Archive for August, 2011

If you have been following my last few blogs, you are probably champing at the bit to take action on the growth of your business! But you may also have that feeling of overwhelm…

Where will you start and more importantly, where will you find more hours in the day to plan for your business when you are spending all of your time working in the business!

Make more time!

A first crucial step I make with all my clients is to review their current use of time. Take the following key steps to help you make more time to work on your business to meet your business vision.

Step One

Take a fresh sheet of paper and add a first heading of Daily Tasks – write down all the activities/tasks you undertake on a daily basis – both home and work. It doesn’t matter how long they take you each day, just write them down.

Step Two

Now add these headings – Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Delegate To, Waste of time!

Step Three

Look through your list of Daily Tasks and really give thought as to how often they need to be done. Then tick the corresponding column:

• Does the task need to be conducted daily, weekly or monthly?
• Could the task be delegated to someone else?  For this one really think about your strengths and if they are being put to good use doing this activity/task.  Is there someone else who could do it better?
•  Does the task actually need to be done at all?  Think about the benefits of undertaking the action and consequences if you don’t.

Step Four

Next, highlight the activities that you must continue to do yourself on a daily basis and record, as best you can, how much time you want or need to spend on each activity. Then take one final time to think about the benefits of doing the activity and why you are doing it.

Step Five

Repeat this process for weekly, monthly and annual tasks and activities.
By writing down and thinking about the actions, you will be able to eliminate or delegate unnecessary tasks and make more time to play to your strengths and to plan for the growth of your business. Once you have made time to work on your business, it is time to take action. 

Next week I will outline where you can get more help to take action to achieve your goals!

Do you want support to STEP UP your business?

Join a monthly forum of success orientated Kent business owners ready to brainstorm and take action on issues preventing you Stepping Up your business! Click here for more information and to register your interest.

In my last blog we looked at where you want to take your business – your 3 year vision. Today we look at 5 steps to record key milestones in a mini business action plan to make your vision a reality.

Before you do, and to make sure you are setting yourself up for success, reflect on your strengths and values to make sure they are in line with your goals.

Step 1:  

Record any measurables that came out of your 3 year projection ie income, profit (however you measure your success) and note your 3 year date or the timeframe that works for you. Be as specific as you can be to help your success and track your progress.

Step 2:

Record where you are now in relation to where you want to be.

Step 3:

To bridge the gap between steps 1 and 2, record where do you need to be against your measurables in: 

• 2 years
• 1 years
• 6 months
• 3 months
• This month

Step 4:

So what are you going to start on this week?

Step 5:

Record key milestones that will chart your progress and help keep you on track.

Next, review what you have written and take a look back at any work you did as a result of following my recent blogs that could help clarify your actions further.

If you have any feeling of overwhelm and are wondering where you are going to find the time, read next week’s blog in which I offer 5 simple steps to help make more time to work on your business!

What’s stopping you Step Up your business? Click here for my free 30 minute downloadable teleseminar!

In this series of blog posts I have taken you from what you want from your business, to focusing your values and strengths, to taking a business health check. These are all important pre-requisites before you can consider where you want to take your business.

If you have worked through the tips I offered, you will have a clearer starting point so you can begin thinking through your destination- a bit like a good sat nav, allowing you to plan the route you want to take. It gives you control instead of getting lost (not always guaranteed with a sat nav!) You gain a freedom to choose, probably a core value for a lot of business owner managers.

Your 3 year vision

Now comes the exciting part – looking ahead to where you want to take your business. Find a quiet 10 minutes and take your time thinking through the answers to these questions. If it helps, close your eyes once you’ve read these questions so you can see, hear and feel where it takes you.

I want you to project yourself 3 years ahead to where you want your business to be and how you want to spend your day.

