Exisiting Businesses…

So, you have set up your business, went through all of the pain of changing everything you thought of and then changing it back more than once. You are tired, worn out but still excited for the future. You have done so well to get to the stage where you are no longer start up or new business and that means you managed to get past the business that failed in the first year, that means you have done better than 20% of the businesses out there which in itself is a great achievement, but you are not satisfied. You want more and so you should. You want more business, more market share and more profit which is your absolute right as you have worked hard to get here.

Let’s look at some ways that we can move your business forwards.

Don’t rest on your laurels, reach customers in more ways than one

If you are a retailer with no online presence, consider setting up a web store as another way to capture sales. Once you have captured enough customer emails, consider an email campaign to keep your message in front of your customer base. And don’t forget about social media.

If you’re an online-only business, consider a direct mail campaign, including a catalogue featuring your best sellers for prospecting to new potential buyers. After testing a multichannel approach, you will be able to determine how to best spend your marketing pounds based on which channels were most effective in reaching your sales goals. Remember, sometimes the old ways truly are the best so don’t be afraid of shouting from the roof tops and tell people about your success, it brings people in.

Identify and motivate employees eager for a second chance

Often, we hear that businesses want to go to the next level, but can’t for lack of workforce. Ask your team who wants to step up to the next level, this is also a great time to ask for their new idea’s. Look at your competitors and speak with them, link up, look at commercial tie ups and mutually beneficial deals. Not all employees work for you. Look for partner companies to piggyback of and keep your eyes out to those that are failing as they may be failing for reasons that you can remedy by incorporating them into your business. If you are looking for additional people not all people who failed are failures. You can use their experience to build your company.

Use the time management 60/20/20 approach

Instead of spending 100% of your time knocking out tasks via the “Whack-a-Mole” method we suggest a strategic approach to time management. First, use 60% of your time to proactively focus on tasks that truly add value to your business or cannot be done by others. These are the ones that you have discovered truly work to the benefit of your business, so it is important to maintain these avenues to ensure a reliable and consistent source of income. The other 40% of your time should be divided into two categories: 20% on planning and 20% on strategizing. Planning is dedicating time to resources and schedules for the operation of the business such as putting the right people in the right place at the right time or ensuring your processes are in the right order and effective; strategizing is time evaluating how you can improve your business performance, your customer experience, or your profit model. This is where you get to let those creative juices start flowing again, remember those, the ones that you had when your first started thinking about your exciting new business idea all of those sleeps ago.

Become addicted to your numbers

As an established business, you should be using accounting software. Once you understand the basics, what else can you measure? Understand your inventory turns and dive into your cash flow. Now is the time to start to measure your business and use metrics to take your business to the next level.

Watch your market and make strategic acquisitions

As a business, you grow by controlling cost and maximizing profits. As you acquire small businesses that are ancillary services, you not only control the cost of your primary business, but you gain the clients and customers of those ancillary businesses not to mention the introduction into new areas of business or industries not originally served by you, through a partner they already have grown to trust. As above, look at your competitors and offer them a helping hand by incorporating them into your company. This way you gain clients, eliminate a competitor and you help people to keep their jobs which can’t be a bad thing can it.

Take time to create your business toolbox

Every company should have a business toolbox. Your business toolbox should include:

• A business plan to keep you on track on business progress to avoid setbacks
• A marketing plan that will give your company a presence in the marketplace and builds a loyal client base
• An employee manual to maintain an informed workforce, outlining rules and regulations and assuring your business is in compliance with labour laws
• Accounting software that can produce current financial reports at the touch of a button, to keep track of all business activity
• Computers, computers networks, and an IT infrastructure

Please stop using social media the wrong way

Businesses need to stop the bad habit of constantly selling on social media. Marketing and sales are two different things and a sales-only strategy on social media might as well be a fail-only strategy. Create and document content that provides value to your audience and builds a relationship with them. This could be industry insights, tips and tricks, or even entertaining behind-the-scenes videos.

Giving more than you take is the basis of all relationships. Give away your knowledge, your industry trends, your insights. That way when it comes time for a potential customer to make a purchase, they can turn to a brand they both know and trust: YOU.

Its free so use Google

Google My Business pages is an amazing and free tool for local small businesses. Claim your free Google My Business page, then:

• Complete it (especially the business description).
• Master the dashboard.
• Post regularly.
• Respond to all reviews . . . especially the bad ones.
• Keep the page current and up to date.

Attract the next generation of workers

Many businesses are not adequately prepared for hiring today’s younger workforce. You need to plan ahead and learn about the potential strengths and weaknesses of the age group, then rework your interview questions to best highlight the talent you are looking to hire. It is also important to learn how to speak to workers in a way they will understand the importance of their responsibilities, tasks, and place in your organization. These workers are the future of your company and will if allowed and motivated to be the source of new ideas and innovations to help take your business to the next level.

