UNIT 1

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Innovation refers to the introduction of a new good or a new quality of a good, method of production,
market, source of supply, and/or organization in an industry. It also refers to improving on an existing
concept or idea using a step-wise process to create a commercially viable product.
Innovation is stereotypically viewed to be the wheelhouse of small and start-up companies since they tend
to be very dynamic, but as we shall see, it is also a vital and viable aspect in big companies.
The most fulfilling thing about an innovation is being able to actualize an idea into a successful concept. To
do this, you need to go through a long and complex process. For you to succeed you must understand the
process well and must have the support needed; this is what differentiates a successful innovation process
from an unsuccessful innovation process.
 Innovation is the activity of people and organizations to change themselves and the environment. It means
breaking routines and dominant ways of thinking, introducing new things and behaviors, launching new
standards.
 Focused by a creative orientation, it arises from un satisfaction with the current state of art, by leveraging
technological and social new opportunities
 Innovation is typically understood as the introduction of something new and useful
 Innovation is the embodiment, combination, or synthesis of knowledge in original, relevant, valued new
products, processes, or services
 Invention is the first occurrence of an idea for a new product or process, while innovation is the first
attempt to carry it out into practice
 All innovation begins with creative ideas . . .
 We define innovation as the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization
 Innovation in its modern meaning is "a new idea, creative thoughts, new imaginations in form of device or
method".
 Innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements,
unarticulated needs, or existing market needs.
 Such innovation takes place through the provision of more-
effective products, processes, services, technologies, or business models that are made
available to markets, governments and society.
 An innovation is something original and more effective and, as a consequence, new, that "breaks into" the
market or society.
KINDS OF INNOVATIONS
Out of several cases, innovation can basically be:

1. Product innovation (e.g. new goods or services put on sale);

2. Process innovation which changes the way a given good is produced within the firm or across a
supply chain;
3.Behavioral innovation, when an organizational routine is replaced with new ones, including
the main features of its "business model".

FACTORS AFFECTING INNOVATION MANAGEMENT

Companies expect great challenges, especially in the introduction of innovation management. If

fundamental mistakes are made here or if important decisions are missed, this can cause problems
throughout the entire process. Therefore, organizations must pay attention to the following success
factors in all cases:
1. Management Commitment to Innovation

Management commitment is one of the most important success factors in innovation management.
In the absence of corporate management support, innovation leaders will waste their time fighting
against wind mills.
The commitment of all managers, from top to bottom, is the basis of the innovation process. This is
because it secures the necessary support for innovations that are now happening outside of the day-
to-day business (where a company earns the money) from all areas. Support, time and budgets are
necessary fuels for the success of innovation, which can only be achieved through commitment to
innovation.
2. Strategic orientation

If the strategic orientation of innovation activities is lacking, there is a lack of goal, path and
orientation. This makes it difficult for those in charge of innovation to assess where and what to
look for, which innovation topics have priority and thus difficult to make the right decisions.
Therefore, the innovation strategy must be defined on the basis of future trends, opportunities, risks
and challenges as well as the corporate strategy:
 What is the purpose of innovation and what do we want to achieve in the future?
 What is the contribution of innovation to corporate strategy? 
 What are our future topics and search fields?
Based on these answers, the innovation vision, its strategy and the innovation roadmap emerge.
These elements are the basis of all innovation activities, be it the development of ideas, the
prioritization of innovation projects or decisions in project
 3. Clear responsibilities
The innovation process is a highly interdisciplinary process and requires the involvement of many
functional areas and employees in order to successfully implement a new product or service idea.
It is therefore necessary to clearly define what is expected of the employees. Above all, it is also
about defining the roles in the innovation process. For example, the tasks of sales, production,
purchasing, etc. in innovation projects are clearly defined with regard to their contribution to the
success of innovation.
In addition, the project roles are defined in individual innovation projects and must be perceived
with commitment. This includes, for example, the role of the project manager, the project town
councilor and the important project team members.

