Momentum plays an important part in pursuing and achieving most life endeavours and is particularly important in the early stages of a start-up business.
Momentum is what propels the business forward and is what picks you up when you are feeling down. It’s needed to maintain focus and apply energy to deliver service at a consistent level.
When harnessed, nurtured and built upon, it can turn viral and spread quickly, resulting in significant business growth.
In the early stages of a start-up, building and maintaining momentum is critical. It is one of the key activities that the owner and leadership of the business must focus on.
So how can you create momentum in your new business? Here are six key areas to focus upon:
What inspired you to go into business in the first place? What compelling reason or purpose motivated you to embark on this journey?
The stronger the “why?” is for you, the greater the momentum you’ll build and be able to sustain it.
When times get tough and you find the business losing momentum, remind yourself of why you’re doing this. Better yet, take regular time out to reflect on your vision and remember why you started up.
Start by celebrating your first sale. Take a copy of the first cheque you banked as a reminder of the satisfaction you felt when your business earned its first dollar.
Stop to celebrate the achievement of milestones along the way. One business I know rings a bell when a major sale is made.
This is a great way to let their whole team know about and acknowledge an achievement, give a collective cheer and use the energy to build momentum as they power onto the conquering their next goal.
Negative people drag you down and stifle momentum. Don’t get me wrong, you don’t need “Pollyanna” people who talk things up no matter what.
What you do need is a network of people that give you constructive encouragement and help you to use the negatives to learn, improve and generate change. These people emphasise the positive achievements and urge you on to achieve bigger and better things.
It can be lonely at the top so finding peers, mentors, partners and employees that genuinely understand your goals, care about what you’re going through and support you along the way, are invaluable.
