Business is a competitive landscape. You’ll face challenges and decisions that shape your company’s future. Some of your actions and ideas likely won’t work out how you planned, and that’s a good thing.
You’re still discovering who you are as an entrepreneur (even if you’ve been one for awhile).
I’m going to share what I’ve learned over the years from working across a wide range of industries. My advice for business owners in 2026 is:
Write Your Own Definition of Success
I want to ask you something:
- What does success look like for you?
- What does success in the business look like for you?
Start from your personal goals and how your business fits into them. Writing your own definition of success gives you direction when running your business. Perhaps your goals align with a smaller operation rather than a large-scale one.
You might want to be an entrepreneur who builds up their business to sell it, or you may want to leave it to your family.
Success has many variations, and when you add in your own objectives, it changes the course of your business.
Here’s what I want you to do:
- Write down your personal goals
- Envision what you want life to look like and put it into words
- Ask yourself, “Will this goal give me a sense of satisfaction?” and reflect on why, and
- “Is this what really matters to me?”
If you answer “yes” to the last two questions for any goal, then it’s a keeper. You should do what matters to you above all else.
Hiring and Delegating Are Key to Success
Ambitious entrepreneurs often want to do it all. They start with their hands in every facet of the company, but it’s this kind of mindset that can become detrimental to their health. Here’s my advice for business owners:
- Take a step back
- Clarify what you do best
- Determine what energizes and what drains you
Once you’ve done this, you can then begin to delegate the drains on your day. For example, bookkeeping is a task that needs to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done by you. Delegate it.
Either hand bookkeeping off to an employee or outsource it. Freeing up even one task helps you recuperate your time, energy, and mental space.
The outcome? Delegating transforms you from owner-operator to CEO.
Don’t think you’re ready to delegate?
I recently had a client who wanted to delegate tasks, but revenue wasn’t consistent enough to hire someone else. This particular client runs an auto body shop, loves working on cars, but admin work eats into a lot of his time.
We explored multiple pathways to alleviate these tasks from his day-to-day by asking can we:
- Train an employee to handle some of your admin work?
- Replace a low-performing employee with someone who is a better fit?
- Find the right person to hire?
- Bring someone from a trade school on board?
As a business owner, you must make the difficult decisions that will drive growth and enable you to achieve your goals. Sometimes, you have to find creative ways to make things work, often by hiring or delegating tasks.
And just because you delegate tasks doesn’t mean that they’re 100% off your plate. You’re still in control. Reviews and inspections to make sure everything is in order is always in your best interest.
For example, you’ll always want to review your bookkeeping because embezzlement stems from lax controls. You’re delegating tasks, not abdicating your responsibilities.
One more point I want to make is that when delegating, it’s best to train new skills to someone with the right attitude than train someone who isn’t a good fit. The right person is dependable and positive while not adding to your stress.
Identify the Symptoms of Root Problems
Your business’s root problems have symptoms. For example, if your cash flow is bad, you have to ask yourself:
- Are your prices too low?
- Are your costs too high?
- Is your overhead too high?
- Are your systems bad?
- Do you have a people problem?
- Did you have a bad season you didn’t plan for?
I learned this during a sales training course where they said to: Ask three questions to get to the underlying issue. I use this tactic all the time because it just works.
Sometimes, your symptoms and issues are coming from sources that you easily overlook. And here’s the thing: You must address the root cause of your symptoms, or you’ll be stuck in a game of whack-a-mole where problems keep popping up.
Be Okay with Making a Bad Decision
You’ll make a lot of decisions as a business owner. Some will work out, others won’t. Even when you have all of the data in front of you to make smart decisions, something out of your control can throw a wrench in it.
Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, once said, “Good leaders are right 90% of the time and great leaders are right 60% of the time.”
So, what do we derive from this?
- Great leaders take risks, gather enough data, then make decisions and run with them.
- Good leaders wait until they have all the information to make decisions, which often backfires because competitors have already jumped on the opportunity.
As a leader, you want to make informed decisions and limit risks, but don’t be afraid of making a decision because of unknowns. Sometimes, the best decisions you make are from your gut and just enough information to push forward.
If a decision doesn’t pan out as you had hoped, you’ll learn from it, adjust, and move on.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
I’ve learned over the years that every successful business owner has a support network. Your network may be:
- Advisors
- Experts
- Mentors
Support networks are those who help you define what success means and how to make informed decisions. Good advisors help you avoid pitfalls and become more successful and faster.
Great leaders are humble enough to recognize their weak points and bring in individuals to help in these areas.
Final Thoughts
Business owners must have the courage to build and run their company. Stress is part of the equation, but it helps you learn when you understand how to cope with it. Once you have it under control and can resolve conflicts, you’ll become comfortable with risks and making bad decisions.
I can be the person in your corner to help you on this journey. Together, we’ll avoid those bad decisions and help you achieve success by asking all of the right questions along the way.
To learn more about how we can help you grow your business or to schedule an appointment, click here.