4. Innovation culture

Innovations require completely different structures and cultures in comparison to operative

management and work. Operational business is built on routine and efficiency, while innovation is
always about innovation. This requires different values and attitudes, for example openness to try
out new and new things, willingness to take risks, thinking across borders, accepting mistakes and
much more.
Therefore, a company must build up a positive innovation culture where innovations are
welcome and encouraged. Measures to promote a culture of innovation are implemented at various
levels:
 Raising employee awareness of innovation, e. g. through communication measures.
 Motivation, e. g. incentives for promoting innovation.
 Empowerment of employees for innovation, e. g. training courses on creativity and the innovation
process.
 Active involvement of employees, e. g. through innovation competitions.
 Creation of spaces and structures for innovation, e. g. flat hierarchies, freedom and resources.

5. Change Management

The introduction of innovation management requires a change and also the implementation of
innovations themselves necessitate changes. These changes can only become effective if they are
supported by all employees themselves and if the workforce itself actively changes.
Therefore, change management itself is an extremely important tool and belongs to the repertoire of
every innovation manager. Innovations put a company into continuous change and therefore it
requires a conscious and constant management of these changes in order to take all employees on
the journey.
6. Integration of all employees

Innovation is not something that only a limited, elitist circle of employees does or is even boosted
by the innovation manager. Innovation must be actively initiated and supported by all employees.
That is why the innovation manager must involve all employees in a targeted manner.
On the one hand, this includes awareness-raising measures to inspire and motivate all
employees for innovation, but also structural measures for active involvement, such as pitching
contests, innovation competitions or classic idea management.Innovation must become a permanent
initiative that is supported and actively shaped by all employees.

7. Collaboration
Cooperation is an essential success factor in innovation processes and projects. Innovations always
happen in interdisciplinary teams and require the cooperation of many employees. It is important,
however, that everyone pulls together and pursues a common goal. Otherwise, different demands
lead to silos, lack of cooperation and support or problems at the interfaces, which in the end can
seriously slow down an innovation project or even cause it to fail.
For this reason, a company must place great emphasis on the fact that all employees pursue a
common goal - on the one hand in terms of innovation vision and, on the other hand, in the
individual projects. Everyone must have the common, great goal in mind and focus their energies on
it. Only in this way can all innovation potentials be used productively and facilitate the success of
innovation

Conclusion

Innovation management and innovation can experience many stumbling blocks. It is therefore
essential to pay extreme attention to this, to promote the success factors and to eliminate the risks.
As the points described above demonstrate, the most important success factor is the "human being".
Without the commitment, support and encouragement of all managers and employees, any
innovation is doomed to failure. Therefore, every innovation initiative must focus on people
 .ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURS

A lot of hard work goes into starting and eventually expanding an enterprise. This hard work starts
with the entrepreneur and trickles down the entire organization. But this is a very broad definition
and does not really appreciate and highlight the actual role of entrepreneurs with respect to their
enterprises.
So to explain it in a better way, let us break it down into points about how an entrepreneur is vital to
the enterprise
1. Initiator
The entrepreneur is the one who initiates the process of creating an enterprise by coming up with
the idea for the business and planning out how to turn that idea into a reality.
2. Risk Taker
In an enterprise, the entrepreneur, being the owner, is the biggest risk taker. He is the one who finds
the capital to back up his idea and also the person who is accountable in the face of the failure of
that particular idea.
3. Reduces Risk
It is also one of the most important roles of entrepreneurs to reduce the risk of an enterprise failure
by bringing in people that can help the organization grow. These people can be shareholders or
investors that have a stake in the company and therefore are motivated to help the company
succeed.
4. Allocator

