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By Mitesh Gandhi

This article wraps up my story of becoming an entrepreneur. Thanks for reading. As we discussed the tips and lessons I learned to help build a successful business, I am thrilled to leave you with this final piece. And there is no bigger, better tip than: Be ready for the hard work and celebrate all your accomplishments, no matter how small.

Success is a relative term. It describes meeting and achieving goals and attaining targets. It can be relative to your level of goals and targets. This is why so often the common phrase has been to set SMARTgoals, which aptly stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. This is a key tool when creating the operational plan of your vision. Examples of common goals can be increasing revenue, building client base, gaining market share, and they can also include overall growth, hiring, training and succession planning.

Marketing and advertising, along with exceptional client service, will help increase sales and revenue. Monitoring your costs and support from advisory services will help you identify areas to maintain your profit levels. As we previously discussed, remember that you can’t, and truly shouldn’t, do these things alone. Your planning may need a revamp if you have not thought about long term growth and succession planning.

When thinking of succession planning, you must come to terms that no one will do the work the same exact way as you do. It’s your business and passion, so a new partner won’t have the exact same intensity for the business – that’s why it is your business. And that is ok! With this in mind, you should create true transparency and always refer back to your established mission and vision. This culture will lead to exceptional hiring, training, learning and development.

Owners tend to think they can’t afford to hire help or can’t pay an appropriate rate for talented team members because they currently do not have the sales to offset the expense. However, this is a false notion. Keep your eyes open for future talented team members – always. Look for characteristics of who you trust, who can exceed your expectations with proper training and who can possibly accomplish certain tasks better than you can. When you find these individuals, don’t let them get away. Identify their passion and their vision and future. Nurture that vision and adapt it to compliment your businesses.

Start documenting your business’ processes in early stages. Get that vision and mission down on paper. Create a list of procedure sets and processes that can easily be turned into an onboarding document. Include the lessons you learned and the questions you had about the business itself. You are not giving the secrets of your business away, (spoiler: the secret is you!); however, the tips of success in the business can be taught to your team, allowing you to fine tune those processes and adapt. You will find that review of the processes is much faster than doing the work over and over. This additional time savings will allow you to further step back, and look at the business from the “30,000 foot level.” Rinse and repeat, keep adapting.

It has been so rewarding to be the CEO of my business as opposed to an employee of my business. I have discovered how inefficient I was, and I am able to now look at the bigger picture, and enjoy the business so much more.

Here’s to your success! I hope my entrepreneurial lessons of first steps in taking the leap, creating the business formation, overcoming initial business obstacles, and now this final piece have provided value to you as you think about becoming an entrepreneur as you continue down this path. Many businesses fail within their first year and 70% of businesses do not make it to their 10th birthday. In order to #BeTheThirty percent that makes it beyond one decade, you need to plan and act now – these were the keys to my success and I wish you many successes of your own!

Mitesh Gandhi, Advisor, Breakaway Bookkeeping + Advising