How do you scale your business by working smarter - not harder?
I work with a lot of small businesses through a monthly coaching meeting, either individual owners or 3-4 partners running a business, with approximately 80% of them being services businesses with between 5 and 25 employees.
Most of these businesses wish to grow so that the business owners can delegate and work more "On the Business" rather than "In the Business".
I am therefore quite privileged to have an insight in the key business issues and challenges of a diversity of businesses.
Key issues being faced by business owners
- Working hard - sometimes because they like work but more often because they have to
- Subject to constant change
- Burdened with compliance and regulation
- Engaging their people and gaining productivity out of them
- Operating in a high cost country and therefore gaining commensurate value
- At risk from a range of other issues in either not staying in business or not growing in accordance with their potential
- Thinking where their business will be in 3-5 years
- The rise and potential threat of global competition - although this could be an opportunity too
- Lack of work/life balance or integration
Are business owners getting adequate return for their efforts?
- Some are getting outstanding returns but many are not given the risks and the efforts they are putting in
- However, the returns are very often intangible - the freedom and control of running one's own business
- Compared to some of their employees, business owners should be earning more
- In terms of time invested, I suggest many are working too much IN the business and not ON the business - therefore retarding their growth options
Some suggested solutions to help scale your business?
- As noted above, many owners are too buried IN the business and they are not sitting back and thinking about “is there a smarter way?”
- You need to first understand what your strategy and target markets are. Strategy is as much as anything what you don’t do!
- Having the honest insight of outsiders - whether business coaches like me, other professional advisers, or peers in similar businesses can be beneficial
- A self audit of where time is being expended can be useful
- A review of the customer and client base and their respective revenue and profitability may indicate that time is being spent on customers and markets that drain time and profitability.
| How to work smarter
- Classic rules of time management
- the "Green frogs" approach which ensures you do the most important but potentially harder projects first each day
- Work on important rather than urgent matters
- Use electronic "To do and task" lists extensively
- Turn off devices at certain times during the day and week to provide thinking, reading, uninterrupted time to strategise, be creative, innovate and improve processes
- Turn off social media - control it rather than vice versa
- Restrict meeting times - particularly if these do not further your own agenda
- Be disciplined in capturing information - one time capture and synchronisation across systems and devices
- Use technology and systems to automate, track, follow up etc
- Question everything regularly- eliminate, change, ask why?
- Seek process improvement constantly - use the kaizen methodology
How you scale your business - Technology is a big enabler
- Cloud services to provide access anywhere anytime any device - and reduce IT infrastructure time and costs
- Process review, systemise
- Use outsourced services - whether domestically or offshore
- Review employment models and question whether contractors are better. Ensure all employees and contractors are actually fulfilling the terms of their contracts
- Ensure staff know their roles and provide regular feedback. Empower them and meet regularly to review progress
What other things should business owners be doing?
- Maintaining physical and mental health
- Having time away from the business to think and strategise
- Learn by looking at trends, changes, what competitors are doing
- Disrupt your business regularly
- Take regular holidays
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