5 Reasons Why Self-Control is Essential for Entrepreneurs
Discipline in business, otherwise known as “self-control”, is one of the most important qualities when it comes to entrepreneurial success. It doesn’t only help young entrepreneurs establish their brand but also assists long-time business people to expand their business. So, if you’re striving for entrepreneur motivation and success, here are the five reasons to help you further understand the value of self-control for your career:
1. It helps you focus on using resources wisely
You should remember that resources are finite even for the most well-run of companies. It’s not just a small business that needs to constantly bring in investments and have stable cash flows but large corporations as well. By properly using your resources, you can control every aspect of your business from products, to customers, and even taxes, among others.
Whatever business you’re running, resources all pertain to the same three things: money, raw materials, and people. Money is the most common resource that every business owner uses to run their business; without funds, the business simply doesn’t survive. Raw materials refer to the materials needed to manufacture or develop the products that are sold to customers; raw materials don’t come easy and oftentimes require hard negotiations with suppliers. Lastly, people are also resources, probably the most important ones since they do the actual work.
2. It helps you drive down costs
One of the most common billionaire habits is they manage to consistently keep costs down with the help of self-control. Follow this trait to heart and don’t splurge your funds on purchasing unnecessary materials or equipment as if you were going shopping during the holidays. You’ll be bankrupt in no time and you’ll have to spend your remaining funds paying off debts compared to growing your business.
Managing costs particularly costs paid out in installments, can be tricky so make sure to keep a proper check-and-balance in place so that you won’t be confused if ever you’re losing money. If you’re having trouble creating financial statements, seek assistance from an accountant or an individual well-versed in numbers relating to business. By keeping costs down, you can maximize revenue and become a self-made millionaire or billionaire sooner than you think.
3. It helps you deal better with people
Do you think you can close deals when you’re shouting at clients? Or do you feel like your employees will stay in your company if you’re always involved in heated arguments with them? This is where self-control comes in to help you deal with people much better. Successful entrepreneurs don’t just sit in an office like regular office workers and get off at 5 PM. They are constantly in contact with people the entire day, making sure each one performs their role efficiently.
Whether you’re talking with employees, suppliers, or government personnel just to name a few, always practice self-control when issues crop up so that any professional relationship you have with them will not be compromised. Always revolve issues in a diplomatic manner unless if the issue has become too big (e.g. fraud, theft, extortion, etc.) where you’ll eventually need legal help. By practicing self-control and maintaining strong relationships, you can widen your network and have the best chance of achieving self-made success at the fastest time possible.
4. It helps you fend off competitors
Fending off competitors doesn’t just help you rake in more revenue but also helps in developing courage in entrepreneurship ventures. Competition is inevitable when it comes to being an entrepreneur. Even part-time businesses face dozens of competitors in the industries they operate in. With this, you don’t need to revolve your operations around what your competitors are doing. There is a high chance that you will be wasting your resources and there is no guarantee that you can overtake your competition when it comes to market presence and revenue.
It’s very common for businesses to check their competitors every now and then to see how they’re doing (with some even hiring “mystery customers” to do the checking), but it’s never a business model that is sustainable nor ethical. So in your case, make sure to focus on your own entrepreneurial venture and do everything you can to provide the best product or service for your customers. The better your offerings are, the faster they will spread to existing and potential consumers. In other words, let your business do the talking and always avoid being a direct duplicate of your competitors.
5. It helps you create a better long-term plan
The most successful entrepreneurs always plan long-term. Yes, it’s easy to list down everything you want to achieve in your business for the next five to 10 years but the question lies on how you’re going to achieve it. By having self-control, you can avoid being overly optimistic (or pessimistic) when developing long-term plans. With a realistic plan, you can better manage your resources especially when it comes to maximizing investments and limiting costs.
Although it’s not wrong to be overly optimistic (a good number of companies do it by the way when it comes to creating financial forecasts), you should be careful if the items listed in your plan are really achievable with the time frame you set. It is advisable to use business analysis tools such as SWOT analysis, MOST analysis, case modeling, and business process modeling (BPM). These tools won’t just help you manage your resources (and ambitious entrepreneur ideas) more efficiently but also help you give a better analysis of how your business will be dealing with multiple challenges in the future.
Final Thoughts
Self-control has always been at the center of entrepreneurial success stories. With the five items listed above, you should be able to use self-control to your advantage to help you become a successful small business entrepreneur, a large company entrepreneur, or even a social entrepreneur. You may experience difficulties from time to time, but rest assured that long-term success is already a given.
