Six Business Management Secrets I Grabbed From A Successful Business Owner

I would start with one of Elon Musk’s quotes.

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

This never-giving-up spirit is the criteria some celebrities of many professions and careers have adopted. Such that, they are seen by many as superhumans or certain demi-god’s. Who seems to be perfect and right on all spots. Elon Musk in automobile technology. Michael Jackson in pop music. Kristina God, in the Medium community. As perfectionists and swift crafters in their field, what they do is close to magic. At the end of October, I got a letter of request from the top management of my full-time job to work closely with the founder. I had thought it would be a regular ride, a simple one, and an in and out operation, probably a sneaky one. I wanted no extra recognition from the top management at work. But I guess I was chosen for a reason, even if I didn’t want to.

I know what you think!

Shouldn’t I have felt lucky to be presented with that opportunity?

Should I not be triggered by the opportunity?

Wasn’t that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

I know it is, but I did not think of this when I heard that he wanted me to work with him for the month. All I had in my thoughts were loads of reasons he might have wanted me, loads of research journals I would be working on with him, the bunch of reports I would be working on by the week, and many other tasks he might want to reel me through. Little did I know it would be an opportunity to learn a lot: A major eye-opener, I must add. Long story short. I took the chance. Not like I had a choice. But I satisfied my will to work closely with him for a month.

CEO

These folks are a different breed. Believe me! They are.

My first few days with him looked so much as if he was a magician. How he received tons of calls in a day and how he managed his time, working on his notepad, going to meetings, visiting sites, and still making time for talks with his wife while at work. He did look like a superhuman to me. An alien in a human body. Multi-tasking and keeping a very high accuracy rate.

It was not until the end of my time with him that I saw a tincture of fear in him, a spice of failure, a hype of loneliness amidst all the gratification and boils of glory even if he had shown no hint of downwardness since I worked closely with him.

After my little time with him, I now understand and have a long list of trails and traits I feel every aspiring CEO, business owner, or career alien should know. You could adopt them if you are an aspiring business owner or check the boxes of day-to-day skills you should possess if you are already a training alien (Business Owner).

We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work instead of the quality of time we put in. — Arianna Huffington.

Time management:

This! I have always known every CEO possessed. I feel every human should have this too. But it was not until my time with my boss that I noticed how to actualize the process of managing time.

• Secure three means of reminder, your mobile reminder, your assistant, and a little jotter which should always be your box checker.
• Book your time expeditiously and add about a quarter of an hour as an extension to every task you have to actualize.
• Have 30 minutes to 1hr nap or rest time during the day while at work.
• Take out every ounce of distraction once you are about to start the task.
• Prioritize your tasks and arrange them in hourly, daily, and weekly sequences.

The difference between ordinary people and successful people is that, Successful people say no to almost everything. — Warren Buffett.

Many Noes and few Yeses:

Oh! They love this. CEOs are extraordinary at this. I have heard the tails of business owners wanting the best out of everything. But I never knew they were the Messiah at it. He was keen on it. Working with them, working against them, or wanting to be them.

• You would have to be used to the fact that it will take more than your best to be that career alien. You would have to be excellent. Hence, you would give more noes than yeses to get things done.
• You would also get as many noes from your sales to clients, transitions, and progresses before a single yes.

If you cannot make it good, at least make it look good. — Bill Gate.

Key to personalities:

Another trait I realized from my charade with the CEO is his ability to blend into almost all human society. He was almost like a spy in movies. He could crack almost every human personality. Here are some of the things I learned from this trait.

• Know what to say to who and when to say it.
• Know when to talk and when to keep it shut.
• Know when to keep mute and when to keep talking.

Surprises are everywhere in life. And they usually come from misjudging people for being less than they appear. — Brownell Landrum.

Do not judge people from afar:

I never thought this would be a skill that a successful business manager will advocate in his daily doings to further perfect his craft. I soon noticed that one would not want to be on a roller coaster of tricks and turns to gain back employee or clients’ trust after judging their reactions or perceptions to different situations.

• Always research about the client or your workers: Ask for their name, what they do for a living, what sports they like, what genre of music they like. To catch a glimpse of what they want.
• Never be dismayed at a client’s perception: always allow clients and employees inclusion.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them, looking backward. — Steve Jobs.

Networking is everything:

Maybe that’s the reason behind his success. Behind the many friendly clients, he has. All through my stay with him, he was always smiling whenever he came in contact with clients. And I mean grins that are way more than his actual gestures, a little louder cringe than his regular cringe when he is laughing. For me, it was not just his dentition maneuverability but also his attention to his old friends and connections. Here are some of his tricks to networking.

• Have a physical notebook or mobile space to write your contacts’ phone number, office, and email address.
• Always send out monthly and seasonal greeting messages to all your contacts.
• Call and create visitation times with your associates away from work.

You must never try to make all the money in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money too. Because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you would not have many sales. — J. Paul Getty.

Negotiation Skills:

Negotiations are only like games. This I learned from him.

When he is negotiating project deals with his clients. He does not play superior, and he never plays demeanor. He stays somewhere in the middle, just over the top of his price but still concurring with the client inclusions. Here go his tricks.

• Research the client before the meeting, then decide what product/service benefit or product/service feature to tell him about.
• Play the honest card. Let them in on some failures in the market and what is out there asides from quality.
• Never lay off your customers’ bargain. Instead, tell them you can work around that price, but that number will not do it.
• sNever play too good with numbers and aim too high at the first shot. You could scare away your client.
• Sometimes, throw a bit of confidence around and ask your client to make market surveys of other persons offering your services with the same quality.
• If it is a first-time client, add a jumbo pack of surprises somewhere in your service rendering.

Finally, as smooth as my ride was with the CEO. There were also some downsides to his status that made me question the price to pay to attain success. No ride is as smooth as it seems. All success comes with a price to pay, a fight to win, and an enemy to gain.

Thanks for reading. Here are two of my trending articles I would like you to read.