Conscious Entrepeneur, successful business: A guide to success

By Edgar Hernández Cancino Quintero

Conscious thought is
the key to making the right decisions in life and in business. Cultivating it
means walking firmly towards personal and entrepreneurial success. A successful
business is not a casual result, it’s a “causal” result that comes from our
actions aimed at each of the elements that make up and materialize this
business success and br

• Language: English
• Publisher: Innovación Editorial Lagares de México, S.A. de C.V.
• Release date: Oct 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9786074108149

Book preview

1. Conscious thinking and success

Conscious thinking is the key to making correct decisions, both in life and business. Cultivate it and you will walk steadily towards personal and professional success. Opposite to this, unconscious thinking, is the entrance hall to failure and its sad consequences. Avoid it. In other words, unconsciousness is darkness of thought and consciousness is light.

Being conscious is knowing that life is change, decision, and action. It is knowing what matters and what doesn’t, why things happen to us, and having the ability to visualize and prevent the consequence of our actions. A conscious person can adapt and react to his surroundings, with a greater understanding to do what’s right and more convenient. When we are self-aware, we can guide ourselves through reason, holding back our impulses; we can distinguish what is relevant from what’s not and choose what’s worth pursuing.

Consciousness reminds us that everything can change in an instant, that life is fragile and that everything that exists will someday come to an end. Being conscious is knowing that there’s no free lunch and that well-being is caused, not just something we hope for. It is understanding that working causes income and that, when money comes to our hands, we must take care of it and mange it to sustain our lives. However, consciousness also helps us to understand that, if it’s true that money sustains our life, it is health that allows us to live it; that the greatest success we can aspire to is to get to the end of the path with more happy moments than sad ones, and to have lived the former surrounded by the magic of having loved and having been loved.

a. Making the Right Decisions

Consciousness is a state of understanding that we, as individuals, act in our environment, understand and adapt to reality, experience emotions, and perceive the meaning of our feelings. It makes us reason and reflect on what we are looking for and why, our behavior and our actions, and what’s right or wrong according to our moral values. Our level of consciousness is related to the sum of the things we’ve learned and experiences lived, as well as our capacity for abstraction, analysis and understanding of this acquired knowledge.

On the contrary, unconsciousness is the inability to notice reality or the reason for the problems or situations we’re faced with. From the perspective of Psychology, there is a dynamic and permanent interaction between conscious and unconscious thought. Firstly, the former analyzes, compares, imagines, reflects, and decides on the relevant things about the past, present, and future; the latter runs most of his actions which are irrelevant, to adapt to the present surroundings and pay attention to dangerous situations to conveniently react to them.

Decision-making is a constant in every company when it comes to choosing the right alternatives or solutions. Decisions – consciously or unconsciously made – may be significant or not, important or not, complicated or simple. Making decisions consciously increases the possibility to hit the target; unconsciousness when making decisions, decreases this possibility. If the matter is not significant, getting it wrong is not a big deal, but when it is, it may generate negative effects on financial stability, human relations and other areas that may be impacted by the correlation between cause and effect. Making mistakes may impact material costs and, sometimes, even health, happiness, and business success.

Making the right decisions has nothing to do with wishful thinking, faith or having good or bad luck, nor with the fact that the circumstances at that moment are favorable or not. It is in the knowing what we want and visualizing what needs to be done, as well as understanding what caused the problem, its effects, and determining the possible courses of action, requirements, and consequences. On the other hand, making the right decision is not enough: action is an essential ingredient in taking opportunities and doing so at the right moment, that is, when it is most convenient, because circumstances may change and modify that favorable setting.

A common mistake in the decision-making process is to make assumptions and not rely on objective information and its analysis. Assuming may lead you to the wrong path. Avoid making unconscious decisions and always look to understand why things happen. Visualize, analyze, and assess the alternatives for a solution and the corresponding effects. There’s no rush and no hurry. Above all, think of the basic things: your health, human relations, work, and money. Realize that an intelligent decision is made from sensibility and reason, and is guided by empathy and a balanced handling of emotions – your own and others’ - and with the firm conviction not to transgress anybody’s rights nor any of the Laws that promote harmony and social order.

As for success in business and how to achieve it, become aware that being a successful entrepreneur is more than just investing capital, being the owner, or having a good profit margin. It also demands strategic leadership, knowledge, experience, common sense, passion, time, intelligence, effort, dignity, moral values, social responsibility, respect for the environment, positive attitude, sacrifice, commitment, divergence, adapting to change, being analytical, being a visionary, being innovative, disciplined, self-motivated, organized, resilient, believing in yourself (in business and in your personal life), being aware of reality and the surroundings, among many others.

