We are celebrating our 10th anniversary this month and wanted to share some lessons learnt along the road for Running A Successful Business! The business world is moving forward tremendously, and everyone wants to turn their business into a success. However, not everyone has the necessary skills, experience, or resources. To make that process easier, and keep you one step ahead, here are the 1o things we have learned over a decade of running a successful business.
Here are 10 Things We Know After 10 Years of Running A Successful Business;
1. One of the most crucial aspects of any job is the team you keep.
The first order of Running A Successful Business is to express our gratitude to everyone who has assisted us. Everyone who has helped us over the last decade—from our wonderful customers to our dedicated staff—deserves a heartfelt thank you. We should also highlight our close friendship. Although we’ve been friends for 30 years it’s our similar work ethic which has truly made One To Three work.
We count ourselves extremely fortunate to have one another, and we keep in constant contact with one another, sharing our thoughts and ideas and discussing anything from the most recent inquiry to the progress we’ve made on a joint project. Without each other, we doubt that One To Three could function.
2. You won’t win every project and that’s ok
Still to this day, we find ourselves laughing at the thought of our very first encounter with a potential customer. We wore high heels and lipstick, brought a PowerPoint presentation on a massive laptop (we didn’t have the budget for sleek Macbooks back then), and had business cards and other promotional materials ready when we landed in Windsor. We can’t even recall what the prospect was hoping to achieve from this meeting, we’ve stated to each other. Our PowerPoint presentation followed the script, and we told him everything we’d ever done in marketing. Unsurprisingly, he learned nothing.
Though, we never again arrived at a meeting with “all the stuff and no concept,” proving that no experience is ever wasted. Now, we take great satisfaction in being “just us,” in asking the proper questions of a potential customer during a 1-on-1 meeting or a huge client pitch, and in being prepared for both for Running A Successful Business.
3. don’t be afraid to decline.
Some of you may recognize this melody from the TV show “Grange Hill.” It took us quite some time to understand that it’s okay to turn down jobs, but now that we have, we can look back on it as a huge lesson learned. The project may be too large or too little, the skills may not be a good match, or there may be a conflict with the customer.
The word “no” is not an insult. In fact it’s a terrific word since used in the right place at the right moment saying no is tremendously powerful (and has most definitely kept us sane over the years) (and has most certainly kept us sane over the years and empower us in Running A Successful Business).
4. Collaborate with other experts
Simply stating that we cannot take on a certain project is often the first step in connecting the client with the persons most suited to take on that project. We always give prospective customers the straight story when they contact us to know the story of Running A Successful Business.
Some possible customers have even commented on how nice it is to hear the truth for a change. So if someone needs a complicated Facebook Advertising campaign, or operating an all singing all dancing Google Ads campaign, we surround ourselves with professionals who we can direct them to.
5. Know your skill set and where you want to work
When we originally opened our doors in 2010, we provided a wide range of marketing services, including but not limited to corporate communication channels, event management, and public relations. Over time, though, we’ve come to understand the best ways to serve our customers and, more significantly, the kinds of work that we find most fulfilling.
We’ve come a long way since 2010, and one of our proudest accomplishments is our rise to prominence as social media and search engine optimization (SEO) instructors in high demand for Running A Successful Business.
We put in the time and effort, and now we’re experienced trainers who host regular group and one-on-one courses for local companies in Bucks and Berks.
We still get a rush of adrenaline just before running a race or Running A Successful Business, but it’s a sign that we’re learning and improving as athletes.
Knowing the areas you want to work in and how you want to work can undoubtedly make your career more fun. Although we collaborate with many different businesses, when new business inquiries come our way, we know exactly which ones we will be able to aid the most; this is how our company will expand in the future with the assistance of our support staff.
6. Push out of your comfort zone
While it’s often a good idea to decline opportunities, occasionally you’re presented with a massive project that seems out of your league, but you have the expertise to pull it out. There have been many times when we’ve been requested to speak in front of enormous crowds or visit far-flung locations. In addition, we’ve used webinars and other forms of online training to expand our educational offerings to countries all around the globe (as far a field as the USA and Canada).
Some of our bigger customers have undergone significant transitions, including leadership changes and extensive meetings. The sheer magnitude of this undertaking, however, should not discourage us. The fact that “little old us” has been a part of such massive undertakings is often hard to believe. However, breaking out of your routine and trying something new may be quite rewarding (and also makes the day-to-day stuff seem so much easier and helps in Running A Successful Business).
7. Networking
Joining a networking organization is the single greatest choice we took for our firm. In addition to bringing in new customers, it has also provided us with invaluable resources for outsourcing, education, and friendship.
We both joined WIBN in Maidenhead in 2010 to get our feet wet in the networking world. We were instantly transported back to our dreaded Advanced Placement English class with Mrs. Jones, where we sat in unison, dreading the day that she dared to ask us a question regarding Chaucer.
It didn’t take long until we had the courage to go out and make contacts alone. After all, WIBN and Athena were full with wonderful, supportive women, many of whom we still keep in touch with today.
8. The triumph of flexible scheduling!
The reason we started One to Three Marketing was so that we could schedule our work around our family, and we’ve been able to accomplish just that. We like being able to pick up and drop off our kids at school, as well as attend sporting events and theater productions, without having to sacrifice our careers. Some days we may not be at our desks much at all, but the world doesn’t stop spinning and we can work that evening.
We now have additional virtual members of our team that perform regular work for us and we don’t mind whether they work at 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning! We strongly support flexible scheduling and believe that its use will become more widespread in the future for Running A Successful Business.
We’ve also realized it’s fine to let folks know our hours. We don’t want to be in client meetings or on conference calls while our children are home from school (even though they are all adolescents now) and all of our clients are absolutely respectful of this about Running A Successful Business (and in fact plenty of them work in a similar fashion) (and in fact lots of them work in a similar way).
9. It’s alright to be content with where you are
Many people mean well when they suggest that we expand our company, hire more people, and even even open a shared office space. Whilst occasionally these ideas enter our minds we realize that what we now have works well for us and our family. Although retiring in the Caribbean is appealing, we have no interest in growing our firm to the point where it may be floated on the public market.
Seriously, we believe it’s fair to state we’re pleased with what we’ve got and we don’t want to be managing teams of people and working greater hours than we do today. That’s not to suggest we’re not ambitious and that we don’t want to succeed in Running A Successful Business. We’re simply pleased with what we have. It’s more vital for us to have time in our hectic schedules to get in some exercise, go on a dog-jog or even meet up for one of our board walks
10: demonstrating the successful integration of personal and professional relationships
There were a few cynics when we joined forces in 2010. Would there be an implosion in our friendship? Should business put our relationship to the test? Now, those skeptics can just look at us and laugh! While we can’t guarantee that our method will work for everyone, we do have the good fortune to have a common philosophy on business and life, and it’s safe to say that in all of our ten years together, we’ve never had a serious disagreement. We’ve got each other’s backs, tell each other the truth, and wouldn’t work with anybody else and got success in Running A Successful Business.
Bottom line:
Running a successful business is definitely an extraordinary thing. We have learned a lot from our 10 years of journey and we want you to fulfill your dream of a successful business. This blog could be a crucial guide for running a successful business, so save this for later.