Staff Reporter

The term that “many are called, but only a few are chosen” describes how difficult it is for many people to start businesses and run them successfully. Everyone has a business idea that they think can be transformed into a money making enterprise. But only a few manage to materialise their ideas, let alone turning them into businesses.

But to the fortunate ones who manage to materialise their ideas, the road to success requires a lot of hard work, determination and sacrifice, especially for the founder and CEO of the business entity. Here are some of the insights that CEO’s can adopt to be successful:

1. The dual role of Founder and CEO often presents challenges – being a CEO demands more than technical expertise; it requires the capacity to cultivate and maintain relationships, manage personnel effectively, and make unbiased decisions that are not overly influenced by personal passion for the business. Experience shows that many founders struggle to transition into effective CEOs because of these additional demands.

2.Know how to talk about your business – if you’re great at inventing things but not so great at understanding money or how to sell your idea, you might struggle to convince people to invest in your business. Your business is like a car; you don’t have to be the one driving to control where it goes. It’s okay to let someone else who knows the business better take the wheel while you help from the backseat.

3. The essence of business lies in commerce – no matter how awesome your new invention is, if you can’t explain to investors how it will make money, they probably won’t give you the funds to make it big. Investors want to know how they will make more money from their investment in your business.

4. Be open to learning -starting a business means you have to be ready to listen and learn. Sometimes, you need to forget what you think you know and be open to new ideas. Your passion for your business is great, but don’t let it stop you from hearing valuable advice.

5. Two (or more) heads are better than one – running a business all by yourself can make it easy to think all your ideas are great. But working with a team can give you a reality check and help you fine-tune your plans. Teams can help make sure you’re on the right track.

In short, being successful in business is about more than just having a great idea. It’s about knowing how to work with others, being able to explain why your idea will make money, being open to learning, and sometimes letting others help steer the direction of your business