Growing Your BusinessIsla Baliszewska, from the Swindon Coaching Team, gives some helpful advice on how to ensure your business grows
Three days later the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills hosted the launch of the Start
Up Britain Enterprise calendar. That
event was full of ‘grafters, doers, hard-workers and entrepreneurs’, all
looking for opportunities and support to grow their businesses.
BIS is behind the provision of a range of
support and access to events and resources for hungry business owners,
entrepreneurs and would-be businesses. To quote Start Up Britain "There’s
a business in everyone...find the business in you."
Focus on the three O's...
So, what
can you do to ensure that the business you have can create sustainable
growth? In 2009 in Swindon there were
610 business start-ups and 710 business closures. This deficit wasn’t bad,
happening as it did in the middle of the recession, and overall Wiltshire did
better than the national average, meaning that our county "demonstrates a healthy level of economic resilience through the
recession".
It would appear businesses in Wiltshire are geographically well placed and we have an
enthusiastic Government behind us!
But
we need more than that. We need the three ‘O’s: Outcomes,
Options and to
be
Objective.
Outcomes
What
are your outcomes in starting up your business? What do you want to get from your business,
what is your business model - is this a life-style business or are you building
an exit strategy?
Without a clear
outcome how do you know where you are going and whether you are on course?
Options
What options do you have to grow your
business, in terms of:
- finance requirements
- product
development
- staff development
- diversification
Define
what resources you have, what resources you need and start to build a strategy for
growth with clear targets. Introduce
good benchmarks and review policies to maintain momentum, and sustain your
growth path.
Objective
Retain
an objective
view of your business. If you
are head-down every day, juggling all the balls, wearing every ‘task’ hat and
trying to do it all with no time to review your progress, how can you be really
effective? Take a moment, step back and
look at what you are actually doing.
And some tips:
- Have your Business Development time. This is when you go somewhere quiet, don’t
pick up the phone or check your emails, and do at least ONE thing that will
move your business forward. Make this BD
time sacrosanct, do it every day and you will reap the benefits.
- Everyone has heard of spending too
much time ‘in the business’ rather than ‘on the business’. Try spending half a day every month away from
your office when you take that objective view of where your business is
going. Work with a business coach to gain
perspective.
- There will be at least one job in your
business which simply does not make economic and realistic sense for you to be
doing. Outsource it, delegate it, free
yourself up to do what you do best.
Whatever
your business vision, to make big profits, to be the best, to introduce new
ideas, to become outstanding in your market,
keep an eye on that vision, retain clarity and focus on your objectives
and enjoy seeing your business flourish the way you want it to.
For more information on the Swindon Coaching Team, please visit their website via the link below.
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Swindon Coaching Team - website | |||||||
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