The business world is a tough world that is meant only for the tough and courageous ones. Unfortunately, it is a place that will swallow the feeble minded ones up whole. That said, one must be duly armed for this world. While soldiers take up arms and writers take their writing gadgets, small business owners need to arm themselves with certain virtues or attributes that will keep them standing strong in the face of the harsh business environment. Today being a Sunday, find below a list of 6 virtues that will help small business owners stand out.
Principles
To survive in the business world, you have to be a man or woman of principles. Principles guide you and help you maintain a good reputation. There should be a line that you definitely won’t cross no matter what. You don’t have to tell anyone else about it, unless they ask you to cross it and then you can explain to them where you draw the line.
Intuition
Every human has that inner voice of reason but only a few are able to harness it. Most times people make decisions out of fear and blame it on their instincts. It takes training to be able to distinguish between your instincts and other emotions that you might be feeling. When you do have a handle of your instincts, don’t ever overlook it. Give your gut feeling the time of day.
Creativity
Creativity simply means breaking out of the usual pattern. This is one of the most advantageous tools you can have in business. In business, creativity means seeing a need and coming up with an unpredictable means to meet said need. This means a lot of ‘outside the box’ thinking.
Passion
It is funny how people spend most of their time at work, the other time at home thinking about work and still don’t feel passionate about it. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be doing what they love but the truth is; ‘you may not be doing what you love but you HAVE to love what you are doing’. Be passionate about your business. Let your clients or customers be able to see and that passion in you.
Honesty
Honesty is the best policy in business. Your customers want to know the truth and they expect you to tell them. Rather than lying to their faces, you can creatively or constructively tell the truth so that neither you nor they are placed in an uncomfortable situation.
Consistency
Being inconsistent is one habit that can put off customers and clients. People expect that you provide the services you provided yesterday today and at the same time. If there were to be changes it should be for the better. People easily create routine and when you break their routine you not only lose their trust but their patronage. Be consistent in the quality of goods or service you provide; be consistent with time.
Now that you are armed with these virtues, let’s head off to business.
