When it comes to SME's, impatience is a virtue

In this article I want to give you a metaphorical kick in the pants before your focus switches to over eating and indulgence (which is exactly what I will be doing). Consider this a pre 2018 wake up call to a simple reality I want to bring to your attention;

The right time is not coming !!!!

I know your waiting. You are waiting for that perfect moment when the cashflow is right, the diary is empty, the political and economic environment are stable and everything has calmed down....then you’ll go for it.

Perhaps you’ve even tried ‘going for it’ by engaging a coach, recruiting new team members or doing some some bold new marleting and it didn’t work, leaving you reluctant to try again. Don’t worry help is at hand.

The chasm jumpers

One of the most fascinating meetings I’ve had in the last ten years was with a Basingstoke based serial entrepreneur. He had successfully built and sold two eight figure businesses and, when I met him, he was half way through creating his third. He didn’t need my skills because he ‘got it’. He told me that the advice he was given as a fresh faced business builder was simple; building a business requires that you jump a series of chasms. There is one thing you don’t want to do when jumping a chasm and that is to stand and stare into it for too long.

Just to get to the first chasm (￡1-10 million turnover) requires energy and determination. You should congratulate yourself for doing it (many have fallen long before you) but don’t stand around patting yourself on the back for too long. The research shows only 4% of companies grow beyond the ￡1m point.

This would be OK if a ￡1m turnover business enabled you to achieve your personal and financial goals.  But there aren’t many businesses that can give you true freedom at this point. I’ve got a few on my books but they are rare. The chasm you need to jump is the one that enables you to

·     extract yourself from the hamster wheel of operations and sales

·     create a team that can not only manage, but also grow, your business

·     Achieve predictable and sustainable levels of profitability

 The good news is chasm jumping is fun and exciting, if you are prepared to let it be. But too many, once they achieve a level of income that means the bank account os not on the critical watch list, drift into a low growth business pattern. All the energy in the company is utilised just keeping the wheels spinning, as opposed to making the wheel bigger and smoother.  When coupled with the fear of losing what you’ve built it is easy to see how alluring it is to stay trapped and wait for a safe time to move forward.

 I’m telling you this not just from my clients experience but my personal one.  I’ve spent many years building up, levelling out, going backwards, building up, levelling out et al. Its only in the last couple of years I’ve managed to figured it all out and only this year has my breakout plan begun to gain traction.

The illusion of uncertainty

Let’s be honest no one really knows what is going to happen from day to day. Hell, I’m frightened to turn the TV on sometimes. So is it really surprising that business owners like you hold off of the big decisions, investments and actions? Of course not. We are hard coded as a species to avoid risk and uncertainty. Our commercial procrastinations is grounded in a belief that ‘it might not work’ and we really don’t want that do we?

 The problem is this deep level of uncertainty is here to stay for a long while, maybe forever.

So we need to re-orient ourselves relative to the uncertainties we are having to live with and perhaps even turn our ideas on their head

What about the risks associated with not getting on with it?

Instead of using uncertainty as an excuse to hold position what if it was the rallying call to get on with it and get the job done.

Deferment is the real danger.

Its going to be easier for you and your business to face tomorrows challenges from a position of financial and business strength, than one of vulnerability where the loss of a key account, competition or technology has the potential to strangle the company before it is able to mature into an adult.

Now is always the right time

Imagine if you were confronting all this uncertainty from a different starting point, one where your business had moved up a level, one where

·     Your focus is 70% heads up, honing your strategy and listening to your customers and your market. You have time to spot and exploit the opportunities that changes bring, and react to events on the ground before they become problems.

·     Your company is a smooth running combination of systems, automation, data and people that consistently delivers levels of service, quality and margin. Your team have the ability to both operate and grow the company without your intervention.

·     Your marketing, sales and account management creates consistent, scalable levels of sales/profit and generates strong cash flow for re-investment or to fund your lifestyle.

This probably sounds like a lot of hard work but it all depends on your definition of ‘hard work’. If you are willing to make decisions, carefully invest some money and be willing to carve out a proportion of your time to devote to getting the ‘important’ stuff done, you can be across the chasm much quicker and easier than you might think.  

 What if, in just three months, you could get under the bonnet of your business and figure out a detailed yet simple, personalised and workable plan that would, with absolute certainty, liberate you from the hamster wheel, create a performant team and improve the quality and consistency of you.  

Then within as little as nine months (it does of course depend on your starting point), you could implement the plan and cross the chasm, smiling all the way and having had the best experience of your business life since start up?

In the words of John Lennon “you may say I’m a dreamer” , but I am definitely not the only one.  

Of course I don’t expect you to believe me at this point,  but I do invite you to explore the idea in a little more detail with me.

In the week before Christmas I am inviting you to have a 90 minute conversation with me, from the comfort of your desk or home, during which time I will show you

·     how to get clear on what it is you are really shooting for

·     the four pillars of business growth you’ll need to attend to

·     how to create an implementation and transformation plan that engages everyone in the execution phase.

You’ll walk away with everything you need and for some of you, they’ll be a decision to make as to whether you want me to get you to the point where your plan is clear, obvious and effortless for you. I’m offering just eight new businesses the chance to work 1-1 with me in 2018 to design to deliver a personalised plan that will launch you into a new phase of your business journey.  But you are going to need to make a quick decision as we’ll be kicking off in the new year.

If you are ready to jump the chasm, don’t let procrastination cost you the opportunity to see just how simple it could really be.

The link you need to book your session is right here

 See you on the other side.