SMEs And The Road To Growth...

Whether you're looking to expand your business operations or take your organisation to the next level, there are several things to bear in mind.

With the economic outlook looking bleak for many businesses, it has never been more important to choose growth over treading water.

?? CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

Reinvention doesn't have to mean turning your back on what's got the business to this point. Change can sometimes be subtle, but it's always there, and if anything, it's accelerating. Even traditional businesses need to evolve and failure to embrace change or ignore it never ends well. One caveat, change needs to be in line with the values of your business, rather than blindly following the competition.

?? SYSTEMISE THEN DELEGATE

Systems and processes are not for everyone. But your business needs to run like clockwork, not least if you're thinking about an exit at some point. Virtually everything in your business can be systemised and either automated or delegated. The objective is to remove the business owners from the operational part of the organisation and to think more like a shareholder, focusing their efforts on activities that increase the value of the company.

?? GO WITH THE CASH FLOW

The majority of business owners have some level of concern around cash flow.

Either the nature of the business or broader circumstances can put undue pressure on cash flow, with often negative (and rapid) consequences. It's amazing quite how many businesses either fail to monitor and forecast cash flow, or those that do, yet take insufficient action when things go in the wrong direction.

?? FAIL OFTEN AND SMALL

There are not many areas in your business that won't benefit from improvement or change. But you won't know what will work and what won't without good old-fashioned trial and error. Think in bets and always be testing, but never bet the farm.?

?? M&A

Inorganic growth can be a route for SMEs to scale up if done properly. Acquiring other companies (horizontally or vertically) to grow revenue, capability, or new markets or forming strategic partnerships can significantly shorten the timeframe for hitting your growth objectives.

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