Tomorrow is election day all across the United states and there are lessons for entrepreneurs in the entire election process. This article is not about the political candidates. It is not set up to tell you who to vote for or why. Instead, this article is to tell you what entrepreneurs can learn from the presidential election.
In many ways, a presidential campaign is similar to running a business. There is a plan, a goal and many steps along the way. Successful entrepreneurs can learn something from almost any situation. Here are four lessons entrepreneurs can learn from the presidential election:
- Business is a marathon made up of many sprints
- You must always keep your eyes on the big target.
- You don’t have to do it alone.
- Reputation matters and you create yours.
Business is a marathon made up of many sprints.
Running a business is similar to running sprint races. It is also similar to running a marathon. In business there are always things to that must get done immediately. At times there are almost impossible deadlines that must be met. Those types of projects happen over and over again. A project that must be completed in two days is followed up by a project that must be completed in 24 hours which is followed by another that must be completed in 2 hours. Things like this go on and on and on. These sprints are never-ending when it comes to a business. At the same time, there are things in running your business that are constant or long-term. These projects are an important part of the business and you must work on them each day for months and months and sometimes years at a time. Those are the marathon activities for your business. Never forget that you must be a sprinter and a marathoner if you want to succeed in business.
[Tweet “Business is a marathon made up of many sprints you have to be ready to run.”]
You must always keep your eyes on the big target.
Entrepreneurs often have a million things going on at one time. Sometimes while concentrating on critical and urgent projects an entrepreneur can lose focus on the big picture for the business. This happens when smaller but important things come up and entrepreneurs get so busy working on them that they forget to do the work they want to do on big picture items. No matter how many important, urgent and critical things come up, an entrepreneur must be careful to always keep her eyes on the big target she has set for herself.
[Tweet “You must always keep your eyes on the big target because there will always be distractions along the way.”]
You don’t have to do it alone.
Entrepreneurs, especially solopreneurs must be mindful of the fact that they don’t have to do it all alone. Even if you filling every position at your company, you still do not have to do it all alone. Find a team of people to help you. The team members can be other solopreneurs, accountability partners, members of a social media networking group or even former co-workers. It is important to develop a network to help you so that you can peer review ideas, get objective opinions on plans. Do not try to do it all alone. There is no point to being able to say you did it all alone if it makes it harder to do the job or it takes longer than is necessary. Instead, use the power of teams to help you reach your business goals.
[Tweet “You don’t have to do it alone, always remember that team work makes the dream work.”]
Reputation matters and you create yours.
Often in business, all you have is your reputation. When your business is new or small, you do not have a large advertising budget. What you will have to convince prospects to become customers is your reputation. Once your business is established, if something goes horribly wrong and your business gets a batch of bad publicity, it is your reputation, personally and professionally, that will help you restore your good name and keep your business from going under. In add you do, even in your personal life, be mindful of the fact that you have a business and that your business reputation will follow you ever you go. Take time to do things that will help not hurt your reputation. Dollars and your business depend upon it.
[Tweet “Reputation matters and you create yours so work to make it good.”]
Entrepreneurs must always keep in mind the fact that that there is always something to learn. No matter what situations you encounter and no matter where you find yourself, look for things that will help you be better at your business. Always look for opportunities to learn.
Great lessons to be learned. Distractions are always everywhere so focus is definitely important.
These a great thoughts. Keeping a good reputation is so important.
There are definitely lessons to be learned anywhere and everywhere, no matter what views you may have.
Mmmm so true- many sprints haha. AND so inportant to remember reputation.
These are all great things that we, as business owners, can learn from this whole long election process. They do have a team to succeed and I’m learning that I need to build a team and outsource some of my stuff, just like the candidates do!
Keeping my eyes on the end result is what keeps me going. I also think establishing a good reputation is soooo important!
A great read especially since tomorrow is the big election day. Running a business is tough, I have dabbled in it a bit.
There are a ton of lessons to be learned from this election. I can not wait for it to be over. I will have to share this with my friend who is just starting out.
It can be so easy to lose sight of the big picture. There is always new things to learn. Learning is a life long journey.
Keeping my eyes on the prize is what keeps me going. I also think establishing a good reputation is key!
Being your own business is definitely a learning experience. Totally a marathon race for sure
I think these are just honestly great life tips as well-and ones you can apply to any business or social setting. But I definitely think as a business owner –especially if you are a small business owner- the relationships you make and your reputation are everything- and can help make or break your business. As always you offer such great and informative content!
This is all so true. Owning a business is definitely like a marathon with many sprints! All four of these lessons are so important and business owners really need to remember that.
That is definitely some food for thought! I am an entrepreneur but I have a long way to go to learn everything that I want to know. I know that business is more of a marathon than a sprint and I just got to continue the marathon.
This is great insight, I definitely think business owners can learn a lot from the Presidential race regardless of who you support.
When it comes to running a business, I sometimes find myself alleviating away from my target. I always have to remember to stay focused. Great quotes!
Somebody beat me to it, but I also love the business is a marathon with many sprints quote. It is SO true.
Love your thought “business is a marathon with many sprints”, plus a few hurdles! The reward at the finish line is so worth it!