An entrepreneur procures and allocates various resources in the organization. The most important of
these resources is manpower. The entrepreneur is responsible for hiring an efficient staff to help
him carry out his business. This is important because a good manager can take a business to new
heights, while a bad manager can destroy the business.
He is also responsible for creating an organizational structure and departments for a more efficient
functioning of the enterprise.
5. Adhering to Legal Norms
To ensure that the enterprise adheres to legal norms and policies, such as obtaining a license is also
the duty of the entrepreneur. Not pertaining to these can mean serious legal consequences for the
enterprise. These could be in terms of financial losses for the organization or something even more
serious such as shutting down of an enterprise.
6. Forecasting
Last but far from least, the role of entrepreneurs involve acting as a forecaster. The enterprise works in a
business environment and is affected by changes occurring in various aspects of
this environment. It could be internal, such as strikes, machinery breakdowns; budget cuts etc. or
these could be external, such as legal policy changes, political or social unrest, technological
advancements, etc.
An entrepreneur must be able to correctly forecast these changes and prepare the organization to
deal with these changes.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship is the art of starting a business, basically a startup company offering creative
product, process or service. We can say that it is an activity full of creativity. An entrepreneur
perceives everything as a chance and displays bias in taking decision to exploit the chance.
An entrepreneur is a creator or a designer who designs new ideas and business processes according
to the market requirements and his/her own passion. To be a successful entrepreneur, it is very
important to have managerial skill and strong team building abilities. Leadership attributes are a
sign of successful entrepreneurs. Some political economists regard leadership, management ability,
and team building skills to be the essential qualities of an entrepreneur
 Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur or “one who undertakes innovations,
finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods.”

 An individual may start a new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature
organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. 

 The most obvious form of entrepreneurship is that of starting new businesses (referred as
Startup Company).

 In recent years, startup has been extended to include social and political forms of
entrepreneurial activity. 

 When entrepreneurship is describing activities within a firm or large organization it is
referred to as intra-preneurship. 

 Intra-preneurship: When entrepreneurship is describing activities within a firm or large
organization it is referred to as intra-preneurship.

 Seniority: A measure of the amount of time a person has been a member of an organization,
as compared to other members, and with an eye towards awarding privileges to those who
have been members longer.

 Entrepreneur: A person who organizes and operates a business venture and assumes much
of the associated risk.
 Entrepreneurs are their own bosses. They make the decisions. They choose whom to do
business with and what work they will do. They decide what hours to work, as well as what to
pay and whether to take vacations.

 Entrepreneurship offers a greater possibility of achieving significant financial rewards than
working for someone else.

 It provides the ability to be involved in the total operation of the business, from concept to
design and creation, from sales to business operations and customer response.

 It offers the prestige of being the person in charge. 

 It gives an individual the opportunity to build equity, which can be kept, sold, or passed on to
the next generation

Entrepreneurship is classified in Nine Types;

1. Administrative Entrepreneurship.
2. Opportunistic Entrepreneurship.
3. Acquisitive Entrepreneurship.
4. Incubative Entrepreneurship.
5. Imitative Entrepreneurship.
6. Private Entrepreneurship.
7. Public Entrepreneurship.
8. Individual Entrepreneurship.
9. Mass Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying
most of the rewards. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas,
goods, services, and business/or procedures.
Entrepreneurs play a key role in any economy, using the skills and initiative necessary to anticipate
needs and bring good new ideas to market. Entrepreneurs who prove to be successful in taking on
the risks of a startup are rewarded with profits, fame, and continued growth opportunities. Those
who fail suffer losses and become less prevalent in the markets.
Merriam-Webster: “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or
enterprise.”
Dictionary.com: “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business,
usually with considerable initiative and risk.”
ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAITS

Many people dream of being an entrepreneur. They envision their business as majorly successful;
allowing them to make enormous wealth, be the boss, have the freedom to come and go as they
please and work how and when they want. If only this were the reality, everyone would be an
entrepreneur! Unfortunately, this is not the experience for most. Being an entrepreneur can be
tremendously rewarding, but it is hard work.
1.Vision
Successful entrepreneurs have a clear vision of what their business will be and can concisely
articulate its purpose, goals and market position. They have identified (and can succinctly describe)
the who, what, where, when and why of their business. Successful entrepreneurs always keep one
eye on the big picture, and this ability can make you a better employee. “Vision is about strategic
planning,” what direction the industry is going? Identify challenges for your company, tackle your
day-to-day job responsibilities, while staying focused on long-term goals and initiatives

2.Passion
A successful entrepreneur is passionate about their business. It is hard work, and putting in long
hours will be tough if you don’t love what you are doing. People with passion know what it is that
drives them to keep working to achieve their vision.
3.Tenacity

Entrepreneurs remain tough when the going gets rough. They don’t give up easily. They can accept
rejection and are willing to learn from their mistakes. They are willing and able to adapt and modify
their plan in order to be successful the next time around.

