RTA

The Power of Positivity for Business

Though 2020 has provided plenty of challenges, we shouldn’t spend too much time on the negatives. It’s time to be positive, focused, and to implement plans!

I regularly speak to a variety of business owners and am consistently amazed by the tenacity and drive entrepreneurs show when it comes to making it through difficult times. The most common stand-out attribute by far: having a positive attitude. One of the people I always admire for his honesty and positivity is Jannie Mouton, who is quoted regularly on this: “A negative person has never really created anything.” This is the attribute I focus on the most as a business owner and entrepreneur.

So, what does it mean to be positive—does it mean to be blindly ignorant, avoid realities, and live in your dream world? No! On the contrary, positivity for entrepreneurs means understanding the reality of your situation, to study various scenarios, and then to identify the opportunities. One of my favourite quotes comes from Winston Churchill, and it deals with this: “Never waste a good crisis”. We have abundant opportunities and are destined to make a difference in everything we do – however big or small, and every single day we have the privilege to be alive and to do something meaningful.

Here’s what we can learn from successful business owners that harness positivity:

  1. A positive attitude is everything, and it helps you make your own luck. You need to believe in your abilities and be comfortable, but at the same time, you need to understand that some plans may fail, and not everyone will support you. This doesn’t mean you should blindly continue with a failing venture, but at least drive it with the assumption that is will be a success, and you need to believe it first for someone else to believe in the business. If it does fail, then you learn from it and start your next business plan.
  2. Be grounded in humility, and use integrity as your guide. Most successful entrepreneurs are very humble and honest in the way they approach life and business. Arrogance is dangerous, and it has led to the failure of many companies and has to be avoided. Also, you need to be true to yourself, as authenticity is crucial for all relationships and good business: no one likes a fake.
  3. Surround yourself with great people, and then trust and empower them. Don’t try to do everything yourself or micromanage your staff, there’s no one on this planet that is good at everything. Focus on what you’re good at and then delegate or outsource the rest. We at the real time group can assist you here, we’d be happy to help streamline your business and add value.
  4. Dream big and make bold plans but execute the plans properly. A dream without a plan is just a wish. Dream and plan big, but you also need to execute on a big scale—every minute you spend in planning can save you 10 minutes in execution. Elon Musk has taught the world a few lessons here. We can always admire his bold dreams, but then he goes onto executing these wild plans successfully which no one ever thought would be possible.
  5. Keep it simple and solve a problem for someone else. 50-page presentations with fancy slides don’t make a business work. Solving a problem in a way that simplifies complexities for someone else does. In other words, do one thing at a time, and focus on simplicity over complexity. You should always be able to answer WHY? It’s not what you do, but why you do it that leaves clients in a happy space that wants to come back for more.

In conclusion, you should love what you do! Life is too short to waste it feeling sorry for yourself or to drink bad wine or instant coffee. We, as entrepreneurs, can make a difference here in South Africa and the world by taking one small step at a time, and by continuing to learn new things. If you’d like to share your passion with us and need some help making your dream a reality—reach out to us for a virtual coffee (or a real one). We love speaking to entrepreneurs, and our goal is to partner with you to make your dreams a reality: your future in real time!