Creating a successful business can involve a lot of planning and organizational skills. Hady Wehbe successfully started two multi-million dollar businesses, a restaurant called Sharky’s and a sports complex called “11 Players.” We asked him to provide us some tips on growing a successful business based on his own experience and what he has learned. So here are 6 tips that he has provided:
1) Get organized • create orderly environment —
Being organized in a Business environment is important as it will help you move forward by getting things done. The best way to tackle the day is to create a to-do list that you tick off as your day progresses. There is a magical effect to having an orderly environment. Make a quick scan around you, your room, your living room, your office. How does it look? what’s
around you? To have an orderly mind, you have to have an orderly environment. I often use sports examples; take for example Raphael Nadal being obsessive about the position of his water bottles during matches That’s what he says ‘If I didn’t fit the bottles, it would mean that in breaks I could think of something other than a game. This
way, I make them the same each time so I can concentrate solely on the game and what lies ahead.” He is making order in his mind, his only focus is the game, and he does not want to spend brain power on anything else. The same applies to everyday life. You cannot exhaust your brain with your environment and expect to have the energy to initiate and be at your best on the most important things.
One of the habits created around being organized is to better my focus by arranging my cloth in a way where I do not need to think in the morning what I will wear. It kind of reduces the amount of decisions I have to make. For this to happen I spend time organizing my wardrobe once a week. When I buy clothing, I keep it simple even if going for luxurious brands. When it comes to your brain most of the time less is more.
2) Keep detailed records
Keeping detailed financial records will help you understand where your business is, at any given time You will also be able to implement strategies before a problem becomes too large to handle.
3) Keep it Simple
Learning from your competition is a good way to get better at growing your own business. I often think of sports examples to remind myself of this. I believe you can see life through sports. You can have a feel of someone’s character and identity just by watching him/her compete.
I tell myself everyday: If an athlete can be mindful with one tackle, one goal, one interception, one lap or one shot… imagine how life can be everyday if you focus on your one tackle at a time. Keep it simple, one task at a time
When I was building Sharky’s back in 2015, there were so many complexities and issues. Running a restaurant wasn’t my expertise but having a restaurant on the beach where I can create jobs within the community, gave me a sense of happiness, so I made it my mission to not fail. As a social entrepreneur you will be overwhelmed; you just have to take one task at a time and one goal at a time. Otherwise you will drain yourself and will not even be able to take a decision.
4) Understand your WHAT IF scenarios
As a business owner taking calculated risks is important. Before you make a decision, make sure you clearly understand the scenarios that could occur and have ways to reduce their impact. But understand that safety and security is just an illusion. You can have your plans setup for the next 5 years, but a pandemic shows up out of nowhere. If you keep focused on your mission, even in difficult times somehow things would workout. In 2016, when we first started developing the sports complex, I often told myself: what if we could have done two big fields instead of small ones? What if I found a cheaper contractor and saved on investments? What if it is not going to work as planned? What if they don’t allow me to play until a certain time….blah blah blah… These were stories I would tell myself. This isn’t healthy by the way. If you keep telling yourself “WHAT IF” followed by negative scenarios, it’ll drive you insane. Your productivity goes down based on my own experience.
I discovered that this often comes from fear, so I would shift my attention to “WHAT
IF” followed by something positive. “What if” it is exactly what the community needs… It’s very easy for your thoughts to go at 1 million miles an hour when jumping into a project. Just watch your attention and bring it back to your mission and positive “WHAT IF” scenarios.
5) Be creative not ego centric
Be open to new ideas and look at other businesses for inspiration. Keeping your business up to date and ever changing is a good way to make it stand out and to hold on to your market share. We all have egos as individuals. But believe it or not, governments, schools and corporations under narrow ego minded leadership don’t take the responsibility of looking ahead of what they know and this, most of the time, ends up building an ego-driven culture. When an organization just stays in the status quo of doing business as usual without responding to the fast pace change you end up like Blockbuster. Many of you remember in 2000’s, Netflix wanted to sell part of its shares to Blockbuster, Blockbuster turned it down. Netflix isn’t the reason why Blockbuster went bankrupt; Blockbuster ego is the reason. A good example of ”we’ve always done lit this way” is very dangerous. Look at what happened to Nokia, when Apple came in the market. If you dig into the history, you’ll often see a “we’ve always done it this way” attitude. For further info, I recommend the book “How to create hunger in Paradise” by Ramus Ankersen, which I love a lot.
6) BE mission focused
As a business owner you should take the time to grow and therefore make sure minor setbacks don’t discourage you. Look at your short-term goals and achievements to stay motivated and on track. When I was executing and planning the development of the “11 Players” sports complex, my mission was to provide a sustainable complex where kids can safely play. Joining the best of for-profit and non-profit together. It’s easy to get side-tracked.
If you decide to start your own business and be a social entrepreneur, rather than getting a day job, there is nothing wrong with that, but be prepared to have risks and many challenges. If you decide to take the social entrepreneurship path, make sure you are choosing to work an something you are passionate about. I don’t believe you should work at a job that you have no passion for and if you do that you would always be depressed I hope some of my tips would help
you grow your business too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Hady Wehbe co-founded Football Senegal in 2013, Sharky’s in 2015 and “11 Players City” in 2017, all with the power of purpose – using the best of the for-profit and non-profit world. Hady Wehbe grew up in Senegal and is from Lebanese decent. He comes from a family where you were encouraged to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer and if not you were considered a failure. Instead of following the family cultural beliefs, he chose his way and followed his intuition which led him to experience life in five different countries. His choice to head into sports and entrepreneurship led him to devote his life to use sports as a social tool to transform others.
You can reach Hady Wehbe at https://www.instagram.com/hady_weber
Pierre Zarokian is the founder of Web Design Express, a web design company in Glendale, CA. Read more articles at Pierre Zarokian’s Blog.