 Starting a new business is way easier than running each to the point where you succeed and remain relevant for a long time. It's easy to think that you've read and studied all that there is in your industry so you're ready to take over. Well, I'm pretty sure most people think that way too. However, in building a successful business, it isn't all about your field. There are certain qualities and habits you should develop to help your organizational skills and knowledge of your would soon be industry. Here's something that you should always remind yourself. Every business has competitors and until you've been in the position to outdo your competitors successfully, you can't boast of your ability to do so. For most businesses, this is where the challenge comes in. Your ability to produce value for your potential customers and still outdo your competitors requires a lot of hard work and strategizing. Also, your ability to build a trustworthy brand that your customers will stay loyal to requires a lot of effort. So how do you achieve these things especially as a first-time entrepreneur? In this video, I'll share with you 9 success tips for first-time entrepreneurs. If you're new here, consider subscribing so that you don't miss out on exciting videos like this. 1. Develop a strong work ethic One of the foremost qualities of every successful entrepreneur is your ability to develop a strong work ethic. Let's go back to your days of being an employee. Imagine if you had an employer that showed up at work around noon and barely spent 2 hours before leaving the office. All they do is leave specific instructions about what should be done and accomplished by the end of the day. In your opinion, do you think the business will become super successful if your employee continued that way? You see, most people think that the role of a manager or a CEO is basically to other people around on what to do and what not to do. Well, it's a lot more than that. They are responsible for the success of the company and the proper management of employees. Yes, they delegate duties but they are responsible for thinking ahead, strategizing, seeking funds and seeking new ways to grow the business. So, being an entrepreneur doesn't mean working less. If anything, it means that you get to work more hours than you did working as an employee because you are now the manager, salesperson, product manager, content person, ad manager, etc. of your new business. If you want your business to be successful, you need to develop a good work ethic that the rest of your employees or team members can imbibe. Also, unlike before where you had standard working hours to comply, now you can do anything you want at whatever time you like. You are accountable to yourself. However, remember that there'll always be consequences for whatever actions you take and how you spend your time. Understanding these and developing a good work ethic will help you prepare yourself for the responsibilities that come with your new role as an entrepreneur. Number two, have a vision. As an entrepreneur, you are going to work with people and build your team eventually. So, to enable the successful execution of your plans, your team needs to understand the vision of your business. What do you want your business to achieve? How is your business meant to serve people? All of these should reflect in the vision of your business. When you have a vision, if your strategies seem to be failing, you can always go back to it to remind you what the goal of your business is and then you can restrategize. Number three, be passionate about your business. Remember those days you called in, seek all because you didn't feel like going to work and so you lied. Well, the truth is that there will be similar and even worse days when you would feel like chewing everything out in the dream. It is one of such days that you'll understand what it means to be passionate about your business. John Bon Jovi, an American singer-songwriter, record producer, philanthropist and actor said, Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate. Your business should be something you enjoy doing. It should be something that makes you happy whenever the thought crosses your mind. That way, you will always be ready to push against every obstacle you encounter. Besides, when people know that you are passionate about your work, they'll like to work with you and do business with you. Number four, plan properly. To plan appropriately, you need to set step-by-step actions that can help you accomplish your goals. Brand Tracy, auto and motivational speaker said, Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution. This gives you 1000% return on energy. Why do you think companies have a business plan? The plan is to guide you and help every member of your team achieve a set goal. The plan states what's next on your business agenda. Also, you can measure your progress easily and set new heights when you plan correctly, as opposed to just going into the market and expecting your instincts to run things for you. Number five, be proactive. Successful entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for new ideas and opportunities that can help them grow their business. Chris Kemper, CEO of investment groups, Palmetto said that successful entrepreneurs keep their eyes and ears open for an opportunity to capitalize. Keep your eyes and ears open for an opportunity to capitalize. In other words, they are proactive, they are aware of a change, and make it happen before they have to respond to it. Number six, discipline yourself. Remember what we said about developing a good work ethic? Well, it takes discipline to do so. That you work for yourself is not an excuse to laze around and do things only when you feel like doing them. You should discipline yourself enough to take new steps every day towards the achievement of your goals and objectives. Also, at the point where your business starts generating revenue, you would have to remind yourself and also discipline yourself not to misuse your business funds. You need to understand that it is critical to put back every money generated by the business into the business so that you can grow your business properly. Number seven, learn to sell and pitch. Every successful business owner knows how to sell. To succeed in any business, you have to learn how to sell. And the first step to learning how to sell is to ensure that you are confident about your product. Also, you have to learn how to approach sales from the standpoint of being a facilitator to the transaction rather than trying to force it down people's throat. If you're going to become a successful salesperson and record good sales in your business, then you must find out what people need and propose solutions that your business can help provide. Number eight, learn how to network. Every successful entrepreneur knows how to network with people and other organizations, whether they are in their fields or not. Being a good networker will help you connect more with people because you want to offer them value. Do not network for selfish reasons. For instance, the last thing you want to do is to start promoting your business to someone you are just meeting. You need to first of all find out if your business slash product can provide value to them in one way or the other. Number nine, continuously improve yourself. Henry David Torio, an American philosopher, said, you cannot dream yourself into a character. You must hammer and forge yourself into one. Self-development is the key to success. You need to continuously learn and grow to stay relevant in your industry, as well as in the market. Thank you very much for watching our videos. If you like this video, watch more videos on our channel and subscribe. We love you.