Last Updated on September 16, 2025 by Dave Schoenbeck
There are so many leadership experts, and they frequently discuss only high-level theories and concepts. Whenever I read a leadership book, I always look for a few nuggets that I can teach to my clients and, more importantly, help them put the ideas into action. I often struggle to find realistic, tactical “things to do” in a book. To that end, I want to share with you 10 leadership responsibilities that small business owners must implement to be successful.
My 10 small business advice tips have been galvanized by many years of coaching business leaders and providing them with implementable small business advice.
Here are my 10 Small Business Advice Tips on Leadership
- Ensure that you are always positive, upbeat, and passionate. You are the role model, and your team is watching you and how you act. Your temper, tone, and body language should be carefully controlled and represent your aspirations. They see you at your best and worst moments, so be on your best behavior. You can read more about this in John Maxwell’s book, The Law of the Picture.
- Show grit to your people. If something is hard and you fail at it, don’t give up immediately. Tenacity is an attribute of successful small businesses.
- Listen more than you talk. You don’t have all the answers. Encourage your people to speak up and make recommendations. Request a recommendation, not just another description of the problem.
- Surround yourself with successful and creative people outside of your team. Fellow entrepreneurs’ experiences and ideas will inspire you. Read books, attend conferences, watch TED talks on YouTube, and schedule meetings with experts who don’t think like you.
- Keep your commitments and only make commitments that you can keep.
- Demonstrate integrity in all that you do, say, or profess. Insist on complete honesty with your teammates and yourself.
- Make yourself visible and approachable to all members of your company. You are the boss, and unfortunately, you intimidate most of your team. The best way is to consistently ask questions about what your company should be doing better. Once you break the ice, the feedback will flow, and you will clearly hear what is essential to know and what to change.
- Represent the company to the public, suppliers, and customers. As the owner, people want to have a relationship with you.
- Celebrate your achievements and successes as urgently as the disappointments. We often overlook our accomplishments, but taking the time to celebrate them will hearten you and your team.
- Be ready to openly and honestly debrief failures. The military does this brilliantly. They specialize in identifying the root of mistakes without assigning personal blame. They focus on fixing processes and reinforcing accountability.
I hope you have found my small business advice tips helpful. I encourage you to learn more from my blog articles and recommended reading tabs on my website, daveschoenbeck.com.
I wish you continued success! If you’d like to discuss your business opportunities, feel free to contact me for a complimentary coaching session.
Coach Dave
Dave Schoenbeck is a professional business and executive coach who translates complex business methods, processes, and strategies into actionable plans to dramatically improve financial results. Read more about Dave here.
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