Business owners are the vital component of any business, because the company or business entirely depends on their leadership and decision-making (right or wrong), which result in the success or failure of the company.

So, how to make the right decisions? The answer is: being conscious that deciding correctly requires:

1. Having a clear goal and the reason for achieving it.

2. Objectively understanding the problems, their causes, and effects.

3. Thoroughly visualizing and analyzing the possible solutions, and their requirements and consequences.

4. Choosing a good course of action and carrying it out diligently and in a timely manner.

Be a conscious entrepreneur and you will step firmly into success.

2. The purpose of business: to satisfy and benefit

A business, any business, is a material extension of thought of the person who created it in his mind. If you have your own business or dream of having one, and for it to be profitable, continuous, and successful, then you must realize that no matter the amount of organization and control you implement, you must always supervise and navigate it intently and lovingly, giving the most valuable resource it demands from you with no restrictions: your time. So, I’m asking: Are you willing to give your time unconditionally? Are you willing to make a great effort and be disciplined? To invest your money at high risk? To be objective and to never assume? Are you willing to make conscious decisions? If you answered No to any of these questions, I’d recommend you look for an alternative that doesn’t require your energy, effort, availability, and your time. If, on the contrary, you said YES! you’re on the right track.

A successful business isn’t a consequence; it is a causesequence, that is, it has nothing to do with coincidences, but with causality; nothing to do with chance, but with change…of consciousness.

Success in business is not due to good luck, wishful thinking or praying to the Divinity; it is the result of making decisions, performing all our actions based on strategy, consciousness, intelligence, sensibility, congruency and at the right moment, pointing at the same direction towards which we set the framework and leadership of our business.

Also of importance, there are other components which, together, contribute to success: ability to adapt to changes in the market and the circumstances of social and economic environment; the use of technological innovations as well as having a positive attitude, willingness, and perseverance, necessary to solve problems and overcome challenges.

If you wish results to reflect on profit, the key is to direct all your management effort towards complete customer satisfaction, by offering innovative goods and services at a fair price, and with great quality, additional benefits, excellent service and attention, given personally at a good location, or via internet or digital media.

What is the purpose of your business? It is its reason for existing. It is to provide quality and satisfy the customers’ needs. It is to channel all efforts to good results adhering to the Company’s Mission. In other words, to achieve total customer satisfaction.

If the business is a restaurant, its purpose is to offer food that pleasantly satisfies the diner’s hunger, prepared with quality ingredients and cleanliness, served in a nice environment, or delivered at home, at a fair price. If it is a hospital, the purpose is to give the best attention in order to win a struggle against illnesses and heal, stop the pain and recover in an empathic, human environment, equipped with the greatest medical technology.

If we are talking about a construction company or a realtor, the purpose is to build and provide respectable and safe housing, selling them at a reasonable price, affordable for a specific market. If we’re talking about a Cruise Liner, the purpose is to make passengers enjoy an excellent, happy, and unforgettable journey at an attractive price.

In conclusion, focusing our business efforts on these goals, is the best way to promote sales, thus, setting the basis for a successful business.

Knowing what your customers want is essential to increase sales, because this information allows you to direct your efforts towards their demands. It is recommendable to establish a communication channel between customers and the company through digital media or in-person surveys. Listening to the customers is an excellent way to find out what they require, need, or want so that you have the necessary stock and be able to sell products or services efficiently.

So, let’s recap: to achieve success and keep it, you must orient your thoughts and the group effort towards the efficient compliance of the purpose of your business. Set up the Philosophy to comply with this purpose and believe in yourself. Share your Philosophy and vision with everybody at the company and they will also believe. This is a great strategy to build a foundation for the success in this material extension of your thoughts: your business.

3. What does a successful business depend on?

It depends on you. You are the vital component of your business. You are the one who wishes for and is more interested in its growth and continuity than anybody else. You are the craftsperson of its failure or success. But success doesn’t come from wishing it, it is caused by leadership and team management, by an efficient resource management, discipline, organization, and commitment to a job well-done through effort, order, and control. Most of all, success depends on the right decisions made and timely actions performed.

As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for setting the route to follow and giving your company an organized and controlled structure, as well as making your employees conscious about the importance of their role and responsibility towards the business which they must carry out carefully, diligently, honestly and with a positive attitude. You also have to create teams that work efficiently and in harmony, by identifying or training leaders, giving them confidence, while being demanding, so that they may solve problems, notwithstanding their difficulty, and also to define a training policy for continuous improvement of the human element as well as per area, department or process in the company.

