Written by: Kimberley Shamtally, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
When you start out in business, it can seem overwhelming. There are so many factors to consider, for instance, the socio-economic factors and government policies with regard to funding. The evolvement of human behaviour towards the market you want to be a part of. Whatever your business strategy, be intentional. Think about what sets you apart from your competitors. It can seem like hundreds of other businesses are already doing the idea you have, but they are not you. What makes you unique? What are you enthusiastic about? How are you going to deliver that message to the public?
1. The first knock out way to stand out, be yourself. Own the skills you have carefully acquired over several years of study or have yet to put into action. Take time to evaluate what others think about your idea or business. This can be verbal feedback or positive comments. Reinforcing what you do best allows individualized touch, or you could call it your signature. As a consumer, we often buy with our emotions and love how something will make us feel. Those comments from your existing clients help you to pick out what feelings they felt and accentuate them within your marketing campaign. Niche down your Unique Selling point. Get to know yourself and what you are great at that no one else does.
For me, I learned that I had remarkable pattern memory and kinaesthetic skills. Online you will find a plethora of psychometric testing sites and psychological profiling apps. Why not try these on yourself to identify your own strengths and weaknesses? If competition knocks, you will be able to respond with better insight and wisdom. Intuitively we can receive warnings about where our business is heading and whether this will be successful. Logic will try and outsmart this with reasoning and comparison to others to help you accept this situation rather than act on it. If it feels off, do not commit.
2. Learn to act on your instinct, even if the market is not performing well. Sometimes visionaries are ahead of the trend, and this can mean other businesses will think you are doing things wrong when you will be in a prime position as the markets change. A business cycle can experience boom and bust scenarios; you must be patient during the quiet periods. Planning a strategy and keeping to your own game plan. Just because you start a business within a recession does not mean it will not be successful. The Coronavirus Pandemic is a notable example of innovation companies turning a negative situation into a massive multi-million-pound venture. The key to staying ahead is knowing your industry and what needs to improve. See the gap in the market, then go for it.
3. Create a vision board. Why are you in business? What made you decide to go into this industry? It is important to keep in the flow of core beliefs or pillars that you set yourself. When you are of service to the industry, it is amazing how work comes to you. For example, people love to support ethically sound companies as it resonates with the beliefs they hold. Be that mirror, would you be happy with the level of service or quality of the product you deliver? If the answer is yes, this will reflect in your client’s response. Review this vision from time to time as markets change. Capture the moment when your business unfolds before your eyes. The flow of energy and abundance will motivate you to keep going.
4. Take your time before making the leap. A silent pause before a decision allows for the intuitive response to be involved. Personally, this meant I disagreed with other professionals over a particular pathway in healthcare. Even though the figures and symptoms checked out fine, there was something else telling me to go deeper. This hunch led to a discovery of a faulty piece of equipment. This could have been the next logical step if they relied on the visual results of the scans with no improvement. However, the time taken to arrive at the same conclusion would have impacted the health of the individual.
5. Trust yourself, do not let fear keep you stuck. We all enjoy being comfortable, but sometimes we need to get uncomfortable to effect change. When we train for a marathon, we must endure more stress than ever before. Our muscles will experience strength over a prolonged period of building up distance. This resilience can transcend into business. Taking risks can elevate you to the next level, they can generate a loss but do not let that affect your ability to read future situations. Treat every opportunity as if it were the first time but do not forget the lessons you learned in the past. Every now and then, it seems peculiar to be present with a similar opportunity. Allow yourself to read the situation. How does it feel this time? Failures happen for a reason. When we make mistakes, we can take a new path and learn another way to achieve success. If everything went to plan, we would not have the hunger to strive for more.
Competition exists to help you to evolve and survive. Think about relationships that are, loved and lost. Through heartbreak, transformation occurs. The person learns to love themselves again, and this happens the same in business. Partnerships may dissolve, and money may be lost, but the heart of what you wanted to create remains.
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Kimberley Shamtally, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kimberley Shamtally, Entrepreneur, author, and Physical therapist. Leader in identifying patterns of muscle behaviour, experienced through trauma. Kimberley’s son, diagnosed with a brain tumour, experienced Posterior Fossa Syndrome after surgery. She helped him to create new, neural pathways to use all his muscles again. With life experience documenting the ongoing recovery, came the vision to help heal others by launching Muscle Mechanics Balms. The cooperation of nature and self-healing. Giving up is not an option when young lives are depending on you, Kimberley strives to improve resilience against adversity through invention.
