What is your definition of success?
Many say success means doing something and being able to succeed. There are those who pursue an abundant life as a parameter of success. There are also those who say that success is not a material matter, as long as you can live comfortably and happily.
Whatever we pursue in life's journey, the fruit of successful efforts is relative. Even so, as a fellow business actor, success is usually described by the ability to manage a business from small to a stable point, even being able to continue to grow to become bigger and generate clearly visible profits.
For entrepreneurs who have just started their business, perhaps reaching the stage of success feels very far away. Running a business, especially on an MSME scale, requires strong resilience, because apart from the journey being filled with various challenges and failed attempts, there are also so many aspects that need to be managed carefully. The results also cannot be seen in a day or two, but with the process, the business will become more mature. Even so, the results will be worth it!
The question is, can we as players in the MSME sector be successful? Hey, don't be mistaken. There are many local entrepreneurs who have succeeded in starting businesses from the ground up. Let's look at four examples of young and successful entrepreneurs.
The first is Yasa Singgih, who since he was a teenager has been actively thinking about how to earn money. Reviewed by Finansialku, Yasa's efforts did not escape failure in trying various forms of business, before now succeeding with a business in the fashion sector, Men's Republic. Quoting from InterActive, several young people in Indonesia have also succeeded in developing their businesses into superior ones. For example, Yukka Harlanda, who successfully developed shoe products from small-scale production MSMEs to produce the Brodo brand. Reza Nurhilman needed to try to pursue business from electronic goods to fertilizer for four years, before he succeeded in developing the famous Maicih spicy chips which have a number of resellers and a turnover of billions of rupiah every month. If you regularly go to the mall, you might come across a Japanese dessert shop, Shirokuma. From her sensitivity to seeing Indonesian people's tastes, Michelle Widjaja can produce unique, interesting and targeted MSME ideas, and can even return on capital within five months and grow rapidly, as reviewed by Tempo.
Any entrepreneur will face failure on their journey to success as they are today. Just imagine if these four young entrepreneurs refused to work on every MSME idea they had, made only modest plans, and gave up halfway. What happened? Maybe they will not reach the stage of success they are at now.
It is a long process that is not without challenges, but what determines the final result is character and the right mindset. Why is this character and mindset so important? Because both of them will guide every behavior and choice we make as entrepreneurs, which will then have an impact on the strategies we implement.
The key to success lies in the character and mindset we have in responding to every challenge we face. The key to successfully running a business is actually in our hands.
Character and Qualities that are the Key to Success in Running a Business
Want to be like the entrepreneurs who have succeeded in developing their MSMEs? Let's look at some of the characteristics and qualities that are usually found in successful business people.
Success Character #1: Creative and open minded
What do these four successful entrepreneurs have in common? Yes, like all other businesses, their business started with an idea. Even though it seems small, ideas are the seeds that determine business growth. They are able to look at everything around them with an open mindset and turn it into new opportunities. Therefore, it is very important to continue trying to produce new ideas and better creative strategies in running a business. Try not to be quickly satisfied with current results or circumstances, but get used to thinking outside the usual ideas and looking for different solutions.
Successful Character #2: Have great passion for your field of interest
Having trouble finding business ideas? It doesn't have to be difficult to find something that's too grand! Try starting from simple things that interest you, for example food, clothes or handicrafts. Why? Because if we don't have the passion to work on our business, it will be very difficult to run it, let alone reach the desired point of success. It is better not to force areas that are not interesting to us. On the other hand, when we really like our field of business, even though it is difficult, we will have greater love and dedication in doing it, even putting in more effort than usual, so that there is greater potential to make it a successful business.
Successful Character #3: Highly motivated
It's not just passion and interest that matters, but also how we live it from day to day. The process of running a business is not easy, but that doesn't mean you immediately lose and give up. When an entrepreneur has great interest and passion for the idea and business field he is pursuing, he will not hesitate to invest his time and energy in order to launch and run the business. In an interview, Steve Jobs once said, "I believe that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones is pure perseverance." Motivation that is nurtured continuously and expressed in every endeavor will never be in vain, it will even become a permanent character and strength for us to overcome all existing challenges.
