Building a successful business is a marathon, not a sprint. Having worked within the commercial debt recovery industry for over 25 years, I have accumulated a wealth of experience and knowledge on how to build a successful organisation. Here are my five tips for success I have learned as a businesswoman.

You need to be driven and ambitious To be successful in anything in life you need to have a burning fire inside. Never is this truer than in the world of business. Motivation will get you started in any venture, however, it’s the drive and ambition that keeps you going long after that motivation has subsided. I believe once you find your passions in life, the drive and ambition to succeed will come to the forefront.

When it comes to driven people with a business mindset, setting up your own company is the ultimate challenge and finding your passion is very important. In business, challenges and obstacles present themselves every day and from my experience it’s my determination and desire to do the best for my business, employees and family that allows me to tackle all encounters head on. Without drive and ambition, it is very difficult to be a success in business. As Oprah Winfrey famously said, “The big secret in life is there is no secret, whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”

Use your experience and be true to what you know You can buy many things in business, but you cannot buy experience. There are no shortcuts when it comes to gaining a competitive advantage. Knowledge and insight, developed from experience, can be the fundamental difference between a business succeeding or failing.

My advice is to utilise this knowledge to recognise the changing trends and challenges in your industry. Capitalise on this wisdom and be true to what you know within your respective field. This will lead to developing effective products and services that resonate with your customers.

Equally, you must never underestimate the power of your team’s business experience. Utilise the experience you have developed over many years of hard work, as well as that of your employees and it will stand you in good stead.

Surround yourself with a great team There is a saying I have always carried with me throughout my career from Thomas Reid’s essay on “The intellectual powers” that states: “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” I have led and managed teams for over 25 years in small and large businesses, and I have always surrounded myself with a great team of partners and colleagues to drive the business forward.

I never took the importance of recruitment for granted and when I ventured out to launch my own business, I knew the significance of assembling a great team. My advice to anyone looking to set up a business is search for the best in class when hiring for each and every role within the organisation. However, you do not always get it right, you will make wrong hires. The real importance is how quickly you identify these mistakes and correct them.

Move with the times In business you are only as good as your last win. The key is not to rest on your laurels. Every day you need to continue putting in your best effort, continuing to innovate and work towards the next move for the betterment of your customers and employees.

In my opinion, adaptation has become a severely underestimated and underutilised quality. The most dangerous outlook one can have in business is to protect what you have accumulated rather then move with the times. Developing a culture of change is the greatest way to succeed.

All around us, the world is continually adapting to consumer demands and pressures. Companies must be willing and able to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of their industry. Particularly in the credit management industry, things appear to move quicker and quicker every day.

Create a product/service that can help businesses My final tip for success is to create a product/service that will greatly benefit those who use it. Customers want solutions not headaches so creating a service that alleviates problems is the quickest way to become successful in business. Never stop thinking about how to delight your customers.

When I founded Know-it, my goal was to create a company that streamlines the credit management process or takes a traditional process and modernises it through technology. I understand what the implications of late payments and bad debtors can mean for a business. Know-it has been designed to bring a fresh perspective on the credit management process and offers the solutions I mentioned above.

Our new cloud-based platform streamlines the approach to the credit management process, helping businesses mitigate credit risk, boost cash flow and tackle late payments.

This article was originally published by Business Women Scotland.