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Set your Business up for Success

Business Basics

business foundations business resources Aug 11, 2021

The Business Success Bible

Did you buy a copy of the Business Success Bible? Never heard of it? Don’t be too hard on yourself because – surprise! – it doesn’t actually exist.

Finding success in business is not easy. If it was easy everyone would do it, right? But there are ways to load the odds in your favour ie. Set yourself up for success.

Now I do want to point out that the term success has a different meaning for everyone so I’m not suggesting that you have to be aiming for large monetary gains to set yourself up for success.

Achieving success can be a combination of any of the following and more – monetary gain, the rewarding feeling of fulfilment and the achievement of goals, social success or influence and the actual tangible achievement of what you set out to do.

 

Growth Foundations

So what does setting your business up for success mean? It’s the foundations that allow your business to grow. The things that remove barriers, reveal opportunities and support your business.

Let’s take a look at the growth foundations you should have in place:

1. A clear way for people to find you and for you to find them.

This is for a large number of businesses a website and/or social media. Things to consider putting in place:

  • A marketing plan – saves a lot of time!
  • SEO on your website – helps customers find you
  • Social Media on the platform your customers are on – helps customers find you and you to find them!
  • Tell people consistently you are open for business, what you offer and how they can buy from you – makes you money!

2. Documented processes that allow anyone in your business (now or in the future as you grow) to consistently produce work to your business standards.

Examples include:

  • Sales Process including bookings and cancellations, accepting payment, receipting/invoicing, refunds/credit terms, product and service information
  • Customer Process including service, documentation/records, terms of business/contracts, FAQ, complaints
  • Order Fulfilment Process (Sales and Service based)

 3. Measuring results to allow you to correct, pivot and make decisions is imperative to growth.

The Basics:

  • Tracking to collect Business related data
  • A way to collate testimonials or the equivalent from clients/customers – reviews, feedback

 4. Your business needs to be operationally sound in order to grow.

Operational basics can include:

  • Filing, Storage and Record-Keeping Process
  • Bookkeeping Process
  • Records of Insurances, Loans and Equipment Warranties

These are by no means must-have foundations from day one. But they are also often things that never get done until a problem arises that needs fixing.

 

What Comes First?

 

Is it the chicken or the egg? Is it the problem or the solution?

Many problems can be avoided if you already have the solutions in place. For example, if you create a sales process that creates consistent, quality-assured product information that is used on your website and by your sales team, the problem of customers not understanding what the product does and returning the item is greatly reduced.

However without a sales process that includes this, how many returned items does it take before this process is created and implemented? I’m guessing it is going to be more than once.

Additionally, do you think that your business can successfully grow if you are spending more time dealing with returned items than selling products? The lack of this foundational process is creating an obstruction to growth.

 

What Foundations Are You Missing?

So my challenge to you is this. What foundations are you missing and what could you work on this week/month to get into place and have the biggest impact on your business?

If you are like me, a checklist can help make a decision and see things from a different perspective – visually.

Download the Business Foundations checklist here if you want help deciding what to work on first.

 

Your Quick Audit

The checklist also includes a list of Business Basics if you want to do a quick audit of the fundamentals your business should already have in place.

Having the foundations in place will help your business no matter where you are. They will set you up if you are in the planning for growth stage and they will support you if you are in the growth stage right now.

Although you can still implement these as you grow, your journey will be a lot smoother and less stressful and reactionary if you put the foundations in place early.

I’d love to hear how you go implementing some or all of these or if you use any other foundations that are fundamental to your own business growth.

You can reach me by email – [email protected]

Here’s to growing your business,

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