We all want our business to be remembered, right? No one makes the goals and plans for starting a business and then gives it a shelf life of 1 year. The idea is for the business to grow and prosper. To provide customers with a product or service that will leave them satisfied. For the business to be profitable. We all want our business to stand the test of time. To have its place in history. To have its legacy. But how do we do that? How do we get our business to be remembered fondly twenty years from now? The most promising pathway is through humility, self sacrifice and thinking of others.
To build up your legacy, you can’t simply focus on the business. You need to take in all aspects of your life. You need to live for your family. The people who value their family above their own ego are the ones who prosper and will be remembered for generations. Personal relationships should be valued above all other things. While business is important, it is true that it can come and go. But relationships will hopefully stay around for a long time.
You need to find the passion in your business. What makes you come alive and want to go get it done. Try to steer away from what the world needs. If you are just trying to fill a hole in the business world, but don’t have the passion behind it, you won’t succeed. You need to focus on what makes you passionate. The world needs people who have passion. They have what it takes to get things done.
Give up short term gratification for long term satisfaction. This is especially true for business. Try to think long term and what will be good for your business. Where should you invest your money that will give you the best long term results. Try not to think of a get rich quick scheme. Those tend not to work out. Think of something that will take hard work and dedication, but will profit in time.
Try to build up those around you. What can you do to encourage your co-workers, employees, customers? We live in a negative world where it is so easy to identify faults with others. But if we take the time to point out the good, we will build relationships that will last. People will be happier, and when people are happy, they perform their work better. Make the atmosphere around you one of positivity. Make it so people want to be around you. That they leave a better person because of you.
Be an honorable person. A person’s reputation is way better than money. A person’s integrity is way better than fame. Your business will not succeed if it is not built on trust and integrity. People want to work with those who have values and will be honest in their dealings. If your business gets a reputation for not doing the honorable thing, it will be detrimental to the business.
Be authentic. Make sure you are being your real self at all times. Let your business be a part of you and what you stand for and believe in. It will show through in your actions that you believe in your business wholeheartedly. People will want to be part of something that you are so passionate about.
If you find the wrong, right it. When you are an advocate for what you believe in, your belief system will give you a course of action to take. There will be mistakes in your business, there will be errors. Make sure that you can put your pride aside and can correct those mistakes. Be honest about them happening. People are understanding and forgiving when approached with honesty. Everyone makes mistakes, but make sure that you handle them with care and with a humble attitude, and it will keep customers coming back.
