Wednesday 11 January 2012

Positive = Proactive

Aspire2Inspire99

Running your own business requires a lot of positive thinking, but don’t confuse this with dreaming or wishing! Which will not get you very far at all and will most likely result in a number of wasted hours. Remaining positive can be hard work in itself, but in the end will reap huge benefits. You need to keep going when progress is slow, overcome set backs, cope with rejections and learn from criticism rather than taking it to heart.
Remember customers will react much differently to someone who is positive, upbeat and has obvious enthusiasm for what they are doing, rather than a business owner who seems desperate for a sale or even worse like they don’t really care.
How to stay positive when things don’t seem to be going your way?

Firstly start writing down your goal for this month, just doing this will help focus you. A month is long enough to sink your teeth in and make real progress, but short enough to give it some momentum. Now everyday write down what you have done or what has happened to help you achieve this. By keeping a record like this it will remind you of everything positive you have done, how you are moving yourself and your business forward and what you are successfully achieving. Repeat every month!

Another way is to reaffirm one good thing every day, it could be about yourself or your business. It may be an improvement you have made, something new you have tried or a goal you have met. Every day wake up and think of what your successful moment of yesterday was. This will help you start your day in a good mood and with more confidence.

Seek out feedback from your customers and your peers. You can display the positive feedback you receive on your marketing materials or on a page on your website, helping build your businesses positive reputation and increasing consumer confidence.
Whilst this may not seem quite so positive if you receive customer complaints especially if you feel they are unjustified, it can be turned in to a positive action by yourself, by recognizing this as a learning opportunity. Take the criticism and make it constructive. It will help you to improve your businesses processes for example returns or deliveries, how are they organized, or how the customer is kept informed etc. Therefore improving your customer service and the likelihood of future sales.

Finally remember to believe in yourself! Have enthusiasm for what you do and continue to explore what works well for you. If you come face to face with a problem remember to keep the focus on finding a solution, this will help keep your business ahead of the game!

7 comments:

  1. Great advice and thanks for the encouragement.

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  2. Excellent, vital advice.

    Especially significant in January, when sales start to slow and confidence can start to wane...

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  3. REALLY great post! Glad to be a new follower, here from Blogging Buddies. =)

    Kim

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  4. PS - Following you on twitter now too. =)
    ~Kim

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  5. It is important especially at the start of the New Year. Thanks for the follow Kim I have likewise. :)

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  6. Wonderful advice!

    Jesse, Etsy Blog Team *follow me back*

    jesseannedesigns.blogspot.com

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