{"id":45760,"date":"2023-10-20T15:46:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/five-pieces-of-business-wisdom-to-celebrate-five-decades-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:46:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:11","slug":"five-pieces-of-business-wisdom-to-celebrate-five-decades-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/five-pieces-of-business-wisdom-to-celebrate-five-decades-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Five pieces of business wisdom to celebrate five decades – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Certain birthdays inspire us to reflect a little on where we\u2019ve been and where we\u2019re going in life. I turned 50 this week and had a wonderful weekend celebrating the milestone with family and friends.<\/p>\n

One of the topics of conversation that came up was what I had learnt from the past five decades: what wisdom have I gleaned on this fabulous journey?<\/p>\n

I thought a little about what have been the really big takeaways \u2013 the nuggets of wisdom that stood out as things I could pass on to others gathered from my experiences.<\/p>\n

So here are five pieces of hard-won wisdom to celebrate five decades of being alive on this beautiful planet of ours.<\/p>\n

1. Fear is useless \u2013 unbridled passion is fabulous<\/h3>\n

Fear is useless and unbridled passion is fabulous! Looking back on all the experiences I\u2019ve had, I can see the times when I\u2019ve allowed fear to negatively control my spirit and actions.<\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t been often, but fear is something we all have to face and master. I\u2019ve always found the best way to confront my fears has been to throw myself at the thing that\u2019s making me fearful and bear hug it into submission with passion!<\/p>\n

2. Mindset wins \u2013 enthusiasm sells<\/h3>\n

Work hard on cultivating and developing a winning mindset. So much of what we do and don\u2019t achieve in life comes from our habits and attitudes. Stay curious, stay hungry, and let your enthusiasm know no bounds. People are attracted to positive people, and your enthusiasm and energy will open doors and opportunities wherever you go.<\/p>\n

3. Invest in yourself<\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t expect others to look after your growth and development \u2013 you have to do it for yourself. Invest in your education, formal and informal. Always be on the lookout for ways to gain more knowledge and experience. Travel, try new things, and work with smart people who challenge you. You should invest in yourself, as the famous ad says, \u201cbecause you\u2019re worth it\u201d.<\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t be bullied<\/h3>\n

Learn to stand up for yourself and don\u2019t get bullied by anyone. This is especially relevant if you\u2019re an SME business owner, let alone a woman in business. Find your inner steel and face them down.<\/p>\n

The more you stand up for yourself, the more it becomes a habit and the easier it becomes.<\/p>\n

I started off working as a young woman in the consumer electronics industry in the UK at a time when women were not exactly abundant in that field. I\u2019ve never been one to take a step back anyway, but working in that sort of environment really made me appreciate the power of standing up for yourself. It gave me respect for myself and it meant others respected me too.<\/p>\n

5. Cashflow is king<\/h3>\n

This is one that I\u2019ve learnt over my years in business, but particularly as the owner of a business: cashflow is king. It\u2019s been said by so many business owners and it\u2019s all true. Get your cashflow situation in order and you suddenly find you\u2019re operating at a whole new level.<\/p>\n

Put the systems in place, be proactive, and follow up. Don\u2019t be afraid to be firm but polite with big companies and organisations about payments. You don\u2019t owe them an apology for asking for what\u2019s yours; they owe you for doing fabulous work for them! Steady cashflow in your business gives you the solid basis you need for planning and growing.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s anything else I could add to these five pieces of wisdom it is to enjoy what you do, be good to yourself, and be good to those around you.<\/p>\n

This article was first published on SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, LinkedIn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Certain birthdays inspire us to reflect a little on where we\u2019ve been and where we\u2019re going in life. I turned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}