Six Ways Small Business Will Succeed 😊
/I am all for positivity and I know our clients are aware of the following points, but I thought I would remind everyone (and myself) for good measure.
We have been working with a business mentor ourselves, and every week Esmerelda and I sit and ponder business, life and everything.
The following six points always come up:
1. Business that has a kick-a*s vision
Believe it or not, but we’ve considered our company's vision a lot recently. It can evolve and it has, especially with everything that has happened in the last 12 months.
As small business owners we need to be clear on where we are going and how we hope to get there. If we do not know, how can we expect our people to follow up and know what they are supposed to do?
It is important to focus on your business vision and make sure this shines through in everything you do. I know it can be exhausting sometimes, but without vision and focus, systems and processes will fall flat, and it will be very frustrating for everyone.
2. Have brilliant Financial Management
I know you expected that I would say this, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Knowing your numbers is as key as having a vision. You cannot plan without knowing your numbers, and you need to have updated accounts to be able to make decisions.
With cloud accounting, it is so much easier to get your accounts updated.
Make sure you take time to budget/forecast in your own understandable simplistic way.
I can’t tell you how many times a month I write down on the back of some piece of paper:
Bank balance
Payroll
Invoices
+ Customer payments
= Positive/negative cash balance.
And I’m a Chartered Accountant!
But that is all it takes; it’s a basic untestable forecast, but if you don’t know what the numbers are, then you will struggle to do this simplistic calculation.
3. Brilliant Marketing strategy that is implemented
I personally hate marketing for the simple reason that I really don’t understand it!
But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t important.
Marketing is how you get clients or pipeline clients and if you don’t understand where your clients will come from, you have a HUGE problem.
There isn’t an easy answer when it comes to marketing, except that you need to work on it constantly and learn from your mistakes. This is an area in your business that you can’t just pay someone to solve.
You need to be involved in the planning, execution and completion phase to make sure you are happy with the process and that the process works. If you don’t, you will spend a lot of money and achieve nothing, but when your marketing strategy works, it is really beautiful (and a major relief).
4. Managing and understanding their business risks
Doing business is risky, but if you understand your business risks you can manage them.
Examples of risks may be
Reliance of one customer or supplier
Cash flow risk
VAT exposure risk
Reputational risk
Risk of theft
Consider your business risks and see how you can manage them. If the risks are managed, you will be able to sleep at night 😊
5. Adapt to change
Covid has taught us this lesson the hard way. People and businesses must adapt to change. If you don’t, you will not succeed.
If you do not meet the needs of your customers, they will go elsewhere, even your most loyal customers. Know your clients, build relationships with them and make sure the communication channels are there for them.
6. Building relationships and networking
And finally, build relationships and work on those relationships. We live in a world where we must rely on each other to succeed. We thrive in relationships and we should build mutually beneficial relationships wherever possible.
