The Key to Creating a Business That Achieves

When starting out in business, we have a lot of grand plans of how we’re going to do it better, faster, and cheaper than previous employers and make more money. We expect to set up the business, build it, employ others to run it and then you count the money when we are off on holidays and travelling around the world.

The reality

We soon realise, that in reality it is actually a lot harder to find the right customers and clients, the right team and there’s all this paperwork that needs to be done. From tendering the financials to loan applications, accounting, pricing decisions, marketing and other things we were not even aware of in the beginning. We start running out of time because we are so busy working in the business.

Higher turnover, same profit

Speaking to a client recently, I asked him how his business was travelling. He said he believed he was doing well, but admitted he had been too busy to properly think about it. Upon looking at the businesses financials for a 3 year period it was apparent it actually wasn’t doing all that well. Even though the business had tripled in turnover, the profit was the same. He was making the same profit he was making 5 years ago!

This is the challenge sometimes in business, a lot of small business owners just get too busy and don’t stop to look at what’s really going on.

Start at the beginning

A lot of small business owners only look at their financials at the end of year tax meeting. At this time, if they have an accountant, the accountant will likely perform some benchmarking and analyse whether the business is performing well or not. In my opinion, that’s too late. You shouldn’t wait months after the financial year to work out whether your business is doing well. You’ve got to start thinking about how you create a business that sets out to achieve. Start thinking about all of the possibilities that can help you create a better business, as this is what will you get on the road to achieving your goals again.

Creating a better business, starts with planning

Most small business owners’ planning is performed on a week to week basis; they come up with an idea one week, take the idea to their team, start to implement that idea, then move to the next weeks idea the following week. That’s not planning. While there are opportunities everywhere it’s important to be able to discern what is an opportunity and what is a distraction. With a solid plan in place, it becomes easier to work out the opportunities from the distractions. A plan has the ability to transform your business.

A plan is like a map

A few years ago, we took the family to New York and the first thing we did when we arrived was purchase a couple of maps. With New York being such a big city and having never been there before we didn’t have a clue how to get around. The maps allowed us to plan for the time that we were there. This is the key in business. Taking a business to places it’s never been before, requires a plan, so you need to create a map for where you want to take it. Along the way, you may need to put together a team of people to help you, because if you’ve never done it before, it’s best to seek expertise. To really be successful in business, you need a plan and you need to be held accountable to that plan. A coach or advisor can not only get you to where you are going quicker, but they can also hold you accountable to your plan.

To accomplish the business and the success that you deserve, focus on planning in order to achieve your business goals.

SP Solutions can help you create the map to your business success with its experienced business advisors. Click here to arrange a free business consultation and begin your path to business success!