Key steps required to run and grow your business successfully
In our previous blog “Are-you-ready-to-buy-a-business?“, we talked about what are some of the Advantages and Disadvantages of buying a business. We shared some of the key facts that every entrepreneur should think about during the decision-making process as buying a business is a big step to take for any entrepreneur.
Most often what we see is an entrepreneur buy a business and then get so overwhelmed with the day-to-day activities associated with running a business that they lose the overall vision of why they bought the business in the first place. This is a common issue that most small business owners face, whether they have been running a business for few years or just bought a new business.
It’s understandable that the first 4 to 6 months after buying a business is a challenging period for business owners, as you have to get to know the company structure, operational process, employees and identifying the growth opportunity to drive the future success of the company. There is so much to learn and plan, not just for today but for the next 5 years.
You have to be able to manage your time effectively to be able to perform your tactical tasks without losing the overall vision and goal. You can hire and train employees and contractors to perform the tactical tasks required to run the day-to-day operation, but you can’t afford to let go of the vision you have to drive growth.
To operate your business successfully, you will have to analyze the company’s current situation, and then define and build a 3 to 5 years strategy and an execution plan for implementing the strategy for at least the first 1 to 2 years. Every strategy must have a defined executable action plan and reviews weekly, monthly and quarterly to ensure that the required actions are being taken and you are on track. Resources assigned to the action plan must be held accountable. Without proper accountability achieving your goal will be a challenge.
Here are some Critical Steps that should be followed to operate your business successfully:
1. Analyze the existing process and procedures
As a new buyer, there will be a learning process, and you will spend the first few months learning the new business. As a result, conducting an audit will assist you in identifying and addressing any critical loopholes that the business may have which could cause issues that hinder the business’s growth. Remember, it’s critical to understand the existing business and culture before starting to improve or change it. The analysis will help you better understand the key factors that made the business successful in the past and what needs to be changed to make it even better for the future.
2. Define Strategy
Business analysis findings should help you build a short and long-term strategy for the business. The situation of the company when you acquire it will define how quickly or slowly you need to drive change. In other words, if a company works well, there may be no need to make changes quickly, conversely, if a company is struggling, the changes should be implemented sooner than later but based on the plan you have defined.
3. Implementation
Having a solid strategy is the first great step in the process of building and operating a successful business. However, you have to make sure that every strategy has an actionable plan so you can easily track the progress against the plan as often as needed, be it weekly, monthly or quarterly. You need to have a detailed action plan and tracking measures in place to avoid disaster. Whatever your plan may be, it’s a good idea to implement the short-term changes first to minimizes disruptions to employees and get some quick wins. This will increase confidence with customers and employees and gain their buy-in to the longer-term plan.
4. Business Owner Accountability
When you start operating your business, your daily regular activities can take a large amount of your time. However, as a small business owner, you must also spend time on the company’s growth. This involves mastering crucial skills that set the organization apart from the market. Effective operational and financial management will help you escape many of the typical mistakes that lead to the failure of otherwise profitable businesses. Growing a business is not easy and requires keeping a laser eye on the business’s growing needs. Having a professional financial expert can guide you and help you with the needed capital injection required to execute your growth plan.
5. Communicate
It is very important to clearly talk to all existing employees about your vision, your short- and long-term plans and how you want to implement the plan. Later, you should have a regular status meeting with the employees and gather valuable information on how they feel about the company and the plan. Remember that a business works like a chain, as long as all the links move together the chain will be strong.
6. Listen to Your Customer / Client
Understanding and meeting your customer needs is a critical component in ensuring the company’s success. Serving your customers well and customizing your goods and services to their needs has been shown to increase existing client sales and generate new ones. Understanding your clients and trying to make your business stand out is key to delivering outstanding customer service. To address these issues, conduct market research and develop a marketing strategy.
7. Networking
Networking is critical to your business growth. It is also a perfect way to break away from your everyday life, meet other like-minded professionals, and also build the foundation for potential partnerships.
At BPF Solutions every client is unique to us! We meet with each client and understand their requirements and their short- and long-term goals. Based on that understanding we come up with a strategy to solve their business challenges and meet the client’s short- and long-term goals. So, contact us today and we can start on the path to getting you expert advice as well as the funds you need so your business can beat the odds and be successful.
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