Reflecting on a decade in business: What it takes to be successful

What behaviours do business owners need to achieve their goals? What mindset help entrepreneurs grow a business to a value of £10m or more?

We launched Realise a decade ago to go on a journey with our clients. The support offered by professional services companies is often too siloed. We wanted to develop a mix of technical and emotional aspects of building businesses to create long-term value.

That was a decade ago and we’ve since supported over 75 businesses and hundreds of business owners. Some want to stay successful, others want to grow and sell – and we’re proud to say we’ve supported founders to achieve exits in excess of £150m.

What mindset creates the opportunity for success?

We work with business owners that have ambitions of building businesses worth more than £10m.

It doesn’t matter if these companies are selling pens or developing AI – if an entrepreneur has an insight into a market and delivers relentlessly, they can be successful.

Everyone’s personal experience is different, but we’ve found there are some learnt behaviours that can dramatically increase your chances of success.

1. The short and long-term toggle

There's a balance between relentless short-term execution and having a long-term view of the market. You need both to survive.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of running a business, so make sure you create space to think about the long term.

You need to have a destination in mind that motivates you. The more powerful the motivator the more likely it is you’ll get there.

2. Have a clear value and purpose

Authenticity is crucial to building trust and maintaining your drive; your actions need to connect with the long-term value you want to create.

That doesn’t mean you need to act in a certain way, but having a powerful purpose helps you attract the people you really want, the people that can make a difference to your mission.

Whatever your approach, you need to be honest and understand your purpose.

3. You have to evolve

Your intelligence quotient (IQ) is unlikely to change much. What’s important is developing your emotional quotient (self-awareness, empathy and social skills) and adversity quotient (your resilience).

That requires a long-term commitment to self-reflection and building positive habits. Keeping those routines is a kind of fitness – you need to keep working at it.

Learning’s essential because your role and the competitive landscape keep changing. You can bring in specialists, but ultimately business leaders need to learn the basic building blocks. The number one being finding, developing and keeping great people.

4. Eat, sleep and breathe the market

You need to pay constant attention to your customer, competitors and market.

You can’t lose sight of what’s going on in the market, even if your team is responsible for many of the touch points with customers. A lot of leaders lose touch over time and that often goes hand in hand with slipping performance.

The business owners we’ve worked with show success requires a long-term commitment to learning.

The market never stops evolving, so you need to constantly innovate on your proposition. That doesn’t mean changing to a completely new product. It could be a change to your brand or tweaking the features.

It’s the micro things that add up. The key is to never stop looking for opportunities to push yourself to the front of the queue in your customers’ minds.

5. Know how to protect yourself and your team

An environment that’s go, go, go is bloody hard work.

You have to find a way to protect yourself, whether it’s yoga, mindfulness or gardening. It’s got to be doing you good and you have to work hard at it.

The same goes for your team. It’s okay to be compassionate and vulnerable but you have to make sure there’s accountability. That’s a tricky balance.

How long does it take to develop these behaviours?

The business owners we’ve worked with show success requires a long-term commitment to learning; it’s a curve that doesn’t end. Some people accelerate away, others follow a slower upwards trajectory and many more fall away entirely.

To grow a business to a value of £10m or more you have to move fast in learning and execution. That means knowing how to do it, so that you’re not being reckless, managing your energy and being driven by a strong purpose.

It doesn’t matter where you are on the curve. We’re looking for people that have the potential to grow a business, that respond well to advice – and are prepared to challenge and spar with us – and have the maturity to know it’s a complex challenge that requires a team to solve.

If you’re interested in working with Realise, you can book a free introductory chat using our Contact us page or get in touch with any questions about how we work.