Today, I attended the Salem Enterprise Center’s “5th Annual Million Dollar Women Symposium” which was sponsored by the Beverly Cooperative Bank. The panel of speakers were all business women who built companies to over $1 million in revenue. As I listened to how each of them overcame obstacles, raised money, grew their business and succeeded, I heard a constant theme….”be passionate and persistent and you will see progress!”

There were many questions asked to these successful business women, but the theme of doing something you love and never giving up on yourself or your business is what made the difference between success and failure. One of the panelists spoke about the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people who believe in you and step away from those who doubt your abilities. Some other great advice that the panel shared that helped their success; say “yes” to opportunities, get out and network and build a great team that supports you.

“Passion + Persistence = Progress!” So how do you know if you are passionate about the work your business is doing? One great indicator is when you do not see it as “work”, but something you love to do. That even if you didn’t get paid, you would still be drawn to the business. How about persistence? If you are impatient or you tend to quit things before you ever complete tasks, succeeding in business might not be in your near future. However, if you have a bit of “craziness” in you and you just won’t take “no” for an answer and you are the type of person who gets back up right after falling….you are on the right path! Think about one of the most difficult days in your life and analyze how you handled the challenges you were given. Finally, how do you measure your progress? There are ways to analyze the growth of a business. It can be done by the profit and loss statement year to year, the growth of the client base, the growth of the staff…..but it can also be more subjective. Did you learn anything useful this year to help guide you on building a stronger business for the future? Have you connected with a wider networking base? Do you feel good about the work you are doing and excited about the next step? Maybe the best advice I learned today about being successful and progressing as a business owner is to not give up on my dreams no matter who or what gets in my way.

All my best to your success!

~Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”