{"id":9800,"date":"2023-12-27T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T14:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/?p=9800"},"modified":"2024-01-11T07:24:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T12:24:52","slug":"build-profitable-small-business-putting-yourself-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/build-profitable-small-business-putting-yourself-first\/","title":{"rendered":"How to build a profitable small business by putting yourself first"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/category\/growth-customers\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Growth &amp; Customers<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to build a profitable small business by putting yourself first\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2023-12-27T09:31:00-05:00\">December 27, 2023<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"How to build a profitable small business by putting yourself first\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/build-profitable-small-business-putting-yourself-first\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/author\/ryangrundy\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/02\/Ryan-Grundy.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Ryan Grundy<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As a small business owner, you face a world of challenges. But you\u2019ve made it this far, and if there\u2019s anyone that can keep driving profitability, it\u2019s you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Sometimes, you just need a little guidance to figure out what to prioritize and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This can be difficult when you\u2019re busy fighting fires, so we\u2019ve put together a very straightforward e-book that breaks your journey into three stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In this article, we pull out some of the highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#about\">About the Mind over minutes e-book<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#develop\">Develop a growth mindset<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#build\">Build a productive growth culture<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#activate\">Activate your growth strategy with tech<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"#final\">Final thoughts<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"about\">About the Mind over minutes e-book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/sage-business-cloud\/accounting\/manage-your-time-and-profit\/\">Mind over minutes,<\/a> we provide practical guidance on how to keep profitability on track for your small business in the face of mounting adversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You might be facing global challenges\u2014such as rising energy costs and shifting economies, or ones specific to you\u2014like key people leaving or losing your biggest customer. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Whatever you\u2019re up against, we\u2019ve broken down the path to profitability into three stages, each giving you a key takeaway and clear action to complete after reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This will help you take a proactive approach to growth at a time where many businesses might be going on the defensive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Here\u2019s a quick overview of each stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"develop\">Develop a growth mindset<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The path to productivity and profitability starts with you. As a human being, not as a business owner. So, in this chapter, we recommend you start developing a growth mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a growth mindset?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The belief that talent is something that can be developed rather than a fixed innate gift. Those with a growth mindset achieve more by pursuing continuous learning, collaborating with others, and being willing to take risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">There are three practices you\u2019ll need to think about when building this mindset:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"list-style-type:1\">\n<li>Make your own health your top priority.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proactively pursue personal growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set high goals and allow yourself to fail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Dig into these and you\u2019ll build a foundation to confidently execute the strategies that will help your business thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"build\">Build a productive growth culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Next, you\u2019re going to need to push your ambition outwards to your people. This means embedding growth and a productive culture into your business, so your people can achieve more, perform better, and get more satisfaction from their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Once again, there are three ways to do this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"list-style-type:1\">\n<li>Spend time and actually listen to your people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Help your team find balance and support them in achieving what you did in the first stage (develop a growth mindset).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Knock down barriers to their productivity and empower them through automation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Giving your people more time and space shifts their mentality away from fear and towards growth, which is vital for profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"activate\">Activate your growth strategy with tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">The final stage is to create growth strategies and activate them with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/sage-business-cloud\/accounting\/\">technology<\/a>. This is how the mindset you\u2019ve developed and culture you\u2019ve built are put into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">By collaborating with your team to devise the right plans and put the tools in place to execute them, you\u2019ll start to bring your growth ambitions to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You guessed it, there are three strategies to focus on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" style=\"list-style-type:1\">\n<li>Build a clear and actionable growth plan with your team.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create processes and systems that serve your people.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Perfect the fundamentals of your business.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Use these as a starting point and you\u2019ll see a positive impact to your profitability over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"final\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This article gives you a taster of what\u2019s in the Mind over minutes e-book, but the parts you\u2019ll get the most out of are the key takeaways and clear actions at the end of each stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Because educating yourself without action will only get you so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">You need to put what you learn into practice to achieve a real-world result. Get the Mind over minutes e-book today and start making changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article was first published in June 2023 and has been updated for relevance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"cta-content__title\">Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-8949a954-88b2-43bb-8b8a-77c53eb34350\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how developing a growth mindset, building a productive growth structure and using tech will help you create a profitable business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1398,"featured_media":9805,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,20],"tags":[187,267],"business_type":[3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[],"coauthors":[313],"class_list":["post-9800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","category-people-leadership","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-small-business","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-ca","author_name":"Ryan Grundy","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2023\/06\/GettyImages-1135797104.jpg","imagine_tags":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice Canada English","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1398"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/9805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=9800"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-ca\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}