How Entrepreneurs Can Increase Their Chances of Long-Term Success

Entrepreneurs should always be thinking about their long-term success. While many strategies may help you in the short-run, they aren't guaranteed to hold up well over time. Here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of long-term success: 

Handshake with other thought leaders

As an entrepreneur, you need to realize that every interaction requires strategic thinking. That doesn't mean that you need to put everything into the context of Game Theory, but should always keep possible outcomes and consequences in mind. 

This is especially true in the case of networking. According to a recent Entrepreneur article, entrepreneurs need to strategically interact and network with other thought leaders in their industry: 

"Attend local meetups (like meetup.com/startupdenver), seminars and conferences, and reach out to people on various professional and social networks.  Do everything possible to start meeting people who can potentially become clients and/or business colleagues. You'll need to start thinking strategically about experts and the right people to be as lean as possible."

Consider these tips when networking: 

• Good networking requires genuineness and sincerity
• Ask open-ended questions to get conversations started
• Establish yourself as a thought-leader and a credible source
• Enter each networking event with a clear goal and strategy

Build long-term relationships with customers

Building relationships with customers is something you should start doing from Day 1. It's easy to establish a good reputation from a clean slate, but it's almost impossible to turn a negative one around. This requires a lot of work at the beginning, but the customer loyalty will do more than pay itself off generously in time.

You can build long-term relationships with customers by: 

• Being active on social media
• Starting an email list that speaker specifically to your niche audience with high value information
• Offering excellent and creative customer service

Keep yourself mentally and physically healthy

Entrepreneurs need to take care of themselves, or else their entire business can be put at risk. You need to make sure that your personal problems don't spill over into your professional life. 

According to a recent Entrepreneur article, all entrepreneurs need to have supportive loving relationships: 

"Fostering authentic, supportive loving relationships takes time. As an entrepreneur, you may think that making money and working on your business trumps all else, and in some respects when you’re starting out that will be true. However, you need to be sure to get this part of your life in check after you’re operating or lose it by the wayside."

You must consider your daily habits in the context of your long-term success. If your daily tasks don't do anything to contribute to your success, then you need to change a few things up.

To talk more about entrepreneurship, or anything else, please join our Meetup Group. Thanks Shakers!