Developing Personally: What It Means and Why It Matters for Your Success

Many business owners center their growth strategy on revenue, spending a lot of time and money on the top line to build their businesses. It makes sense. Success is often measured in dollar figures, revenue growth, and profit margins. More sales, higher earnings, and stronger financials are clear indicators of a thriving business. While growing your customer base and your revenues is key to growing your business, so many other actions will take your business to the next level.

In my blog article, Nurturing Your Business: 5 Growth Paths for Women Entrepreneurs, I outline multiple ways for women entrepreneurs to grow their enterprise. Investing, pricing, product management, and building recurring revenue are all topics covered in the five growth paths. The one I believe is most overlooked, however, is the personal development of the business owner.

Developing Personally – What Does it Mean?

Developing personally means that business owners have an ongoing commitment to self-awareness, self-improvement, and self-care. This may include setting and tracking personal and professional goals. It may include pursuing further education and skills development. It definitely includes committing to a healthy work-life balance, establishing boundaries between work and personal time. Sound selfish? Sometimes it may feel that way, but it is not. Taking care of yourself isn’t just beneficial for you; it’s essential for the continued growth of your business. After all, you are the driving force behind your success. You cannot delegate self-care, and you can’t rely on others to do it for you.

How does this commitment to personal development translate to business success? Here’s what you can expect:

1. It Will Help You Stay Motivated

Remember when you first started your business? You were full of energy and excitement, ready to tackle the day and any challenges that came along with it. Over time, it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day tasks, and that initial fire in your belly can be reduced to a smolder. When you are a business owner, you no longer have a boss telling you to get up and get going, to continue to push forward. That role belongs to you!

When you invest in your own personal development and growth, you gain fresh insights, new strategies, and innovative ideas that can be applied to your business. Learning something new always sparks inspiration, and that can help reignite the fire in your belly, motivating you to overcome obstacles, grow, and succeed.

2. It Will Help You Build Your Business Acumen

When was the last time you stepped back to sharpen your skills as a business owner? When’s the last time you took a course, read a business book, or dedicated some time to reading business blogs or watching YouTube videos on a business topic such as leadership, productivity, or management? It is so easy to get caught up in daily operations and put new learning on the back burner! We are all very busy, and sometimes it is difficult to find the time. Expanding your knowledge isn’t just about absorbing information; it’s about learning how to make smarter decisions that directly impact your success.

Whether they’re launching a new product line, wanting to understand accounting better, integrating CRM into their business, refining their pricing model, improving cash flow management, strengthening their leadership skills, or simply brushing up on the latest digital marketing trends, all business owners can benefit from building their business acumen because it helps them work smarter, not harder. When you commit to personal development, you are equipping yourself with the tools to navigate challenges, seize new opportunities, and take your business to the next level.

3. It Can Even Help You Improve Your Health, Physically and Mentally

When someone asks, “How are you?” how often do you brush it off with a basic reply? Have you ever truly stopped to assess your well-being? Everybody goes through ups and downs when it comes to both physical and mental health. Being able to tip that scale a bit and be healthy more often than not is a great advantage to you, your family, and your business. When we are not healthy and not engaged in the business, project dates get pushed back, sales drop, and things go awry with employees. The hard truth here is that your business will only thrive when you do.

Integrating self-care into your daily routine as a part of your personal development plan isn’t a luxury. It’s a necessity. Regular exercise, good quality sleep, balanced nutrition, and mental wellness habits such as meditation or time alone with your family, friends, and loved ones will help you stay sharp, focused, and resilient. The opposite is also true. Neglecting your health, your diet, and your personal time can have disastrous consequences. You may miss huge opportunities. Projects may stall. Sales may suffer. Your team may begin to feel your stress as well. By prioritizing your physical and mental well-being, you’re not just taking care of yourself; you are setting up your business for long-term success.

Your Personal development Starts Now

What is your next step? I suggest setting aside 30 minutes to focus on this topic. Brainstorm all the ways you can develop yourself. Then pick one and get started! Need some help? Click on the links in this blog for more depth on how to work on your personal development. Please reach out to me if you want a sounding board for ideas and opportunities. I am here to help, so let’s connect!

How I help businesses grow