New 5 Week 1-2-1 BETA Coaching Programme

I know how scary it is to set up a business. There is so much to learn. Having a good business idea just isn't enough.

I have been where you are now and offer genuine help, support and advice gained from over 20 years of experience in running multiple businesses. I want to provide the support I wish I had on my journey, so you don't have to make all the mistakes that I made.

The Foundations for Growth Programme will take you through the 5 fundamental steps to prepare you for growing your business over a 5 week period.

For more information, check out the link below:

Building a Path to Sustainable Growth (BETA)

PLAN

First of all it is all about planning.? It is important to have a vision; understand your business model and have a strategic plan for your business. Equally important is your yearly, monthly, weekly and daily planning.??

The big picture vision is essential; as it will keep you motivated and help you overcome the challenges that you will experience on your journey.? Start by thinking about why you are running your business in the first place, and what impact you want to have on the world.

Your business is ever evolving and needs to take into account external factors - what is happening in your market, what are your competitors doing, what feedback are you getting from your customers? You need to be prepared to adapt.

Keep it simple and flexible.? Use a large white board for monthly goals, and a smaller one for weekly goals.? Ensure you set yourself targets that are measurable and achievable; and give yourself time for things that come up that you have not expected.? Finally, have a daily action list, ensuring that you always refer back to your targets and prioritise the most important things but also ensure you have a few quick wins to tick off the list.

NUMBERS

Firstly, don't rely on your accountant!? I am not saying you shouldn’t have an accountant, far from it.? Ideally use a software package such as Xero or Quickbooks, but if you are in the very early stages, a spreadsheet is fine.

Plan a budget for the year.? Unless you have just started, you will have the previous year's actual results to base this on.? At the end of each month add the actual figures and compare with the budget so you can see what changes you may need to make.? Ratio analysis is a great way to help you interpret information. ? For example you may want to look at the conversion rate from enquiries to sales on a monthly basis which will quickly show if there are any changes that you need to look at.

You need to know what the most important numbers are.? Get in the habit of checking your cash flow daily; chase any late payments; but don’t delay paying suppliers.? This is bad practice and will damage your reputation.? Remember you can be profitable but still run of cash

Your P & L (profit and loss) should be checked monthly.? Make sure you know your gross and net profit margins and other key stats for your business.? This may be what is selling well or which products or services give you the best profit.? Consider what effect increasing or decreasing your selling price will make.

PEOPLE

People are essential for your business to be successful.? You may not have employees yet, but you may be outsourcing work by using freelancers or VA’s.? You will have suppliers and you will certainly have customers.? These are all people.

If you are wondering whether you should be employing or outsourcing, this guide will help you:

FREE E-BOOK - Outsourcing for Growth

This E-Book will answer these questions:

• When is the right time to outsource?
• What can be outsourced at different stages of growth?
• How to get the best out of outsourcing?

In a world of AI where there is an increasing amount of automation, it is even more important to keep lines of communication open and develop real relationships with the people who are vital to your business success.

Get into the habit of picking up the phone on a regular basis, especially if you need to have a tricky conversation with someone.? Other personal touches also make a difference - remembering a? birthday or knowing a bit about what they do outside of work can really build relationships.

The important part about communication is listening, so practise this in all your conversations.? Ask open questions and really listen to the answers.

MARKETING

Marketing is essential in all stages of your business growth and is a big investment in your business so it is important to get it right.? The first thing to be clear on is who your ideal customer is; so make sure you spend time on market research and talk to people.

Once you have started getting customers, it is important to have a strategy for looking after them as well as attracting new ones.? I always recommend a good CRM system but think of the system as simply an enabler. ? It allows you to identify who your customers are, what they buy and how often they buy; so you can identify who are the best ones.? The 80/20 principle can be used to identify the top 20% of your customers who will actually provide 80% of your profit.

Once you have identified them, remember they are people too.? Treat them personally; keep a note of their birthdays, their childrens names.? Make sure when they call, you can quickly find their information.? What did they last buy from you?? How did they find it?

The other thing about your best customers is that they are most likely to refer you, but don’t leave this to chance, ask them.? Maybe a thank you note with a few business cards to give to their friends.??

PROCESS

Process can sound a bit scary to small business owners and something that they don’t need to think about.? But even a micro business without employees will benefit.

Think about every task you do on a daily basis, and consider if this is the most efficient way of doing it?? If not, you need to keep improving it until you are happy.? Then is the time to document it - just a simple workflow diagramme works well or record a video.

Once you have done a few, you need a system to ensure they are easy and logical to find.? Then next time you do that particular task you can be sure that it is done in exactly the same way which is quicker and avoids mistakes being made.??

Of course when you do start delegating tasks to others your life will be a whole lot easier.

For more information on the BETA prgrogramme, check out the link below:

Building a Path to Sustainable Growth (BETA)