How I survived 17 years in business
H.E Mavis Amankwah BEM UN Ambassador - Award Winning Serial Entrepreneur
Experienced Public Speaker and Diversity & Funding Specialist with a proven track record of raising over ￡18.5 million for CICs, charities, & social enterprises.
Yesterday at my business,money and marketing seminar I shared with delegates how I managed to survive 17 years in business.
Despite winning 13 awards and being featured in over 200 media titles over the years, I have faced a lot of adversity including surviving two recessions, losing money & contracts, the sudden death of my PA who worked for me for nearly 9 years and all sort of storms that really would have made someone else give up but I did not, I preserved no matter the season and kept going!.
Here are 13 of the tips I shared yesterday, please do ensure you work on all of these (side by side) to sustain your business!
1) TAKE ACTION ! Stop Procrastinating (test and see)
2) Keep watch on the SALES and ensure you are selling at least 80% of the time
3) Take out INSURANCES including business and personal insurances such as income protection that will cover you if you were to become long term sick or critically ill (no one knows tomorrow)
4) Just like an owl is up all night, keep a constant eye out on the CASHFLOW (it will grow or kill your business instantly)
5) Stay in FASHION with what is happening in your sector or industry, (do not live in a time-warp)
6) Have a LONG TERM FUTURE PLAN for your business,(beyond your own 4 walls )
7) Conduct a personal SWOT analysis on yourself to improve your business and leadership skills (as well as play on your strengths)
8) Speak to the BUSINESS EXPERTS in your industry or sector on a regular business (Stay abreast of things it will help you make tweaks or changes in your business where necessary)
9) Get yourself a BUSINESS MENTOR or COACH who will help you grow your business
10) Get yourself a BUSINESS PLAN,(do not write your own it is not your area of expertise) get a professional business plan writer/adviser to put your business plan together
11) Ensure you have enough FUNDS available for new business ventures or expansions before starting out
12) Create a BUSINESS MODEL that is sustainable that you can possibly sell or franchise in the future
13) Ensure you know your TARGET AUDIENCE and best ways to MARKET to them, (don't just go with whats trending i.e social media)
If you need some free business tips and advice please get in touch with me [email protected] or call 02036330513
20+ Years in Supply Chain Operations | Logistics, Procurement, Warehousing & Demand Planning | Export-Import | Fleet Management & Line-Feeding | P&L Optimization | Cost Control & WMS Integration
6 年Really Impressive and Helpful Article
Sales| Relationship Officer| Business Development| Quality Assurance| Growth Specialist
6 年More grace MA..... Plz I will like to teach me how to survive in a business
HMRC Project Coordinator, Diversity & Inclusion expert, Wellbeing Rep, Encourager , Mentor, Coach
6 年Thanks for sharing such valuable advice.
Author & Publisher | Award-Winning Former BBC Broadcaster | UN Women Delegate
6 年Great advice, thank you for sharing so freely! x