4.Willingness to work hard

Being an entrepreneur is harder than being an employee. To be successful, the entrepreneur must be
willing to put in the time and effort required, often for little or no pay at the beginning. Successful
entrepreneurs recognize the risk and necessary work that achieving their goals will entail.

5.Confidence
Successful entrepreneurs have confidence in themselves and in their business. They must believe in
their ability and in their idea. Every entrepreneur will face rejection along the way and successful
entrepreneurs are those with the confidence to keep going and bounce back after a setback.
6.Flexibility

Things do not always go as planned. A successful entrepreneur is flexible. They learn from their
mistakes and are willing to adapt and change as they go along. They take advice from others and are
open to trying new approaches
7.Can sell
An entrepreneur must be comfortable selling. Even with a sales team, the leader must be an expert
at networking and be able to promote themselves and their business to bankers, customers, suppliers
and staff.

8.Prudent with money

Successful entrepreneurs are good money managers. They prudently invest in overhead and always
keep track of the money and manage their cash flow.

9.Willing to ask for and accept help

An entrepreneur needs to be a jack of all trades but the most successful entrepreneurs know their
limitations, realize they can’t do everything and are willing to delegate to others. They are willing to
ask for help. They seek out and pay for expert advice when needed.

10.Resilience
No matter how successful your business, there will be bumps along the road. A successful
entrepreneur is resilient and can bounce back from a setback. They use setbacks as an opportunity to
learn and grow. They understand that failure is part of the game. (MacRae, 2019)
11.Motivation
Hard-working business owners are incredibly motivated to succeed. Adopting this mindset— and
being able to demonstrate your motivation to an employer—is crucial, says Karen Litzinger, a
career coach in Pittsburgh. “You need to bring enthusiasm to everything you do at your job,”
Litzinger says. Fortunately, showing you’re highly motivated is simple: “You have to show up to
work every day with a positive attitude,” Plutz says. “Employers want to see you’re passionate.”

12.Creativity
No matter what industry you’re in, employers want workers with out-of-the-box ideas, Litzinger
says. “They want employees to be able to not only carry out assignments, but also come up with
better ways of doing things,” she says.
That’s why it’s important to be creative—to always be thinking of new ways you can improve your
company’s workflow, productivity, and bottom line.

13.Persuasiveness

Persuasiveness can make you a better negotiator, which gives you an edge when going after a plum
assignment, raise, or promotion, says career coach Phyllis Mufson.“There are times when you are
going to need to convince a client, a co-worker, or your boss to take certain actions, so you need to
be persuasive” when presenting your ideas, Litzinger says.

14.Versatility
You have to be able to adapt to changes in the workforce. “You may be hired for a specific set of
skills, but it’s important to be able to shift as needed,” Litzinger says.
You want to be someone that your boss can go to in a pinch, so be prepared to tackle work that’s
outside your job description. It’s also important to be an early adopter of new technology and keep
your skills current, Litzinger says.

15.Risk tolerance

“Every employer wants to grow their business, which often involves risk and change,” says
Litzinger. Translation: Don’t be afraid to take risks when pursuing new clients, for example, or
testing a new product. (One caveat: Make sure you have your boss’ buy-in before taking a risk.)

16.Decisiveness

Do you exercise sound judgment under pressure? When you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t have
room to procrastinate—and the same is true for employees. “You have to be able to take action
when needed,” Litzinger explains. You must know how to prioritize tasks and make decisions
quickly. (It helps to be organized.)

17.Collaboration

Savvy entrepreneurs are not only brilliant leaders, but also great collaborators, Plutz says, so you
have to be an effective team player. Unsurprising, 78% of hiring managers seek job candidates who
demonstrate strong teamwork skills, according to the National Association of Colleges and
Employers Job Outlook 2017 survey.
Ultimately, using entrepreneurial skills at work entails adjusting to other people’s work styles,
avoiding office politics, celebrating your peers’ successes, meeting your deadlines, and putting your
company’s goals first. (Bortz, 2019)
DEVELOPING ENTREPRENEURS DYNAMICS OF SMALL BUSINESS
ENVIRONMENT

