Building your business around a set of basic principles certainly isn’t a bad idea and instilling a bit of your own personality, hopes and aims into the culture of your company and workforce is a great way to get everyone pulling in the same direction.
But in order to do this effectively, you need to have the capacity to be able to inspire both yourself and your workers when you need it most, while remaining not-too complicated – a simple message is always the one that is best understood and best received.
Here are five suggestions of some of the best (in our opinion) business mantras to have to get you on your way.
Let your passion show
If you don’t love what you are doing, then you probably should be doing something else – it’s as easy as that. If you let your passion and enthusiasm shine through at every opportunity, you’ll quickly find that this attitude is quite infectious.
Don’t think that seeming keen will undermine your air of professionalism, either. Often, you may find that even clients will catch on to your buzz and commitment and that alone can be enough to convince them to get on board with what you are doing.
Focus
Setting yourself attainable yet ambitious goals is of paramount importance if you want your enterprise to progress.
Review your aims on a regular basis and don’t divert from those targets. If both yourself and your employees have a clear idea of where the company should be headed, it makes it just that bit easier to get there.
Don’t take it personally
Business is business and where possible, you should leave personal judgements and feelings out of the equation.
This really goes back to the point about remaining focused – if you allow yourself to get distracted by thoughts and ambitions that don’t primarily benefit the company, then you’re not only setting a bad example, but also doing yourself an injustice.
Similarly, if a client decides to use another firm as opposed to yourself, your conduct should reflect that this too is a professional decision rather than a personal one. Don’t take it badly or hold it against them – they may have second thoughts or decide to consider your company the next time around and there’s no point in instantly putting yourself out of the running.
Never assume it’s a one-off
You never know when you may meet someone in the world of business again, therefore every impression you make on everyone you come into contact with needs to reflect positively on the company.
Many aspects of trading are based on relationships with people – clients, workers, suppliers – so even if you feel someone else is behaving unprofessionally towards yourself you should never see it as a green light to do the same. You should always look to make bridges rather than burn them.
Believe in yourself
Rome wasn’t built in a day and in the same instance, your company might not be a success overnight.
Long-term fortune certainly takes a while to secure and if things don’t go your way right from the start, you shouldn’t lose faith.
Believe in yourself, listen to advice when you need to and follow your dreams.
