3 min read · Written by Grant Rayner on 14 Jun 2023
Share by emailWhat is a successful business?
Moreover, how will you know when your business is successful?
‘Success’ is a subjective term that means different things to different people. To some people, success means a corner office or turning up to the office each day in a fancy suit. For me at least, I’m more than happy working from home or from a local cafe in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
Becoming an independent security professional is not only about enjoying more flexible work hours or earning more money. These things may not necessarily be meaningful in practice.
Let’s explore some factors that might define the success of your business.
A key measure of success is achieving a consistent and sustainable income that supports your desired lifestyle while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. As you’ll learn, this is easier said than done. It’s the main reason why most people opt for full-time employment as opposed to the inherent uncertainty of life as an independent security professional.
The truth is, earning large amounts of revenue is not difficult. The key is to leverage your activities so that you can still earn a significant income without working yourself to an early grave.
Achieving work-life balance may seem like an obvious measure of success as an independent security professional. However, while you will have more control over your day-to-day life, achieving work-life balance is not guaranteed. You may find, as I have over the years, that you work long hours and make considerable sacrifices.
That being said, one of your key priorities should be to balance your professional commitments with personal well-being. Dedicate time to self-care, relationships, and leisure activities. Doing so will not only be important for your personal well-being, but also for the success of your business. This will be an area of focus in future articles.
Flexibility and autonomy, or ‘freedom’, are likely to be key objectives for establishing yourself as an independent security professional. In theory, you’ll have the freedom to choose your projects, set your schedule, and work independently without sacrificing your values or well-being. Of course, the idea of ‘freedom’ can be highly subjective.
Here’s what freedom means to me:
It’s a useful exercise to spend some time to define what freedom means to you.
A key measure of success will be that your clients are happy with your work. Happy clients will hopefully mean future projects with that client. Even better, happy clients should result in referrals that will generate new projects with new clients. Client satisfaction comes from delivering tangible value to clients by meeting or exceeding their expectations, addressing their needs, and solving their problems effectively.
Building a strong professional reputation and credibility in your area of expertise is an important aspect of your success. Ideally, this will result in becoming a sought-after consultant in your specialty. However, you cannot take for granted your ability to maintain and enhance your reputation and credibility. This is something you’ll need to continually work on.
Your ability to develop professionally is not only a crucial aspect of a successful business, but also a key factor in your own sense of success. Continuously expanding your knowledge, skills, and expertise provides significant leverage. It’s important to stay current with industry trends and innovations. Personal growth is a key motivator for me and is always a consideration when selecting new projects and opportunities.
Your idea of success may include making a positive impact on clients, industries, and communities through your work. In fact, as a security professional, your work may contribute to keeping people safe or even saving lives.
A sense of contribution has been a major motivation for me throughout my 30-plus year career as a security professional. At times, my desire to contribute has come at the cost of success in other areas. Like everything else in your business, you need to create balance.
Last but certainly not least, the fact that you feel like you’ve achieved something meaningful is an important measure of success. Feeling a sense of accomplishment, pride, and satisfaction in the work you do is a major motivator. It’s also important to know that your efforts are valued and have a purpose.
Success means different things to different people.
At least from my own experience, success is a combination of all of the factors listed above. My view of success also changes over time, as my priorities change.
Success can also be elusive. Your ability to attain meaningful success depends on your expectations for success. You could build what for all intents and purposes is a highly successful business, and still may not feel successful. Should you lower your expectations? I’d suggest you don’t. Instead, keep striving to achieve more.