In dynamically competitive enterprises, there is also a critical role for the entrepreneurial manager
in both transforming the enterprise and shaping the ecosystem through sui generis strategic acts that
neither stem from routines (or algorithms) nor need give rise to new routines. In the dynamic
capabilities framework. Unlike ordinary capabilities, certain dynamic capabilities may be based on
the skills and knowledge of one or a few executives rather than on organizational routines.
In both large and small enterprises, entrepreneurial (managerial) capitalism is required to establish
and sustain superior financial performance. This entrepreneurial management involves not merely
the practice and improvement of existing routines or even the creation of new ones
DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES

Dynamic capabilities are higher‐level competences that determine the firm's ability to integrate,
build, and reconfigure internal and external resources/competences to address, and possibly shape,
rapidly changing business environments They determine the speed at, and degree to which, the
firm's particular resources can be aligned and realigned to match the requirements and opportunities
of the business environment so as to generate sustained abnormal (positive) returns. The alignment
of resources both inside and outside the firm includes assessing when and how the enterprise ought
to form alliances with other organizations.
Dynamic capabilities have grown in importance as the expansion of trade has led to both greater
specialization and more rapid competitive responses. To make the global system of vertical
specialization and co specialization work, there is an enhanced need for the business enterprise to
develop and maintain asset alignment capabilities that enable collaborating firms to combine assets
so as to deliver value to customers.
Dynamic capabilities can usefully be thought of as falling into three clusters of activities and
adjustments:identification and assessment of an opportunity (sensing);
mobilization of resources to address an opportunity and to capture value from doing so (seizing);
and
continued renewal (transforming). These activities must be performed expertly if the firm is
to sustain itself as markets and technologies change, although some firms will be stronger than
others in performing some or all of these tasks.
Dynamic capabilities are ‘strategic’ and distinct from ordinary capabilities. Firms can maintain and
extend competitive advantage by layering dynamic capabilities on top of ordinary capabilities.
A firm's ordinary capabilities, if well honed, enable it to perform efficiently its current activities.
However, dynamic capabilities, when combined with a good strategy , enable the enterprise to
position itself for making the right products and targeting the right markets to address the consumer
Dynamic capabilities help the organization (especially its top management) to develop conjectures,
to validate or reject them, and to realign assets as required
Strong dynamic capabilities are critical to success, especially when an innovating firm needs to
pioneer a market, or a new product category. Dynamic capabilities, particularly those resting on
entrepreneurial competences, are important to the market creating (and co‐creating) processes
associated with capitalist economic systems needs and the technological and competitive
opportunities of the future.

.
.

Markets in
which
firms operate

Entrepreneur's Entrepreneur's Business

Characteristics Objectives performance

Managerial
practices

CAUSES FOR SMALL BUSINESS FAILURE

Starting a business is not easy, and there are countless statistics out there about the survival rate of
start-up companies.
 
 Only about 20 percent of new businesses survive their first year of operation.
 
 The U.S Census data shows that new business creation is nearly at a 40-year low.
 
Half of small businesses fail within their first five years.

1. Poor Management
Assumption and complacency typically happen when a business is doing well and fall into a false
sense of security that your business is operating in the best possible and most productive way.
That’s precisely when fallacy swoops in and wreaks havoc if you’re not careful.
2. Lack of Data
As a business owner, you need to know what percentage of revenue you can allocate to employee
wages, utility bills, or rent so you can set proper targets for cost savings. On the revenue side, you
want your business to grow month over month or year over year The secret to running a lean
business is a long-term, ongoing strategy that strives to eliminate waste to improve efficiency,
agility, and quality of business operations — all while maximizing value to customers.
  Build.

The point is a company should start with a basic idea, or in the business world, a Minimum Viable
Product (MVP) that they can introduce to the market. Amazon started as an online bookstore, and
now they deliver groceries to your and provide streaming music services.
 Measure

Next, these companies measured. They measured the results of the MVP during the experimental
stage.
 Learn.

Once you have some reliable data measurements, you can then determine which direction to move
based on the results of that data.

