5 Growth Success Factors Your Business Must Have To Make More Money
5 Ways to Start Breaking Free from Your Business Operations!
13th March 2008
I have been joking (but not really!) with all my clients for several years now that the only way to enjoy your life and your business is to have no product inventory (as in products that need warehousing and distribution) and no people to manage.
They don’t disagree, but not all of them are ready to move to an online information-based model just yet.
The biggest consistent issue for all my clients is how to clear the way for them to spend less time in their business, knowing their team will look after it. After all, more control over your life and time, free time when you want it, and a valuable business asset that is going to provide for your lifestyle both now and in the future are all rewards that we want and expect from our business.
If you are not yet experiencing those rewards, you need to take some fundamental steps toward changing how you, and your business, operate.
1. You have to change your own Position Description.
For fear of stating the obvious, as your business grows, your role changes. You will also take on more staff, to whom you can delegate. When you have a team of 20, your role is very different from when you had just yourself to do all the work. Recognise that the company has changed, and your role has changed. Give yourself some time to think about the scope of your responsibilities, as they are now, and write your updated Position Description. This is a critical first step. Some of my clients embrace this immediately, others can take up to a year or more. Either way, when they get through this, things start to change for the better.
2. You must have a Vision & Business Goals
Just think of this as the ‘game plan’. If you’re the Coach, the team can still win without you actually playing in the game. The team cannot win, however, if they don’t know what they’re meant to do. May sound silly, but if your team is reliant on your regular instructions as to what needs to happen next, without an overall game plan, they’re always going to be reliant on you being there. Let everyone know the game plan and their role in it.
3. Recruit good players
If you don’t have a good team, you’ll always struggle. You will never win. Your goal of spending less time in the business on a day to day business will never work well. What strengths do you need to bring into your business? You were able to grow your business in the first place because you knew what you were doing; imagine how it could grow now with other people who know what needs to be done and how to do it. Be brave, and take this step.
4. Trust and reward your team
Motivate a winning team with recognition and rewards. Set up effective rewards and remuneration systems for their performance and honour them. Discretionary bonuses and salary increases don’t add a lot of value to the individual or the company if given without any significant feedback (as often happens). The individual doesn’t really know what behaviours or outcomes are being rewarded, there are often discrepancies between employee bonus payments which upset staff (because they always seem to find out), and there is no alignment between company goals and individual performance from one year to the next. Fix that now.
5. Know what you have to measure, and do it
This is about keeping the company and the team on track toward achieving both your strategic goals as well as your operational goals. There are multiple indicators at an operational level throughout the company, which you can measure. You need to know what your key indicators are, measure them, track them and compare them for different periods. Management reports on a regular basis will let you know how well the company is running, and it will also send a clear message of accountability to your team.
These 5 steps may take a while to implement, but they are critical to your own success in having the option to spend less time in your business on a day to day basis.
I’ve seen many companies over the years that are making money and continuing to grow, without doing much of the above very well, if at all. But, in every single case, the business owner has been tied to the business on a day to day business, until they start to take these 5 steps. If you want to have the freedom, take the first step.
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Jenny Stilwell is the creator of BOSSMENTOR® Business, a FREE ezine for professional, lifestyle oriented business owners wanting to confidently increase the value of their service business, ultimately spending less time in it. You’ll get proven strategies, tips and resources designed to help you achieve success. To receive your free e-book information, and sign up for how-to articles on creating and managing business growth, visit www.bossgroup.com.au