5 Growth Success Factors Your Business Must Have To Make More Money
7 Ways to Get Better Results This Year
12th May 2009
There are many ways to get better results this year, but these are my top seven:
- You have to be excited about what you intend to do this year.
I’m sure I’ve shared this with you before, but when I looked back on an old business plan for a marketing company I had many years ago, I realized that the goals I never achieved were those I actually didn’t want to do. There were things in that plan that in hindsight, I wondered why on earth I had set myself those goals, when achieving them would not have excited me at all! Don’t do more of the same, just because you can.
Don’t plan to do something because you can, plan to do it because it excites you. I cannot stress that enough. There’s no better motivation than excitement!
- Know what your purpose is.
If you know what your purpose is, and what you are trying to achieve through your business, it will help shape all your actions and decisions. If you are a PR specialist and your purpose is to work with environmentally conscious companies to help them protect the global environment, you wouldn’t focus on local companies as your primary target.
The point is, instead of your decisions and actions producing results that don’t take you closer to where you want to be, you will actually move toward your purpose. This focus will create momentum in what you do and the results you produce.
- Decide what outcomes would make a significant difference to your business.
You can’t be all things to all people, nor should you want to be. Decide on those things that, if you achieve them, will make a significant difference to your business. They could be in the area of marketing outcomes, financial results, new client acquisition, achievement of major projects, PR coverage for you, your business or your clients, acquisition of business partners, international expansion, development of a successful new product/service, development of a great team. It could be about you – how you think about your business, what sort of thoughts drive your actions each day, how motivated you are, and how strong your vision is. What goes on in our heads is responsible for what results we get in our businesses.
You have to look ahead to know what sort of outcomes you really want (refer to above two steps as part of that process!) so you can identify what it is that would make this year’s results far better than last year’s.
- Decide how to achieve & measure significant performance improvements.
Jim Collins, in ‘Good to Great’, said that if you could pick one ratio to measure and increase over time, pick one that will have the greatest impact on driving your business. For example, he refers to how Walgreens changed their focus from profit per store to profit per customer visit, which had a significant impact on results for that business.
What sort of focus & measures would best drive improvements in your business?
- Number of new clients acquired?
- Value per client?
- Revenue per person in your business
- Profit per person
- Number of subscribers per month
- Average value of subscribers/clients
- Number of affiliates per month
- Number of product sales
- Average value of product sales
- Develop a strategic plan to provide a roadmap for the year ahead
Know what you want to achieve.
Know what needs to be done to make it happen.
Know who you need on your team to help you get there.
Know how you will measure your performance.
Follow this and refer to it weekly, daily if need be, and don’t forget about it.
- Marketing is everything – give it a priority.
What sort of marketing do you prefer to do? If you hate speaking in front of people, then don’t make that your lead strategy. If you like writing there are many ways to spread your message and your value to others.
Decide what sort of marketing activities you enjoy, are good at, and also determine what your budget is.
Have a look back at the last year and how successful your marketing program was. Did you get the results you wanted? Did you do enough marketing? Did you develop momentum?
Draw up a marketing calendar of events and activities for the next 12 months and make sure you do some marketing activities every week and every month at an absolute minimum.
- Keep learning to expand your skills
This is really important. If you’re not a great marketer, then read, learn, ask questions to improve your capabilities. Gather marketers around you to learn from them. Buy products and programs and books to learn more about every aspect of your business.
If you’re not learning, you are standing still. What did you learn last year about yourself and your business? What skills do you need to improve on this year to produce outstanding results?
All successful people value learning and development as a way to continually lift the bar on their own performance, and to acquire skills and capabilities that will propel them toward the future they want to embrace.
If you haven’t already started on these 7 steps then start now, and begin implementing the strategies and actions to produce outstanding results in the coming year!
Jenny Stilwell is the founder and Managing Director of BOSSMENTOR®, and creator of the Strategic Growth BlueprintÔ, a step by step system specifically designed for reinventing how service-based businesses achieve growth. For entrepreneurs wanting to create their own unique model that will increase their income, create new revenue streams, enable them to grow exponentially and provide leverage to create a bigger future, the Strategic Growth BlueprintÔ will lead the way to achieving that vision. Visit www.bossgroup.com.au/bossmentor-blueprint to learn how to create your own blueprint for growth.