For Jarle Thorsen, success didn’t come easy. He worked very hard at everything he now has, and continues to do so. Nine years ago, he founded Unaico, which he has run successfully for nine years now. He also works with Exergonix and envestors, ensuring the have the power to do better than ever before. He believes success is not about money or power, it is about being the best possible person. Money is low on Maslow’s pyramid of needs and while it may come in handy, it does not define success. Having recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong, Jarle Thorsen felt it was time to reveal his top tips to becoming a successful businessman.
Jarle Thorsen on Achieving Business Success
The first difficulty is to define what success is. The health of the business can be a measure of success but so can the personal achievement of the business person. Usually however, it is a combination of those two that people would accept the find success. To get there, Jarle thinks you should:
Gain an education. The gold standard of business education is the MBA but this is not attainable for everybody, particularly not at the start. However, without a foundation of knowledge behind you, you can never become successful in business. Whether you obtained is foundation in college, through trade schools, or by attending seminars and lectures is almost irrelevant, so long as you are committed to not just getting an education is keeping not up to date as well.
Work and work a little bit harder still. Anyone who has ever fallen for a Pyramid Scheme or get rich quick scheme deserves what came to them. In order to be successful, you have to put in the hours and go beyond that as well. You must see a business as an extension and reflection of who you are personally and that is not something you can switch off as soon as the clock strikes 5 p.m. If you are unwilling to put in the necessary hours to make your endeavor a success, you may as well not bother at all.
Find a mentor. There will always be people out there who know more than what you do right now. Generally speaking, those people will be more than happy to impart their knowledge on you. A mentor is someone who is further ahead than you but who is in a position that you may one day find yourself. To get there, they have made numerous mistakes and you can learn from those rather than repeating them yourself. A mentor can be anybody who you look up to and who you feel embodies those things that you would like to do yourself.
With these three key tips, you should be able to be successful in business. Of course, there are never any guarantees. Only those willing to take chances and risks are likely to ever truly be successful, because a businessman must be willing to take chances.
