Every entrepreneur wants to crack the million-dollar mark in their first five years – no matter how they measure success.
But what are the golden rules of reaching the million-dollar milestone?
Combining their wisdom and experience, a group of top Australian Entrepreneurs who have each made $1 million revenue within their first five years have come up with the following top 10 tips on how you too can do the same!
Top Ten Tips:
- Don’t compromise on quality. It’s very easy to get excited in the early days, so it’s tempting to be greedy, which can compromise the quality of what you’re selling. Quality builds brands and people will come back for repeated services if you deliver a quality brand.
- No journey starts and ends on the same path. Be prepared to modify or even scrap that business plan you worked so hard on before you launched your business. To survive, you need to be flexible enough to change as you go along.
- Focus on what you do well and outsource what you don’t do well. Find like-minded companies which provide the resources you need and give your company the space and time to focus on its strengths.
- Give yourself time to think. It sounds simple but so many people work 60-hour weeks and don’t have time to reflect on what’s working well and what’s not. Without that, you may continue to follow bad habits and practices.
- Research and be responsive. Take a few minutes each day to do some online research of your competitors to see what they’re up to. Try to stay one step ahead. Use data and analysis to continuously improve your services and to monitor trends.
- Don’t accept everything: it’s really tough and even scary to reject projects that may keep the wheels turning. But taking on the wrong jobs will hamper growth.
- Foster relationships. Partners can be critical to growth and expansion.
- Believe in yourself. You’ll have many doubters and people telling you you’re mad, but you’ve got to stay true to yourself. Don’t die wondering if you have an inner urge to start a business or to take your business in a new direction.
- Stay committed to your business ideals. It will be difficult and stressful but don’t give up.
- Don’t make bets that are too big. Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of investing in something they are not sure will work. Use a small amount of money to test a new idea and invest more if it’s successful. You have to prove you can make $1 before you make $10.