Business Service Center

Small Businesses Growth

Posted on December 26, 2011

Last week on LinkedIn, I followed an interesting discussion about small business. The discussion was based on an article that appeared on the National Journal website under the title "Most Small Businesses Don't Want to Grow". The just of the article was that most small businesses, especially those with fewer than 20 employees, are not interested in growing their business.

It seemed that most of the participants in the LinkedIn discussion concurred that small companies are not interested in growth. I disagree. Having worked with small companies from less than $500 thousand in revenue up to $50 million in revenue, I can truly say that I have never encountered one that wasn't interested in growth. They might, however, view their growth goals much differently than would a large business.

Large companies like to see that year-in-year-out march of steadily increasing revenues and profits, with ready explanations for the occasional hiccup. Assuming that the growth hasn't come as a result of too much dilution of the share base, it should result in a steady increase in the stock price and the compensation of the executives. Small businesses, on the other hand, are more focused on their ability to put cash in the bank. Their notion of growth is the steady improvement of financial circumstances and reduction of business and personal risk.

Growth is critical for small business. But growth isn't easy. Capital is extremely hard to come by and getting a new loan from a bank is very difficult right now. Virtually all loans to small business are based on the personal guaranty of the principal shareholders; so as a result, growth may actually increase their personal risk while reducing the business risk. Add to that the challenge of going to market against large powerful competitors with vast marketing budgets. No wonder many small business people are intimidated by the idea of growth. But if the small business doesn't grow, its profits will slowly be eaten away by inflation, diluted among family members or start to dwindle away from lack of innovation. Read More...

How to Create More Consistency and Clarity in Your Business

Posted on December 24, 2011

Creating a successful business is a simple step-by-step process. Of course, there will be challenges along the way. You may make a few mistakes - I know that I have! I have literally made every mistake that an entrepreneur can make - but it hasn't stopped me from being successful. I've learned that as long as you stay focused on your goals and do the right things consistently you can create your version of a successful business.

Here are three simple keys that you can use to create more success in your business NOW:

• Get clear - Get crystal clear on what business success means to YOU. If you try to follow some "guru's" version of success, you're going to end up disappointed. Don't get caught up trying to create someone else's dream. For you success may mean making $30K a year and being there to care for an aging parent. Or perhaps you have your sights set on, growing a million dollar global enterprise. You may have either one of these goals or maybe your version of a successful business lies somewhere in between. Break that big goal down into smaller goals that will make it a reality. How many clients will you need? How much money needs to be coming into your business? How much time do you need to devote to your business in order to produce those results? Getting clear will help you minimize distractions and say no to opportunities that aren't the right fit. It will free you up to spend your time, money and energy on what is truly important to you.

• Get organized - People pay a lot of lip service to getting organized because we all know inherently that organization is important. Getting there, however, is another story. If you want to create more success in your business, start with organizing your marketing efforts in a plan. Outline what you want to accomplish on a monthly basis so you can break down those goals into easy to implement action steps. Review the resources you already have and secure the resources that you need. You'll also need to get organized with your time. Make an appointment with yourself to complete your marketing activities each week (or each day) and treat it just like it was your favorite, highest paying client. Read More...

6 Strategic Ingredients for Your Success

Posted on December 23, 2011

Why is it so important to have a vision or strategy for your success? As we near the end of one year and will soon be celebrating a new one, I thought it would be great to talk about creating a strategy for your success for the upcoming year. Here are six key ingredients you need to create an effective strategy that will work for you.

1. Plan - Do you have a plan that you have created based on your vision or ideal for success? If not, I suggest you start building one immediately. Write it down. Before you can do anything else you must have a plan. As a project manager and business owner, I know the value of creating project plans and business plans. Without these, it would be really hard to gauge what is going well and what needs to change.

2. Ideal Self - This is your vision of what you will look like at the end of next year if everything goes as you had planned. You need to take time and visualize exactly what that would be and what specifically it would look like. We used a great exercise at Capgemini whereby we asked project teams to visualize that their project had been a success and that they were being interviewed by Forbes Magazine on why the project went so well. The team looked ahead and then looked back at what made the project successful, what roadblocks did they have to manage and how did they do so successfully, and what changes did they have to make along the way. Doing so created a true picture of why the project would be successful and what it would look like as specifically as possible. You need to do the same with your plan. What will you look like, feel like, and what are the details you will have accomplished if you are successful in next year. Try to be as specific as possible. Use this approach to help you define your ideal success for the year and you are well on your way to achieving your goals.

3. Values - What are your core values and how are you using them in your life to help you make the choices you are confronted with each day? Review a list of values and pick your top 5 values. Feel free to go to my website (coaching4abundance.com/documents) and under documents there is a values worksheet that you can use if you are having trouble coming up with them. Be sure your plan is aligned with these values and you are taking steps to live by them. Aligning your values with the work you are doing will create synergies for your success because you are living true to yourself. You are being authentic to what you believe in. Read More...

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