4 habits of successful business owners

Running a business requires passion, expert knowledge, energy and clear goals. Working towards success means making a daily decision to be excited about what you're doing. It also requires regular reading, exercise and diverse goal-setting. 3 Cube Property Solutions unpacks these four habits of successful trailblazers and business owners.

Habit 1: Be passionate about what you do

Making a daily decision to love what you do and be excited about your work is a habit that will contribute to your happiness, your productivity and your ultimate success. A great example of what passion can do for a business can be found in Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York project. According to Stanton, this started in 2010 with an initial goal of photographing 10 000 New Yorkers. At some point, he started interviewing his subjects and sharing snippets of their lives and the challenges they faced along with their pictures.

Stanton's genuine joy and compassion shine through in his work. He not only shares stories but provides financial assistance where possible through crowdfunding campaigns. The success of his endeavours can be seen in his extensive social media following, which is currently at almost 18 000 000 followers on Facebook and over 11 000 000 on Instagram. He has also had two books published and has crept into the hearts of people all around the world.

Habit 2: Read and keep reading

Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have two things in common. They are all hugely successful in their fields and they all make reading a priority. Business owners - whether they have been blazing trails in their field for one month or 20 years - need to keep learning. Since reading is a far more pleasant way to learn than learning from one's own mistakes, it should be a significant part of every success strategy.

Owners of industrial and commercial enterprises can get inspiration, motivation and advice from reading biographies of other successful entrepreneurs. A business owner's reading list should include books like The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, which looks at how to validate a business idea with minimal risk, without investing too much time or money in unworthy ideas. Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People and Simon Sinek's Start With Why should also be in your to-read pile according to The Power MBA.

Habit 3: Get regular exercise

Directly speaking, exercise seems to have nothing to do with your success in business. However, this could not be further from the truth. Those running a business need energy. They need to keep their stress levels in check. They need to be able to concentrate. They need to stay motivated. Exercise achieves all these goals and thereby helps to make business goals into realities.

For billionaire Mark Cuban, commitment to exercise is as important as commitment to his business. Getting in an hour of cardio every day fires up his competitive spirit. Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO, considers exercise to be part of the daily routine that enables him to be effective.

Habit 4: Set clear and diverse goals

The need to set goals for your business is an ongoing one. Some extremely successful businesses take the concept of goal-setting a step further and set goals that are not strictly business-related. For example, Adam Hergenrother of Adam Hergenrother Companies made a goal of encouraging as many of his employees as possible to take on a physical challenge. This could be a marathon, an Ironman, a 5km race or a yoga session. Hergenrother realises that a healthy workforce leads to higher employee satisfaction and lower staff turnover - and he has built health into his set of diverse goals.

To achieve great things, you have to prepare your mind, your body and your business for greatness. One of the most important steps in setting your business up for greatness is having the right premises. 3Cube Property Solutions offers commercial and industrial premises for large and small businesses in Gauteng. Contact us for more information.