Escaping the success trap

Is the gap between the business you want to create and reality growing?

Do you wish to develop you company but are unsure either of what improvements to make or how to implement them?

Are you frustrated because your efforts and outcomes seem imbalanced?

If any of these concerns apply, you may be caught in the success trap. This is where a company has reached a point where things are running well externally, but some suboptimal processes persist internally, causing frustration and inefficiency. This can be a difficult situation to avoid as it can develop unnoticed and be even more challenging to escape, as its negative results can be hard to reverse.

Running a functioning business is in itself a success that budding entrepreneurs would willing take, particularly given the unpredictable conditions of the past couple of years. It’s important you recognise these achievements. Despite this, there will always be better solutions, practices and outcomes just out of reach that you aspire to. Consequently, this can sometimes make your accomplishments feel unfulfilling.

Although this level of success should be recognised and for some will seem satisfactory, truly ambitious business leaders will strive to push their companies forward. If running an organisation is like climbing a mountain, then the success trap can be viewed as a the disruptive level of cloud that confuses and inhibits the path to the top. To take your business to the next level you need to find a way through this.

Letting inefficient practices continue without action, can cause unforeseen damage. As well as this, settling for ‘ok’ can demonstrate to employees a lack of drive and desire, which can spread and affect productivity. Therefore, the quicker your escape from the success trap the better, but this does require proactivity and cannot develop without conscious effort.

Identify the areas that most require improvement within your company. Where do you want them to be in the next quarter, six months, year? Set yourself some targets. Next you’ll need a plan of action, a structured approach to implement this change; this is where you, as business leader, must go out and find ideas. Do your research, talk to someone objective from outside your company, look for examples of true success stories.

If you are curious about whether things could be better and diligent enough to work for it, then you can escape the success trap and create the business you have always wanted.