Tweet

10 Simple Rules for Growing a Successful Business

Guest post by: Stacy Karacostas

Article Overview: Entrepreneurs…Are you tired of working your butt off for too little money? To help you get on the road to creating the business-and life-you’ve always dreamed of, here are ten simple rules to help you unchain yourself from your business, create more success, and enjoy life WAY more.

10 Simple Rules for Growing a Successful Business

After spending 16 years running six businesses, I've learned a thing or two about what it really takes to create success as an entrepreneur. And I'll tell ya, most of what my Mom told me-and most of what I believed going into the first four businesses-turned out to be dead wrong.

In each of my early businesses, the busier I got the more of my life I gave up. Soon I was working ridiculous hours but I didn't have a whole lot in my bank account to show for it. On top of that, I was basically chained to my computer.

Since my vision of success was working 25-30 hours a week and having plenty of time to ski, mountain bike, kayak and travel, I wasn't too happy about the whole "you gotta give up your life to start a business" concept. But I did it. And frankly, it didn't get any better until I decided to hell with that...There has to be another way!!

Thank goodness I found it! To help you get on the road to creating the business-and life-you've always dreamed of, below are ten simple rules I've developed that helped me unchain myself from my business, create more success, and enjoy my life WAY more.

1. It's up to you. Anyone who wants to have a successful, thriving business-and a fulfilling personal life-should be able to. Remember, it's your business and your life. You have the power to make them be any way you want.

2. Marketing isn't an optional expense. It's a mandatory investment in the success of your business.

3. Health and happiness are critical. Sleep, get exercise, eat healthy, enjoy a hobby and take care of yourself. You always attract more success when you feel your best.

4. Have fun. If it isn't fun make it fun, don't do it at all, or find someone else to do it for you!

5. Redefine success on your terms. Success is not defined by how many hours you work in your business, but by how many hours you're able to spend NOT working in it!

6. Be yourself. It's better to be yourself versus what you think others want you to be-even in business. These days the best branding is personable, authentic and unique.

7.Spend some time unplugged each week. Go out in the woods or a park or a lake somewhere where you can hear yourself think. Voice mail and off buttons exist for a reason.

8. Just do it. While it's always good to do research and analysis, at some point you just have to trust your gut, make a decision and take action.

9. It's not what happens that matters, but how you deal with it. Changes that seem forced on you are almost always a good thing for your business in the long run (IE "The universe knows more than you do. Stop fighting it.").

10.Face your fears. The very things that scare you the most when it comes to marketing and growing your business are probably the things you most need to be doing.

Related Articles
  Rule 20 Rules are Made to be Broken
  Where Baseball Meets Business
  Failure Comes From Not Following Your Additive Rules
  Q: How can I make my employees accountable?
  The Game Called Public Relations
  Simple Rules or Stupid Rules? Which type is running your business?
  The Rules Apply
  E-Mail Tip #11 - Create a Set of Rules for Your Organization
  Mobile Home Parks - How to Properly Enforce the Rules
  Successful People Know When and How to Break the Rules
  Rules for Homed Based Business Success pt.3
  Online Money Making Opportunities-Follow These 3 Rules To Get Started
  Rules for Home Based Business Success pt.1
  Letting go of our rule books
  Leadership Strategy - One Size Success Does Not Fit All
  Losing Control
  Stress-Free Selling® - How to Talk About Increasing Prices
  PR and the Overworked Journalist
  Create your own opportunities
  The New Rules of Success

Article Tags: Business, entrepreneurs, Growing, guidelines, marketing, stacy karacostas, Successful



Related Forum Posts
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Re: What's 1 word to describe what your business will be in 2012 - Growing. MichelleJ
Re: What's 1 word to describe what your business will be in 2012 - Successful.
Re: New Infographic: Top Ten Reasons to Partner with Someone - I like it. Simple yet informative. I also RT'd it for you.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Stay Employed In A Down Economy

Coaching Tip: Identify Your Core Values

Sales is a Flawed Model

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.