“What’s the secret to your success?” It’s one of the most commonly asked questions in the business world, and no matter who you ask, you’re going to get a different answer. Some entrepreneurs say they rely on their industry knowledge or a technical skill set, while others credit their intuition or sense of humor.
We asked 10 incredibly successful entrepreneurs about their own “secret weapons” as entrepreneurs. Whether it’s a personality trait, a mindset or a specific behavior, here they share what they attribute their success to and what it takes to build and scale a brand or a business.
Grant Cardone
Best-selling Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker and Sales Trainer
Instagram: @grantcardone
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Knowing how to become a good salesman. Most sales are lost because the product wasn’t something that the buyer was completely in love with or because there was a lack of confidence in the product. As a salesperson, make sure you know what would motivate the buyer—what problem is the buying trying to solve? Also, you must be selling the right product and understand the value of your product—what can the product do for the buyer? Work to solve the customer’s problems. As soon as someone believes that their problems will be solved, they will buy!
Chris Groves
Serial Entrepreneur and Creator of The 110% Movement
Instagram: ceogrovescapital
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
I came to a place in my mind and life that I have taken on ownership of my entire life. I don’t blame others, use excuses or market changes as barriers to why I’m not achieving my goals. It’s all on me: if I am successful , if I’m a good leader, father, husband , son or person. When things change I tend not to overt focus on problems, I place my attention on the solutions. Don’t focus on problems, focus on solutions and own everything you do! I have realized my strengths, and focus on my super powers to grow, and lead teams to achieve success. I also have outlined my weakness, and hire individuals that excel at my weak points to contribute to our overall goal. It’s ok to not be good at everything , you need to focus on empowering others around you to close the gaps, and work as a team to hit our goals. In addition there is one constant in life and that’s change, all things will change with time. In business your model may be crushing in the current market, as an adjustment is made, don’t sit and wait, you need to evaluate, modify, pivot and change to be successful within the new environment. Think of business as evolution, you need to evolve, and focus on the current environment and market conditions.
Adam Jablin
High Level Coach, Entrepreneur
Instagram: @adamjablin
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Never forget that your business experience is truly a spiritual and emotional trip. Navigating the fears, doubts and insecurities in the uncertain times to build your brand will stretch to be more than you could ever imagine. Don’t settle, make the tough decisions and persevere through.
In terms of money, here’s the secret: To make a million dollars you have to help a million people. Stay hungry, trust god, clean house, help others. Put yourself in new environments, stretch yourself, be open to new ideas, yet stay true to yourself.
Ali Mahvan
Founder and CEO at Sharebert
Instagram: @alimahvan
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Treating people like gold. Not enough people realize the importance of treating your staff as invaluable. If you felt replaceable, with no control over your next paycheck, would you come to work early with a smile on your face and do your best to perform? Hell no. You’d be looking for another job and trying to keep your head down. Treat your employees like they make you everything you are, because in reality, they do. An organization is judged by its weakest individuals, not its strongest. How many times have you called Comcast customer service and thought, “Brian Roberts seems like a really nice guy?” It doesn’t happen. You blame the brand. I don’t agree with Simon Sinek on much, but he fully understands the employee-employer relationship from the employee’s perspective. Respect and love your team.
Darrah Brustein
Serial Entrepreneur and Networking Guru. Founder of Equitable Payments, Network Under 40 and Network Over 40
Instagram: @darrah_brustein
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Knowing yourself, without a doubt. It’s easy to forget about yourself when you’re building a business, but the irony of that is that when you aren’t at your best, neither is your work or the outcomes you generate. The more time I’ve spent getting away from work to learn and grow, to be silent in meditation, or to have fun, the clearer the pathways have been for me to hear when my gut says yes or no to something. It also makes me clearer on who the authentic version of me is, which better helps me to relate to my team, our customers and our partners, and ensure the choices we make are in alignment.
Baruch Labunski
Entrepreneur, Internet Marketing Expert and Author
Instagram: @baruch_labunski
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
For me, it’s taking calculated risks. I see a lot of time wasted trying to project for all possible negative outcomes. This is near impossible, and while it’s useful and important when dealing with life-and-death situations, in most cases we’re not. At the end of the day, it’s about moving forward, making mistakes and correcting them quickly. Fear and inaction is what prohibits speedy progress and iterations that get you closer to your goals. If you’re in this fearful and anxious state, you’ll almost always be able to come up with a reason to not do the thing you might need to do the most.
Adelaida Diaz-Roa
Angel Investor, Serial Entrepreneur and Advisor
Instagram: @learnsomethingnew_everyday
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
A constant desire to learn, that’s the most important key. I have made it a point to always be learning. It’s scheduled on my calendar every day, and on Saturdays, it’s the only thing on my to-do list. No matter how much you feel that you may know about leadership, business or anything else, the world is always changing, and there’s always new research and ideas. To stay ahead, you have to constantly feed your mind. Reach out to mentors, ask for help, read books, listen to podcasts and always be ready to put the things you learn into action, even if it goes against something you thought you were doing right. Stay hungry and keep learning!
Syed Balkhi
Award Winning Entrepreneur on a Mission to Level the Playing Field for Small Businesses
Instagram: @syedbalkhi
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
My “secret weapon” is being the customer of my own businesses. Since we use the various plugins that we build across all of our websites, we can start sensing what features would be good to build to differentiate us from the competition. This helps us stay ahead. We go an extra step and give all of our employees our plugins for free to implement on their personal blogs. We want them to love the products, understand them, and help come up with new, innovative ideas for improvement of the products. We then take some of those ideas and implement them as features into the products.
Beth Doane
Top Branding Expert
Instagram: @bethdoane
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Adapting to change. I learned early on that it’s not the smartest entrepreneurs who survive. It’s also not the ones with the most money, fame or even the best teams. The entrepreneurs who make it are the ones who are able to adapt to the most unexpected, difficult and seemingly impossible changes that occur every day. Knowing how to keep going when we are in an unpredictable world, and working with other humans who can change in an instant based on the circumstances in their lives is the best skill to have. If you know how to shift in an instant and adjust your services, your thinking, and your team to keep up with technology, the market and more, you will always succeed.
Alisha Navarro
Founder and CEO of 2 Hounds Design
What would you say is your most important secret in order to become a successful entrepreneur?
Curiosity and resilience. Before anything else, I ask why, how, or what. Read between the lines: A customer or employee might make a simple statement, but what is behind that statement? I experiment and ask, “What would happen if…” If it doesn’t work, have the resilience to bounce back, ask more questions and try again. Trying again is key; I probably fail more than I succeed, but I learn from what didn’t work and tweak it.