Businesses are built from the ground up, and the first brick is your idea. You come up with a new product, a new service, or a new way of doing something, and it feels revolutionary. Unfortunately, the idea alone just isn’t enough.

You can have the best idea in the world, and it won’t do you any good if you can’t sell it. So how do you ensure that your idea gets the attention it deserves? How do you build a successful business from it?

Here are the top five tips that you need to know to successfully build your business and sell your ideas.

1. Take Personal Responsibility

You are the driving force behind your business. It was your idea, and it’s your responsibility to see that idea through. If you want your business to succeed, you must take personal responsibility for it.

That means you must be willing to do what’s necessary to succeed. You have to commit to the process and show that commitment to everyone, especially your employees. Taking personal responsibility means leading by example.

You have to do the hard things and make the tough choices. Whether the business succeeds or fails begins with you, and the foundation that you build for it.

2. Learn To Negotiate

Negotiation is a key skill for success. Success requires working with other people, and that makes it necessary to know how to blend ideas and goals. So let’s talk about the steps that go into a successful negotiation.

• First, you need to master making others feel heard. Repeat a few of their words to let them know you understand where they’re coming from.
• Second, make it clear that you have a plan B. Other people need to know that you aren’t dependant on this one negotiation.
• Third, master your body language so you’re sending the message you want to send.
• Fourth, don’t make the first move. Let them make the first offer and go from there.
• Fifth, don’t be afraid to walk away if the deal isn’t going to accomplish what you need.

Finally, the sixth step, practice. Practice each of these skills over and over until you’re a master of negotiation.

3. Recruit The Best Team

The business starts with you, but you’re not the only person you need. To succeed long-term, you need to put a successful team in place now. Hiring the best team is about attracting the best team.

You want the right people to want to work for you, and you can attract them through storytelling, technology, and strategy. Recruitment experts can put those best recruitment marketing practices in place for you right now.

So what do storytelling, technology, and strategy mean? Storytelling is all about your branding. You want to create a brand potential employees want to work for.

Technology, in this case, refers to your recruitment marketing platforms, HR analytics, and career sites… These are the tools you need to make good hiring choices.

Lastly, there’s strategy. Strategy is how you use advertising, digital marketing, and social media to stand out to potential candidates.

When a recruitment company combines these practices on your behalf, you find your perfect team.

4. Set Goals

Before you can succeed, you have to know what it is you’re trying to accomplish. Goal setting lets you take active steps to achieve your overall outcome. Sit down and decide where it is you want your business to go, and what benchmarks it needs to meet along the way.

Make sure your goals are realistic and set a timetable for achieving them. An example goal might be using the steps outlined in tip three to find your perfect team. Once your goals are set, check in regularly to make sure you’re staying on track.

5. Tell Your Story

The unique story or message of your business is what will make it stand out to customers. Let them know why you do what you do and how you’re different from your competition. Who a customer chooses often comes down to who has the best pitch, so perfect yours.

Learning these five tips is the first step down the road to business success. Now that you know them, you must use them to begin your journey.