• What will your environment look like?  Are you in an office? What colour are the walls and what is hanging on them?  What furniture and equipment is around you? What is your view from the window?
• What can you hear yourself saying about your day and how business is doing?
• How is that making you feel?  What are your energies levels like?
• What are you looking forward to?
• What do others see you doing?
• What does your team look like?  How many staff do you have, or do you outsource?  Are they all based in the office?  Do they work part time or full time? What can you hear them saying? What is their mood?
• Now let’s take a look at your clients – Who are they? What range of clients do you have?
• What about your income?  What profit is the company making?  How is that helping you live the lifestyle you want?

When you have finished savouring your success, write down some of your thoughts, pin it on the wall in front of you and next week we will discuss how you can make more time to start taking the action needed to make it happen.

Do you want support to STEP UP your business?

Join a monthly forum of success orientated Kent business owners ready to brainstorm and take action on issues preventing you Stepping Up your business! Click here for more information and to register your interest.

In my last blog, I offered 5 simple steps to help you assess the fitness of your business before you start considering growth and even just to make sure it’s healthy.

A traditional SWOT health check will help you take a closer look. I offer a few questions under the four quadrants to get you thinking but you will think about a lot more as you work through this mini SWOT.

 Strengths of your business:
• What is your Unique Selling Point? What do you offer that your competitors don’t?
• What is your business good at? Where do you excel?
• What resources do you have in place that strengthens your business? Eg finance, people.
• What personal strengths do you bring to the business?
• How well do you know your (current and potential) customers?

Weaknesses of your business
• What areas of your business, service or product can be improved upon? Eg processes, people management.
• What are specific areas of challenge for you and the business and what impact do they have on your business?
• How much does your business rely on you or any other person? What if something happened to you?

Potential threats to your business
• Who are your competitors?
• How much don’t you know about your customers?
• What external threats are facing you? (eg interest rates, new competitors)
• What is the impact of these on your business?

 Finally, what opportunities are there for you out there?
• What are your competitors doing that you could be doing?
• What are the trends in the market place?
• What can you outsource to give you more time to plan and do what you do best?
• What technological advances could you be utilising better?
• How do you plan to keep ahead of the field?
 
Now to action!

What is the one thing you’re going to commit to do in the next 7 days that will take you one step closer to eliminating one of those weaknesses? I would love to hear about it!

Do you want support to STEP UP your business?

Join a monthly forum of success orientated Kent business owners ready to brainstorm and take action on issues preventing you Stepping Up your business! Click here for more information and to register your interest.

In my last 2 blogs I talked about the importance of being clear on your strengths and values to help give focus on what you want from your business – the real foundation from which to build upon the success of your business. Once you have this foundation, and before you start building further, you need to check what’s built on it already – your reality check or health check.

I carried out this check on my business when I realised that I was relying too heavily (and almost solely) on one income stream. I knew I had to make a shift to create a coaching business with multiple income streams to offer more diverse services to my clients and importantly to give me security of income.

Set yourself up for success

My business model is pretty straightforward compared to many small businesses that have a number of products and services. The following simple, yet key, steps will get you started on clarifying where you are, before you start setting goals for growth so you can set yourself up for success.

1. Know your financial position. Don’t abdicate responsibility for your financial security to your accountant, they will not want you to. Work with them to make sure you have an awareness of your financial situation, your break-even point for survival, your turnover, cash flow and the profit you are making. Ask for expert financial advice or help in understanding the overall picture and how the way you are doing business impacts the bottom line.

2. What is your current organisation structure? Are you clear who has responsibility for what – and do they have the authority they need to deliver?

3. Review what products and service you offer and to whom you offer them. Know as well as possible the profit margin you get on each service and product so you can make informed decisions if a product or service is worth providing.

4. Take a good look at your client base. Look at the profit, not just the income you get from each client to make sure they are worth keeping!

5. Finally think about the part you play in the running of the business and analyse it against your strengths and values. Is there a good match?

In next week’s blog I will be looking at a SWOT analysis with you. Many will have carried one out within their business and it is an invaluable tool for recording where you are now and planning for growth.

Do you want support to STEP UP your business?

Join a monthly forum of success orientated Kent business owners ready to brainstorm and take action on issues preventing you Stepping Up your business! Click here for more information and to register your interest.