There are all kinds of things that could hypothetically contribute to the success of your new business. Look for yourself, all over in the Business section at your local bookstore. Some business ‘gurus’ will tell you that you absolutely have to use certain systems to stay consistent in your work efforts.
Others will give you a rundown on why David Allen’s famous GTD method is crucial for proper task management. And others still, will emphasize how leadership is the cornerstone of all business success. There’s actually something to each one of these claims.
There’s just one straightforward reality of what it takes to make a new business successful, that nearly everyone agrees on. That is, you need to develop consistency when starting a new business to bring its potential to the forefront and make everything you can with it. The following are some tips for developing that consistency when starting a new business.
How To Develop Consistency
When Starting a New Business
Identify & Utilize a Dedicated Workspace
Have you ever stopped to consider the fact that your working life is highly ritualistic? It might not be “ritualistic” like your Sunday services but it’s not as far from that as you’d imagine. When we’re at work we all put on our designated ‘work ensemble’.
We go through a series of morning habits just to get our day started then head to an assigned area where we will carry out our work for the day. None of these steps are arbitrary or meaningless, either.
Humans are creatures of habit, and we’re naturally driven by our routines and default structures of habit. If someone told you that you had to start your day totally different from now on the odds are good that you would be thrown off for the entire day.
Co-Working Spaces Are Still Up-and-Coming, So…Go Grab One!
Many new business owners are transitioning to the entrepreneurial or ‘work from home’ lifestyle. While others find that without the psychological anchor of the ‘office environment’ it’s hard to get into a ‘working frame of mind’.
One option that is rapidly growing in popularity among entrepreneurs, is to look into a co-working space. Make sure to check out multiple locations so you can compare benefits!
Some common perks are “2 free days/mos”, “unlimited coffee”, and “complete access to full kitchen”. Remember to ask yourself whether it would be worth your time to book a daily cubical or at a co-working space.
This would certainly mean that you would be in an environment where ‘work’ was the order of the day. You would also be surrounded by people who have a shared purpose with you.
If you do decide to stay working from home, it’s imperative that you have a dedicated workspace. Ideally, this will take the form of a separate room that you can transform into a home office.
This way, you will have a very clear spatial divide between your work and home life. After all, it is difficult to work consistently if you never know when other people are going to put demands on your time and distract you from the task at hand.
Always Keep a Consistent Work Schedule
A lot of people these days are quitting their day jobs to become home-based entrepreneurs. It’s understandable they’d be excited about not having a boss or being on anyone else’s timetable.
Scan the Internet for images of “WAHM”, a popular acronym meaning ‘Work At Home Mom’. You’ll find pictures of women taking selfies in their PJs at 1 PM, using hashtags like #ImTheBoss & #BossLady.
In reality, the entrepreneurs who actually “make it” will only ever stay in this state for a few days at most. Soon enough, they’ll discover that they need to impose some pretty serious discipline on themselves.
Entrepreneurship 101: Be Awake When Your Competitors Are
If you don’t keep a set work schedule as a small business owner, you’re going to be far less productive than you need to be if you want to be a success. It also means that you’re likely to fall out of step with the rest of the working world – as the majority of companies keep standard business hours.
Obviously, if you start your workday at 6 PM and finish around 2 AM, it’s going to be difficult for you to reach anyone.
Forget about arranging any meetings or calls with any other company in your industry. Unless of course, you’re in a different country or an industry that typically works the graveyard shift!
It is a great thing to be your own boss – it means that you get to be your own… well, boss!
What it doesn’t mean, is that you get to be “boss-free“. To make a success of your business, you’ve got to discipline yourself. That means, for one, creating a daily schedule to follow,
Develop Systems For Project Management
Time is your most valuable resource as a small business owner. It’s the one resource that you get just as much of like all the big players in your field, and that you can never buy or find more of. If you want to be a success, you’ve absolutely got to be as effective as you possibly can at tracking and managing all your projects and tasks.
According to David Allen – the productivity expert I mentioned earlier and creator of the Getting Things Done method – a core part of this is identifying your next actions reliably.
When you procrastinate the same culprit is likely always at the heart of things. Which means you failed to comprehend what the most important ‘next task’ was to pursue.
Whether it’s the ‘Getting Things Done’ system or not, you have to come up with a reliable system for considering the different possible actions you can take on a given project.
Then, filtering them out to focus on the most important one. Depending on who you ask, “success” is really just a matter of always being able to see and act on, the most important next step at any given time.
Keep Your Work Day As Ritualized As You Can
We know now that it’s essential to impose some discipline on yourself in your workday. Like keeping regular working hours, it’s also essential to “ritualize” your workday in a productive way.
Psychologists have long known that humans are essentially creatures of habit. Some suggest the majority of what we do each day is done out of habit or subconsciously. Which means, our ability to succeed in business is driven by our innate habit to do so.
If we have the right habits or “rituals” in place, success will come. If we have the wrong habits or rituals in place, ‘hello failure’. Try to structure your workday so that all the important elements are “ritualized”.
For example, wear outfits that put you in a “work” mindset, like a power suit during a Zoom call! You could also begin the day with a routine that puts you on the fast track to productivity, and so on.
Jessica Rose Adams
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