Success Character #4: Optimistic in thinking
Pay attention to how you think. Are there more positives or negatives? As we discussed earlier, the process of running a business will be accompanied by many challenges. If we have a mindset that tends to be more negative, our enthusiasm will quickly run out and we will give up. Danger, right? Therefore, it is better for us to think about things that we can do as well as possible, regardless of the circumstances we are facing. We can develop an optimistic character slowly. Instead of thinking about past mistakes or the possibility of failure, focus on moving forward. Change our perspective to see challenges as opportunities, no longer obstacles, so that we continue to achieve better results and become one step closer to success.
Success Character #5: Discipline and focus on the future
What is your vision for the next 1, 2, or even 5 years? Successful entrepreneurs usually always look to the future. Ideas, interest and enthusiasm are not enough if you don't have a directed plan. It is not uncommon for them to set specific goals that they want, and even make clear plans to achieve these goals. It is not surprising that they have a higher chance of achieving the expected definition of success. Apart from focusing on strategies that make the business run, they also take steps to continue moving forward every day in a disciplined and consistent manner.
Success Character #6: Proactive effort
With high motivation and determination, successful entrepreneurs usually know that they have to start from themselves, not wait for other people's invitations. They directly set standards and ensure that every effort involved in the business process is compliant. Usually, they are also motivated to search for the information they need independently and then apply it to their respective businesses. Why is this character important? Because in this fast-paced era, like it or not, we need to continue to hone our skills and keep up with developments so we don't easily lose in the competition.
Success Character #7: Skilled at building relationships with other people
When starting and running a business, we are usually not alone, right? You definitely need help from other people in various aspects to be able to achieve business success together. Therefore, we need to learn to build good relationships with other people. For example, try to be friendlier and warmer with the people around us, so that gradually they will be more open to listening to the ideas we have. This is very important, especially if you are just starting a business, because you definitely need support from the people around you. What if we actually have a character who has difficulty socializing? Realize that this is not for personal needs, but for the success of our business. When we can build good communication and relationships, it will be easier to sell our ideas convincingly, gain potential customers, or even motivate others to provide valuable assistance to become successful.
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Success Character #8: Adaptive & resourceful
Even though we will work together with many people along the way, we will usually put more effort into it ourselves in the early days of the business, for example in carrying out record keeping and bookkeeping, managing daily operations, or even handling the use of social media and e-commerce. Therefore, it is very necessary to cultivate an adaptive character within oneself. Moreover, at this stage it is very necessary to save costs. Like it or not, we need to be ready and able to adapt to these various unusual situations. In order to be successful, entrepreneurs need to be able to utilize whatever they have, whether time, money or energy, in various ways in an adaptive but careful manner, so as to produce the solutions needed in the business. In order not to burden your business operations, use the Qasir application. Just one application for all your needs. Download here.
Success Character #9: Courageous and able to make decisions
Entrepreneurs must be willing to take risks to be successful, but not just any risks. Entrepreneurs need to continue to make plans and estimates regarding things that are not yet visible from these risks. Every decision is taken into account in order to provide the best results for you and your business. Even so, often taking risks and making decisions is not an easy step, right? It is not uncommon for us to doubt ourselves and worry about the results of these decisions. We need to remember together that there is no room to delay making decisions in a business. Every day is a very meaningful opportunity, so rather than letting it pass you by, every day needs to be filled with brave but careful decisions so that they remain useful.
What do you think, BossQ? Do you understand more about the key to success in running a business? Of course, these characteristics and mindsets can be a common reference to be better prepared to take the long journey as an entrepreneur. So, what if you don't have this kind of character and quality? Don't worry! We will always be able to shape ourselves to be better, as long as we have the will. These are things that we can actually start and do starting from ourselves, starting from today. Remember, just like the MSMEs that are run will be a process, we as entrepreneurs will also slowly process, so that in the future, according to expectations, we can truly reach the point of success. Keep up the enthusiasm!