3. Refusal to Pivot
Old-fashioned stubbornness is one of the reasons of small businesses fail. It’s easy for entrepreneurs
to become obsessed with their business idea or product, even when all evidence points to it not
being a success. Introduce changes to the company as per the market demand or customer
satisfaction
4. Underestimating Administrative Tasks
From inventory management to managing employees to all the bookkeeping and accounting
involved in the endless quest to meet your financing goals and turn a profit, administrative
responsibilities can easily eat up your entire day.
According to a poll conducted by SCORE, 47 percent of small business owners dislike the financial
costs associated with bookkeeping, and 13 percent dislike the administrative headaches and the
amount of time it sucks out of their workday.
5. Trying To Do It All
Small business owners are a scrappy bunch, and tend to view themselves as Jacks (or Jills) of all
trades. But entrepreneurs, like all people, have strengths and weaknesses, not to mention a finite
number of hours in each day. Divide your work and reduce your work load.
6. Lack of Sales

A quality point of sale system is a good place to start. The only way to make sure you’ll hit your
sales targets is to gain insights from existing data and use those insights to inform your sales
strategy. This can happen when you reply too much on one large customer. If your cafe depends on
student traffic during the school year, you will need to diversify come summer to stay afloat.
 7. Unsustainable Growth
In business, slow and steady wins the race most of the time. Trying to take on more business than
you can handle drains your working capital and usually results in a quality decline. You are
overwhelmed and your product or service suffers.
Instead, be smart about which customers you court, and how you will pay back each business loan.
Saying no is part of running a business.
8. Inventory Mismanagement
Poor management can often lead to inventory shortages and overages — silent cash flow killers.
The best way to combat this is to use inventory management software or a point of sale (POS)
system that can track inventory and provides reports detailing your best and worst selling products
to help you identify sales patterns.
9. Failure to Understand Customer Behaviour Today
In our digitally obsessed society, it’s easier than ever for customers to share their thoughts and
opinions about the businesses they interact with — which means it’s easier than ever for business
owners to monitor and solicit customer feedback.

List of channels to help you monitor feedback and engage in conversations with customers.

Social
Media. All social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,Pinterest,
etc…)

Yelp Reviews.
 Yelp is one of the go-to destinations for people who want to find local
businesses.

Google Reviews. Just like Yelp,
 this a more passive channel than social media, but
nonetheless, very important.

Dedicated Customer Advocacy Websites. One of the most trusted websites for
consumer reviews is Trustpilot. they’ve built an entire online review
 
community dedicated to helping customers share their genuine experiences.

Customer Surveys Surveys are still one of the best ways to ask customers specific and
direct questions.
10. No Business Plan or Poor Planning
A business plan forces you to define your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) — what differentiates
your project from its competitors. This doesn’t mean you should ignore your
passions. Instead, it means you need to do a little research and business planning. (WALTERS,
2019)
SUCCESS FACTORS FOR SMALL BUSINESS
While every entrepreneur has a different success story, I tend to see some of the same factors
affecting most business’s results. Now, not all of these are personality traits. Many are simply ways
of doing things, so no matter who you are, changing your actions can have major results. The
bottom line is you can plan for success.
1. Team Trust
Without trusting your team, there is no way you can scale your operations to increase the volume of
your output. If you trust your team to do the job correctly, you can focus on the next growth
opportunity, instead of simply taking care of BAU (business as usual) work. – Maurice.
2.Deep Market Saturation

I’m a huge believer in going deep versus going wide. I think making sure you’ve saturated your
current market is more important than being available in multiple territories/states/countries. You
want everyone around to know who you are before moving outward.
3. Clear Key Performance Indicators
Know your numbers. I have heard this countless times as a business owner. Simple, but of
paramount importance. Key performance indicators give you a weekly pulse on key metrics in the
business. To track growth, stagnation, or worse, backsliding, these numbers help you adjust on the
fly to keep you focused on your goals. If metrics are not lining up with the goal, a shift is required.
4. Cash-Generating Mechanisms
To fund growth, you need cash, but cash is not easy to come by when you're scrambling to survive
as a small business. Therefore, you need to identify and deploy mechanisms to generate that needed
cash for product development, new hires, etc. so you don't stay stagnant. Later you will probably
find a few of these mechanisms actually become part of your growth engine as well. Enjoy the ride
5. Hustle
Never stop out-hustling your competition. That "hustle" applies to every area of your small
business, from continuous improvement and competitive analysis to upgrading equipment and good
old-fashioned work ethic. Hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle.
6. No Debt And Minimal Fixed Expenses
In the early days of a startup, funds are low. There is no brand recognition. You are running on
nothing but passion and exhilaration. Stay nimble and out of debt. There is no need for a fancy
office, staff that you don't have time to train and leasing expensive things. Start your business and
build sustainability by working smart, marketing yourself and putting in extra hours.
7. A 'Big Hairy Audacious Goal'

