Do you ever feel that the latest “sure fire way to success” just doesn’t gel with you? Or that your business adviser’s success measures don’t mean anything to you? I need to let you know right now that this is ok and you are ok.
Traditionally, business success has been viewed mainly through a financial lens (which is fair enough because business is about making money) and success was seen as building a business that employs staff and that sells for a good price when you are ready to move on. For many people in business today that is still their goal and that is an admiral goal. It just doesn’t have to be the goal for everyone in business.
People are in business for many reasons and have different goals relevant to them. The journey in business is not the same for everyone nor should it be. It can be as individual as the individual. Some people are purely in business because they like being their own boss, or having flexible hours that fit in with raising children, or want to work in a low pressure workplace, for others it might be to fulfil a life goal to pursue a passion.
You are a success if the reason you started your own business has been achieved. How much money you make is up to you, how long you stay in business is up to you and the way you choose to run your business is also up to you. As long as you follow the law and operate ethically, you are free to break business rules that don’t apply to you. I love the definition of success by Tony Robbins “doing what you want, when you want, with who you want.” A business owner I met recently works six weeks on and then six weeks off, travelling the world, fitting in time for surfing and making enough money for now and his future. His business model and goals and not necessarily conventional but wow was he content! This business owner was doing it his way are from what I could gather seemed to have it together and was indeed successful in life and business.
Ailsa Page, Small Business Marketing Expert and Director, AP Marketing Works
