business because you will make better decisions. There are a lot of decisions that need to be made in a business, product / service to offer, rates to charge clients, resources to purchase - software to employees, and so many more. 

The decisions you make in your business will have an impact on its success. If you are making decisions with only your short-term goals in mind, those decisions are likely to be damaging to the future success of your business. For example if you have a large revenue goal when you’re just starting out, have not tested your business idea and no experience then you are likely to get frustrated when certain strategies are not getting you those outrageous results you hoped for. This frustration and impatience can impair your ability to make decisions that are beneficial for your business. 

You might hop from strategy to strategy and from service to service hoping that something will get you to your short-term goals. Doing this will make your business unable to grow and thrive because you just are not giving the service you offer and the strategies you use time and the effort they need to succeed. When you think long-term you are able to analyse and distinguish what is working for your business, what you should continue doing and what needs to be ditched. But, conducting these decisions can be challenging when you are being short-sighted in your business and often might end up making the wrong decision.

By recognising that success in your business will take time and effort you will be able to control your emotions and make better decisions that serve your business. In case you do make a wrong decision you will not be overcome by a wave of negative emotions and thoughts because you have decided on this for the long-term therefore you will not suffer mentally and emotionally. 

2. Deliver Great Quality to Customers

Thinking long-term in your business and not aiming for instant success will allow you to develop your skills, improve your services and offerings and build your portfolio so that you can deliver great quality to your future customers. 

Instead of aiming to have a large audience that you can sell your service to right at the start of your business so you can hit your large revenue goal and feel successful that you have this large number of clients, your goal in the short-term should be to build and develop your skill and improve your business offering and idea. Working initially with a small number of clients will allow you to evaluate:

• What exactly are the needs of your client

• Who your ideal client is

• How can you improve your service to increase the value of your service

• What your rate should be

• Is there another opportunity in the market that you feel is better suited to you

Being able to answer these questions would make you more successful when you do become visible to a large audience because you will be able to convert that large audience more. The audience will be able to see your successful portfolio, understand the value from your offering and your service will be curated to fit their needs. This will convert more and increase your revenue. If you get exposure to a large audience right at the start you might not convert as much which would impact your revenue and this might lead you to feel unsuccessful and give up.

3. Invest in Your Business 

Building your business over the long-term will allow you to increase the capability you have to serve your clients better and increase your revenue. By thinking long-term you will be able to invest in your business to have access to software, applications and resources that can increase the quality of your business and the value that your customers gain. Investing in your business can require large capital but it will grow your business significantly. 

Those who think short-term will be unwilling to invest in their business, invest in hiring talent and investing in their own skill and knowledge. This can damage the potential of your business and limit its growth.  Having this long-term mindset when it comes to your business means that you will be proactive and open to opportunities to invest in yourself and your business. This will realise greater revenue and profit in your business.

Even if you are creating a lifestyle / personal business where you are only looking to make income for yourself and not grow it to hire a team, thinking long-term will allow you to understand the value of investing in software, equipment, services such as legal and finance and in courses and educational resources. These investments will make it easier for you to run your business, be more efficient with your time and deliver more value to your clients which will help you to stay in the market for longer.

You do not have to invest heavily initially, you can set aside investment funds as you start to bring in revenue and put that towards developing your skills, improving and efficient equipment and software and additional help through freelancers.

Thank you for reading

 

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. I would love to know what business you are building on the side and how this post has helped you. Thank you.