While hard work accomplishes much, it’s not the primary key to success in business. On the other hand, applying smart management practices tends to sustain businesses over the long run. Because these seven smart management practices have helped lead to success for other entrepreneurs, see if they will do the same for you.

Gain Requires Pain

To become successful in business, you will be required to make sacrifices. In fact, you may have to give up a number of activities, habits and/or relationships that don’t promote success because they’re wasteful, distracting, inefficient or unrelated to your goals. As hard as it may be to give these up, successful entrepreneurs keep their focus by making sacrifices.

Who You Know Outweighs What You Know

Having successful people around to work, advise you, or just make suggestions provides opportunities to learn from them and apply their lessons to your business operations. While your education, background and experience lend something important to your business’s success, the people you spend the most time with will have even more influence.

People Don’t Sell, People Buy

To buy or not to buy? While it sounds like Shakespeare, it’s the question consumers ask themselves when faced with a decision to part with their money and become the owner of goods or the user of services. The deciding factor, however, lies in the weight the customer puts into the “buy” or “not buy” basket based on the information they have about the product or service and their personal needs. Thus, people buy goods or services, they are not sold.

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Is there some skill you wish you could be great at performing? To move from wish to reality, spend some time practicing that skill. The more time and effort you put into practicing, the more naturally the skill will occur. And so it is in business, the more you practice the skills that promote success, the more success your business will experience!

Later Never Comes

In business today, customers’ needs must be met faster than ever before. And while patience is a virtue, it’s also too much to ask of most customers who are used to getting what they need immediately or almost immediately. On the other hand, making updates quickly in business technology and in process improvements often leads to success by securing your place in the market or outpacing your competitors.

Time Is Money

Whether it’s how an employee spends his time or how long it takes her to produce a widget, that time is costing your business money. That’s why efficient processes and well-trained employees are essential parts of the equation for successful business owners, saving your business time — and therefore — money.

Money Is Money

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the wise management of your company’s resources is integral to its overall success. Keeping accurate financial records, filing and paying taxes on time, and responsibly accounting for the revenue that flows in sustains your business for the sake of your customers, employees, management and shareholders or investors.

Here to help your business manage its financials are the professionals at Donohoo Accounting, where we’ve been helping small businesses wisely manage their finances for more than 20 years. For a free consultation, call us today at 513-528-3982.

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