Leverage is the key to making what you have go much further. Just like a crowbar or a moving dolly, leverage allows you to harness the power of good positioning and the strategic application of energy to move mountains.
As an entrepreneur, you’re often dealing with limited resources, be they time, money or manpower, to try to radically change the world. Innovation has no greater ally than leverage.
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Here are five quotes about leverage to get you thinking about how to use this life-altering force in your life.
It is much easier to put existing resources to better use than to develop resources where they do not exist. -- George Soros
As an entrepreneur you should always be looking for strategic partnerships that will help leverage your business. How can you partner with other entrepreneurs? What brands would leverage your identity into a different sphere of influence? How can your list add value for someone and create success for you both?
By doing well for others you can also do well for yourself. The key is leverage.
Your workforce is your most valuable asset. The knowledge and skills they have represent the fuel that drives the engine of business, and you can leverage that knowledge. -- Harvey Mackay
One crucial factor of success for entrepreneurs is a highly dedicated and passionate staff. Pay alone isn’t enough to motivate your people, they need to have the context of your vision to fuel them.
If you’re doing it right, your staff will be the first super fans and early adopters of your business. They see how they’re changing the world by being a part of what you’re doing and provide the ultimate leverage through their own personal proselytizing and their dedicated commitment to working toward your vision.
Related: How Thoughtful Leaders Earn Employee Loyalty
Keep your staff engaged and leverage their skills, enthusiasm and talent to create a movement that changes the world.
The leverage and influence social media gives citizens are rapidly spreading into the business world. -- Simon Mainwaring
Sometimes it’s easy to forget just how new the concept of social media really is for the huge amount of leverage it can forge for your entrepreneurial vision. Through social media you are able to share your vision, connect with like-minded individuals and get an organic conversation sparked about your business.
Tend to your social-media accounts like a garden and cultivate them into blossoming fans who will help spread the good word about what you do and how your business is important.
Attempting to succeed without embracing the tools immediately available for your success is no less absurd than trying to row a boat by drawing only your hands through the water or trying to unscrew a screw using nothing more than your fingernail. -- Richie Norton
If you aren’t using every point of leverage you have as a business, then you’re wasting effort and energy. Try taking an hour and looking at all the pain points in your business. Then match those pain points with a leveraged solution and get to work using that solution as a tool.
When you partner with other people internally and externally to find solutions, you can leverage their knowledge, skills, assets and relationships to help solve pain points. If you’re doing it correctly, you will also be able to offer your partners solutions to their problems through the resources that you offer. Use leverage as a tool and watch your business grow.
As a (small) businessperson you have no greater leverage than the truth. -- Paul Keating
Honesty is the ultimate leverage. Be honest in all your dealings and your reputation and business will reap the rewards. It’s the best tool in your entrepreneurial arsenal.
Related: How Companies Can Leverage Influence to Create Trust