How to Differentiate a Successful Business Owner from One Who Struggles

Entrepreneurship is a challenging endeavor. There are some factors that differentiate successful business owners from those who struggle or even fail. 

Planning 

The stark reality is that planning is a recurring reason differentiating between successful business owners and those who struggle or fail. Many people presume that planning is a major task for all business owners. While it should be, it oftentimes does not happen. 

A successful business owner engages in short term and long term planning. Planning includes the delineation of milestones and achievable goals and concrete results. 

Differentiation 

Another reason some business owners are successful and others are not is because of product or service differentiation. In the grand scheme of things, having a great product or service is not enough to place a business on the pathway to success. Rather, a business needs to establish aa unique value proposition for its products or services. A business needs to set itself apart from the competition because of its unique value proposition. 

Leadership 

Business owners who enjoy marked success have strong leadership abilities. Some aspects of leadership may be innate. However, when it comes to comparing successful business owners and those that are not, those who are successful are entrepreneurs who avail themselves of guidance from mentors, including learning about leadership practices and techniques. 

Capital 

A successful business owner understands the vital importance of having an appropriate level of capital. This includes operating capital, an element of enterprise operations that is sometimes not properly focused on by a business owner. The epitome of a struggling business owner is one lacking in an appropriate level of operating capital. He or she is a business owner that has issues paying bills on time and lacks the resources necessary to grow and expand a business. 

Learn from Failure 

Failure is a part of running a business. Rare is the business owner who doesn’t experience some type of failure here and there. The issue is not the fact that something or another didn’t work out as initially desired. Rather, what separates successful business owners from the pack is that those that succeed get beyond mistakes and learn from them. 

Scaling 

Properly scaling a business is another tactic of a successful entrepreneur. What that really means is that a successful business owner knows when to begin growing his or her enterprise. Premature scaling will end up throwing a business off the rails and put it on course towards failure. 

Profit 

A successful business owner keeps his or her eyes on profit. Simply, revenue is not the same as profit. Profit is what allows for growth and success. Only 40 percent of small businesses are profitable. 30 percent break even. 30 percent of all enterprises lose money. 

Inventory Management 

Another attribute of a successful business owner is the ability to establish protocols to properly and effectively manage inventory. Too little inventory harms sales. On the other hand, too much inventory harms profitability. 

Focus 

A successful business owner hones his or her ability to focus. An unsuccessful business owner is one who loses focus when a problem arises or something goes somewhat awry. Because he or she loses focus, what starts of as a more minor issues can end up being a major problem inn a fairly short period of time. The inability to focus also results in a business owner not being able to make necessary adjustments when needed. 

Pivot 

A business owner who enjoys success if also one who is able to pivot. By that it is meant that he or she is able to readily make a move from a strategy that might be less effective than initially anticipated. 

Money 

A successful business owner doesn’t turn a business account into a personal piggy bank. Rather, a successful business owner is structured and responsible when it comes to the management and utilization of business account funds. 

Unexpected Events 

A difference between a successful business owner and one that is not centers on the an ability to respond to unexpected events. Perhaps the only thing that you can be certain about in business is that unexpected events will occur in the operation of a business enterprise. 

Believe in Yourself 

Yet another quality of a successful business owner is a belief in his or her self. A successful business owner has a fundamental belief in his or her abilities. 

Mission 

Not only does a successful business owner establish a mission for the enterprise itself, but he or she as personal mission as well. A successful business owner has his or her mission and associated milestones that mark the pathway to achievement.

Jessica Kane is a writer for Every USB, where you can create your very own custom usb drive for your brand or company.