To achieve sustainable growth, it's important to consider slow growth at first to solidify your
concept, processes and procedures and team. Then I'd suggest adopting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal
(BHAG). A BHAG creates sustainable growth because it motivates employees, forces them to get
creative and aligns everyone in the company toward one big goal.

8. Unit Economics
How much incremental cash do you make with every unit you sell, and how does your cost of
acquisition match up? Too many small businesses rarely understand all of the expenses required to
acquire a customer, and then deliver the product or service they are selling. You really have to dig
into the details and make sure you understand the core profitability of each sale. (Forbes Newyork
Business Council, 2019)
9. Dream Big

If you can dream it you can achieve it. No entrepreneur ever became a millionaire by limiting her
dreams. After all, dreams are free, aren’t they? There’s nothing wrong with making big plans, even
if you can’t see right now how you will accomplish them. As they say, aim for the moon. There’s
nothing wrong with hitting a star if you miss!
10. Take Responsibility
That means take responsibility for accomplishing your goals and for your own mistakes. You have
no one to blame but yourself if you don’t reach your mark, so make sure you’re taking the necessary
actions to move toward your objectives. And when you make a mistake, acknowledge it and learn
from it. However, the worst thing you can do is dwell on it, so just keep it moving
11. Raise the Bar
You’re not working for a boss anymore, so the only expectations you need to meet are your own.
Make sure they’re set high enough so that you continue to grow over time. While there’s a
confidence boost in accomplishing things, if you’re not challenging yourself enough, it’s a false
sense of accomplishment. You must grow yourself to grow your business.
12. Develop Action Habits
Things don’t get done in business by talking about them. Be a person of action. If you say you’re
going to follow up with someone, do so promptly. Keep lists of projects you need to work on and
set deadlines for yourself. Overall, just make sure you’re in the habit of taking action where you
need to.
13. Visualize Your Success
This goes with dreaming big: create a vision board of what you want your company to be like in
five years. The process can go a long way to making it a reality. Will your company still be just you
running it, or will you have employees in a few years or a few locations? How many clients will
you have? Seeing this picture can help you plan for it. Put the vision board on your wall so that you
can remind yourself why you work so hard.
14. Associate with Winners
Remember how, as a kid, your mom never wanted you to play with “that kid” down the street?
Maybe he had no manners, or she thought he came from the wrong part of town. Who we associate
with does say something about ourselves, so when you hang out with successful people, a little of
that magic rubs off on you. Look around at your network and see who you want to influence you.
Make sure you’re not always the smartest person in the room.
15. Give Back
Becoming your own boss isn’t just about your own financial success. It’s about giving back to your
community, usually through your time, money, or influence…or all three. If you grew up in a
community where entrepreneurship wasn’t encouraged much, just think of the influence you could
spread by actively working to develop new small business programs in your local school,
sponsoring a little league team or mentoring students.
16. Embrace Change
As much as we dislike it, change is a part of entrepreneurship. Not only is technology changing how
we market and run our businesses every day, but your industry is changing too. To remain relevant
in your space, stay on top of industry trends. You’ve got to roll with those changes and be ready to
adapt at a moment’s notice so that your business stays relevant.
17. Love the Process
That’s exactly what running a business is: a process. The trick is that you must figure out what you
don’t know about running a business. You’ll have tedious times that will test your patience, and
you’ll have others where you’re flying high. Enjoy the roller coaster you’re on and know that
everything is an opportunity to learn.
18. Have Faith
Part of loving that process is appreciating the hard times as much as the good ones. It’s about
having faith that even if things seem to be falling apart in this moment, they’ll soon get better.
Trouble is temporary. The less you let the negative affect you, the easier it will be to rise above it.
Prayer works too. Sometimes just some deep breaths in and out will help you see things more
clearly.