Surely, the answer to What does the success of a business depend on?, involves many factors such as strategic leadership, assertive, proactive and divergent management, adequate location (in some cases), fair and competitive prices, an efficient customer service, quality in your products and services, efficient resource management, establishing order and control policies, budget use, cash-based and objectives management, adapting to change and new circumstances in the market and human interactions, technological advances, having enough capital, being able to satisfy market needs (which require products and services with the right amount of quality, service, Price and innovation), a Good net profit, growth sand development possibilities within the market, adequate financing sources; a well-trained and committed work team, an adequate judicial-fiscal-organizational structure, an efficient marketing and promotion strategy (knowing how to make a sale), making the right decisions and many other elements that together contribute to business success.

Nevertheless, the principal factor for success in business is your attitude or disposition (positive or negative, divergent or convergent, resilient or with low self-control, proactive or passive, assertive or conforming, etcetera), in order to lead and manage your company, to face problems and complications that may arise on a daily basis.

A key element for success is teamwork. This is why, one of the responsibilities of a leader is to promote that the personal goals of each member, be compatible with the team and business objectives, within the framework of loyalty. A Good strategy to accomplish this, is to promote both, the business growth, and the economic and social development of the employees, in order to establish a double base for progress that will allow them to have a good life resulting from their abilities and their economic possibilities.

Be conscious about the fact that being the owner of the company doesn’t automatically give you the possibilities of being a leader. It just ensures the ownership and the right to make decisions, depending on your abilities, your common sense, and experience, your attitude and values, as well as your knowledge and professional consultancy you may have to make them.

Throughout this text, you will see many of the necessary elements required to successfully manage your business. It’s up to you to develop them and that they may be the platform for the actions that will contribute to an efficient administration and business success.

In conclusion, as the owner or CEO of your company, you have to take responsibility for ensuring that each component of business success materializes and contributes to its continuous and thriving development. In the way that you direct your time and energy towards this, adding a performance based on discipline, order, control, planning, vision, morality and ethics, divergence, labor justice and assertive direction, you will succeed, and, at the same time, you’ll avoid many of the events that, in the business dynamics result from improvisation and business entropy. Keep in mind that for a ship to arrive at safe port, it’s not only necessary to have a Captain, but also a well-built ship, a route map, and an efficient, loyal, and motivated crew.

There’s no place for improvisation when it comes to achieving success. Be a conscious of what matters most and of what needs to be done. It’s up to you. Are you willing to do it?

4. The company’s objective: going beyond getting profits

Which is the Company’s objective? If you say it is to earn money or to obtain a profit, your answer is not correct at all. The meaning of Company’s objective is deeper and wider than to generate and get a profit. If you think it’s just about the money, I’d ask you to reflect on your answer because you may be at risk of not channeling your efforts and business resources to your true mission. A company must focus on complying with the social purpose it was created for: to provide services that satisfy the customer’s needs through the selling of products or providing specific services, within a framework of quality and great assistance.

This is very important, because we can’t confuse the desire of the owner or owners of making money, with the true company’s objective. This confusion comes from the fact that an owner wants to gain profits, but this is not the goal to which one must focus and channel their individual and collective. Profits are an operating consequence and not an end in itself; the company’s objective is linked to the reason for being of the business and the profits are a consequence of achieving this effectively.

To clarify this point, I ask you to analyze the concept of Company’s objective and to reflect upon the importance of giving it a wider connotation:

To satisfy the customer’s needs and obtaining top yield on the initial investment, after paying fair salaries, contributing to public expenditure and reinvesting what is necessary on the economic and social growth of the company and its members, within a frame of social responsibility and sustainable development.

a. Satisfying customer’s needs

Identifying the needs of a market sector and potential customers is the starting point for creating a business. Whether they are basic or complex needs, the important thing is to have the ability to meet the market requirements. Doing this with quality, offering a good service, at a good location (not necessarily) or setting it wherever it’s necessary and considering opportunity, innovation, and good prices, makes all the difference.

Sometimes, the commercial strategy is to create the need for a product or service in the customer, covering some expectations or looking to improve some characteristics, so as to make a task easier, faster, or improve its quality, or simply to make their lives more comfortable. The idea is to offer a product or service that attracts the customer – not necessarily at a small price – and that this product or service can be sold.

Thinking ahead and opportunity are key premises in order to satisfy the consumers’ needs. The price,