Keys To Growing Your Business Pt 2
It’s Revealed…Keys to Growing Your Business (Part 2)
In Part 1 of Keys To Growing Your Business we talked about what growing a business is not. I stated there is a difference between enlarging which is a result of growing and which is a result of swelling.
Unhealthy conditions (incorrect pricing, inadequate profit margin, ill-equipped staff, etc.) in your business can prevent it from achieving success. With that said, let’s now discuss the keys to business growth.
Below are the 6 essential elements for business growth.
1. Great products/services – Just because you have a horse in the race it does not mean you are prepared to win the race. You want a horse that outperforms others, has all the attributes that make winners, and truly delivers for the bettors. The same is so for your products and services. The first element of growing a business is offering the market top-performing, reliable products/services that deliver value and performance. A mediocre product will not get you to the winners’ circle.
Once you have developed quality products for the market, don’t rest on your laurels. If ever you start to become complacent about your products/services just remember what keeps Apple, Amazon, and Oprah on top. An uncompromised commitment to offering the best.
2. Access to Capital – An additional location, that extension of your product line, those additional employees all require money. The second key element is access to capital. The initial source of that capital is derived from managing your internal financial resources. In other words controlling and minimizing your cost of goods and operating expenses, maintaining adequate cash flow and healthy profit margins, and being diligent in keeping accurate and timely financial information. Financial discipline helps to provide your business with the financial resources it needs to grow.
In addition to providing your business with a direct source of capital to grow, your financial management system opens the door to other forms of capital you will need to grow your business. For instance, let’s say your business is realizing good profits, and positive cash flow and is functioning well overall, however, to expand your facility, you need $1 million.
Although you do not have that amount of capital on hand, because of the financial health of your business, you have access to lenders, investors, and their capital to meet your expansion needs. Sustaining a healthy financial system in your business provides you access to the capital you need to make it grow.
3. Talent – As your business grows the need to rely on others to perform the required duties and responsibilities is an inherent development. Nevertheless, a mere body or person will not die. To grow a business you need the third element which is talent. This is how I define talent:
a. Highly skilled and knowledgeable in the area of responsibility
b. Always learning and striving to get better
c. Has the ability to perform more than one thing well
d. Takes ownership of responsibilities and creates better ways of executing the duties
e. Highly motivated and performance driven
f. Great attitude
Talent on your team is a must.
4. Management – The fourth element of business growth is management. Having persons on board to direct the staff, coordinate and organize activities, make decisions, allocate resources, has an understanding of where the business is going and how it will get there is management. Management keeps the ship sailing in the right direction, makes the decision when no one else can, and helps to create a culture where everyone thrives.
5. Systems – Whether you visit a McDonald’s in Portland, Maine, or Portland, Oregon; in the Northern U.S. or the South, your hamburger and fries will be the same. This can be said about most businesses with multiple locations, there is consistency in what they do and how they do it which defines the fifth element to grow a business, systems.
Business growth is a lot easier and more successful when there are systems for performing and operating responsibilities that are duplicated, documented, and shared. It does not matter if you are a Multinational Corporation like McDonald’s or a single-location flower shop, the need for systems to facilitate growth in your business is a must.
6. Planning – Last but not least the essential element for business growth is planning. A road map for where your business is going and how it will get there makes for good business growth. What should your plan contain?
a. Mission, Vision, and values
b. Facts about your industry and market
c. Marketing plan
d. Operations plan
e. Financial plan
So there you have it, a formula to grow your business. Incorporate these elements in operating your business and you will find yourself on the road to success.
Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts! And, don’t forget to share…
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