Remember your downtime

In farming, Mother Nature gives us some downtime; in other businesses, you need to create your own downtime. This is not vacation or “off” time. This is time away from working in the business to work on the business: to review data, streamline systems, plan for the next day, week, quarter, year—whatever timeline makes sense for your business. Carving out even an hour will allow you to strategically plan and have insight into small problems before they become major issues. You are great at being a manager and you manage others like a well-oiled machine however do you manage yourself and your own time. Learn to leave the office at the office when its home time. Sleep helps with great decisions so have a life and do not let your business rule you. The dogs wag the tail not the other way around.

Be a know all

Know your numbers: your gross margin, net profit, credit scores, days cash on hand, etc., so you know where your business is financially at all times. And know your customers: who they are, where they are, and what you need to do to attract and retain them. If you know this, you will keep your best workers and customers. After having done everything yourself its time to become the encyclopaedia of your business so you can help educate your workers so that you get to enjoy some more you time and you get to wag that tail.

Create an advisory panel of those who add value

Forming an inhouse advisory panel can be one of the best moves you can make to boost your business performance. An advisory panel customized to the challenges and opportunities facing your company is a powerful management tool that can provide access to experts at low or no cost, offer fresh ideas, and help you run your business better. Hand pick a small team to meet with you quarterly to address issues, formulate a strategic plan, and continually assess your progress. Having an advisory panel can increase the value of your business, accelerate growth, and provide mentors to keep you focused on achieving your goals. Focus will keep you sane and keep your workers happy as they will understand your expectations. This can be your step to your board of directors for when you launch your business into the next stage.

You cannot do it all alone so ask and share

Never hesitate to ask questions from other business owners for fear of looking like you’re not the expert. Truth is, you’re not the expert, you’re the entrepreneur! Be willing to share business knowledge. It’s in the exchange of information that others perceive your confidence in building a business and new partnerships are discovered. Don’t be scared, the other owners are as scared as you but probably more so if you approach them first.

Work to develop and use a strategic plan

Develop short-term goals: quarterly, semi-annual, or annual, and create a plan that will help you reach those goals. Make sure your plan considers the resources you may need: cash, people, equipment, inventory, and additional operating costs, and make sure the end result will be a service or product that customers are looking for. Set the metrics you will use to monitor your progress towards attaining that goal; adjust your plans as needed based on how close or far you are from your goal. If you aren’t meeting your goal, determine why you are not meeting it: Is it lack of resources? Is marketing not working? Are you targeting the right customer segment? Use your business plan as your living document and formulate your strategy so that it naturally improves output, use of resource and reduces losses. Remember, we hate waste of any kind (unless we are a waste management company).

The numbers don’t lie

Creating sound systems and processes are essential in finding anomalies in costs and revenues to refine profitability. Point of sale systems; inventory management; and bookkeeping practices, processes, and procedures will help ensure you can find out what’s wrong faster. It’s often easy for business owners who have been in business for a while to rely on qualitative data and therefore neglect quantitative data that is easily found. For example, a retailer may think that a particular product is flying off the shelves, but after looking at the numbers, realize that’s not the case.

Sorry mum

In the business world we love acronyms don’t we, ROI, URL, EIN, SMART, SWOT. But CFIMITYM is the most important one—it stands for “Cash Flow Is More important Than Your Mother.” Lack of cash is one of the biggest reasons small businesses fail. Inadequate cash reserves (aka “running out of money”) will shut you down faster than anything else. You can’t pay your bills. You can’t make payroll.

It’s possible for your business to make a profit but have no cash. Profit is an accounting concept, while cash is the amount of money in the business checking account. You can have assets, like inventory or accounts receivables, but if you can’t collect on what’s owed, you won’t have cash. And if you run out of cash, you’re out of business. Now call your mum and tell her you love her.

Do not Ignore this hidden cost

While it’s not a line on the profit and loss statement, it is important for business owners to be intentional about identifying and quantifying opportunity cost in their business. Opportunity cost shows up in a number of ways. The most common example is a business owner who spends time on tasks or areas of the business that are not the best use of their time or talent. While they may be saving on the cost of hiring or outsourcing that work, they are actually costing themselves more by tying up their time, and often doing the job poorly. Another example is businesses that take on clients who aren’t the best fit. This may cause reallocation of resources, which in turn slows growth or dilutes the company brand. Growth will happen faster when opportunity cost is addressed. Don’t be afraid of dropping a client or a product if they are taking a disproportionate amount of your resources, time and money. Its your business so you get to decide who or what stays and goes. Remember, if you can’t make more money, you can save more by efficiency measuring and testing. Test your processes constantly and spend money in the right places to save money in others. For example, use a bookkeeping software package rather than doing it yourself as your time can be spent better elsewhere.

You dreamt about it and have made it happen so don’t try to go it alone

Owning your own business can create a lonely world: you make decisions on your own, you might find a few successes that no one else sees, and you worry all by yourself. Build your tribe of advisers, counsellors, guides, and good friends who can offer input, join your celebrations, and help you find the light at the end of the long, dark tunnels. Make sure you are open in your celebrations and don’t be afraid to be a big head, you deserve your day in the sun as you did this. Go back through the above and go and get yourself more business and then next year, do it again.

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