Welcome to my first column for the Sussex Newspaper. I am honoured to be able to write a regular series focussing on aspects of business and aim to cover a wide variety of topics that I am hoping will be both thought provoking and informative.
The Million Dollar Question
I thought I would start with a question that I regularly get asked when working with businesses as a coach. If I had the perfect answer, then it is likely that I would be extremely rich and quite probably driving off into the sunset in a beautiful vintage car.
Business owners and leaders will often ask ‘What makes a business successful? Followed by ‘What can we do to make our business successful?’.
The reason this is the million dollar question is that there is of course no definitive answer.
Having the courage to set up a business and make this a success takes quite frankly blood, sweat and (on occasions) tears. It requires consistent hard work, grit, determination and not giving up to create success and then managing the longer job of maintaining this success.
Success will also mean something different to every business owner.
For some it will mean solely making a profit, for others it is providing a quality service that people need and are willing to pay for, for others it will be creating an environmentally conscious business which establishes and demonstrates its commitment to building its ‘green’ credentials for example.
Everyone’s success criteria are unique to their business.
Hints and Tips
I asked my experienced entrepreneur clients for their views on what makes a business successful as was curious as to what their response would be.
These are people who started their business from scratch and have built and sustained enterprises which are profitable and stand proudly in their respective industries.
The responses were fascinating as to a person they all (separately) came back with versions of the following when asked what makes a successful business:
- From the beginning (and before you start anything) set out a clear vision about what the business exists to do/offer and what you want to achieve. Do not deviate from this unless you can see it is not providing the purpose and results you want/need to achieve.
- Create a strong, cohesive, and focussed leadership team whatever the size of the business. If you are able, ensure this team has a mix of skills, talents, and previous relevant experience.
- Get to know and understand your customers meaning your price point is set correctly to maintain them and meet their needs.
- Having a well thought out and tested approach to planning for and managing risks.
- Create a strategy to grow the business, which is realistic, aspirational, and known and owned by everyone involved.
- Have a clear understanding and grip on all the available resources in the business meaning these are used wisely and are not allowed to be wasted.
Personally as a previous and current business owner I would add two more thoughts:
- Be prepared that to achieve a successful business will require 100% of your attention particularly at the beginning. It will probably take over your life and you need to be ready for this.
- Have a couple of people who can provide an external perspective, who you can go to when you need to discuss an issue, need an opinion from a trusted person who will challenge your thinking and who will provide support when you are finding the going tough. This is invaluable if you are needing to take a risky and/or difficult business decisions.
I would love to hear about what you think makes a successful business.
What have you done specifically to make your business a success?
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