1 Spend time thinking
Regularly take time out to stop and think. If your practice is to develop, you must make this as much of a priority as any other task that needs to be done. One way to do this is to dedicate a set time each week when you won’t be disturbed. Take out a pad of paper and pen and just stop. Empty your head and write down any thoughts or ideas that occur to you.
2 Keep learning
Sharpen your skills. Learn new ideas and approaches to make you more effective and efficient at work. A day out of the practice to sharpen your skills is investing in yourself. It is admitting that you are worth it, that you still have things to learn and that you can get better. It is an investment in yourself, your career and your practice.
3 Get out and about
Meet experts and influencers face-to-face. Workshops and conferences offer the opportunity to meet business leaders and to position yourself as an expert in your field. It allows you to meet new people and gives you the ability to grow your business exponentially. Being in a different atmosphere stimulates the brain and opens you up to new ideas. Research has found that people are more likely to remember information and think creatively when they are in a foreign environment.
4 Network
The value of face-to-face networking is being recognised as one of the most powerful tools available for increasing one’s personal exposure, creating meaningful relationships and providing growth opportunities at a personal and professional level. It’s so important that it has become a daunting task for many people who are unsure who they should be connecting with or where they should focus their attention. Networking opportunities enable you to mix and mingle, form new relationships and strengthen existing ones.
5 Aim for growth
Explore new ways of growing your business. Get hands-on information that is specific to your practice, directly from your peers and business experts. A well-run business group or masterclass will help you curate new ideas to help improve your approach. Like anything else in life or in business, you must put in the time if you’re looking to reap the benefits. Don’t focus on the short-term outcome of your work. Look to the long term. Build sincere value and look to help your patients, customers and employees. Genuinely care. That should be the foundation. After that, it’s simply a matter of taking action and putting in the work to scale.
6 Take some risks
Step out of your comfort zone. Staying in your comfort zone is like wearing blinders. You will tell yourself that all you care about are the things that are already a part of your business. You will continually convince yourself that you dislike the things you’ve never tried. They just aren’t for you. And with every such thought, you erect thicker walls between yourself and everything that makes you uncomfortable. Take some risks and the walls start coming down.
7 Stay upbeat
Be positive and have fun. Much like when you share a good laugh with a close friend, positive emotions spread in small business teams. This process is called ‘emotional contagion,’ meaning that people in a group mutually influence each other’s attitudes. Simply said, this means that your positivity permeates all those interacting with you. Don’t forget it’s important to have fun. Being an independent business owner should be rewarding and fun.