My old school friend from Hartford Connecticut Michael Giuffrida knows what it takes to be successful in business and here he gives us advice on how to become a successful business person. I first met Michael at school in Southington and whilst our careers may have taken different paths, we have still stayed in touch. I caught up with Michael to find out more about how to be a success.
These business skills are essential
Manage Your Finances:
Effective management is key. Forecasting your cash flow and sales, as well as profits and losses monitoring. Declaring income is of utmost importance.
Michael Giuffrida: “keep it tight and organized and there will be no leaks.”
Marketing, humane skills.
Promote your products and services the best way. Honing your human skills, relationship skills, and work hard on customer service. Be sure to work on the creative marketing strategy that will help you generate sales.
Michael Giuffrida: “Being human is being humane, use your tact.”
Be the One Who’s There to Help:
Communication and negotiation with suppliers, potential investors, customers, and employees require a confident attitude, a compassionate outlook, and an ambitious plan. You are there to help others, and others must feel the same way, as much for new clients or your own employees. Every communication reflects the image of the growth you are trying to achieve.
“Michael Giuffrida: “You’re there to relieve others from the pressure, not to make slaves of them.”
Be the Leader:
Be the leader from the outset, be firm in clear in your message and firm in your approach. Time allocation for mentoring and coaching makes others feel integrated into a team and can help to motivate the staff.
Michael Giuffrida: “Leading by example, means that you’ve built yourself in such a way as to be seen as a symbol of justice and hard work.”
Manage and Plan your Projects:
For any new plans for growth or new incentives which you may have you must ensure that you have the skills to manage your resources, time, money and staff you will doubtlessly achieve your goals, becoming a solid figure of inspiration and success.
Michael Giuffrida: “Managing is entertaining thoughts that haven’t materialized yet; managing is taking charge of them once they have become a reality.”
Delegation, time management and control.
Many people fear the loss of control in the act of delegating to their employees, which in turn results in the tedious micromanagement and obsessive behavior of a tyrannical boss. Managing your time well means delegating responsibility to someone you trust and to whom you’ve evaluated a skill set worthy of the position you’ve assigned. In the end, it’s your responsibility that they’re working for you, so why not pass some of the workloads to those you’re supposed to trust?
Michael Giuffrida: “Delegate things within the sphere of a skill-set and control of a person, otherwise you will only be slowing them down.”
