IS WORRYING RUINING YOUR BUSINESS?
Do you wake up most mornings in a flat panic, realising you didn’t get to an email or haven’t sent out that proposal? Do you have sleepless nights stressing about the lack of cash flow? And, have you thought about throwing in the towel simply because the stress of running a business is making you ill?
You definitely aren’t alone.
Being a Business Owner and running a business is seen as one of the most stressful activities you could take on. More accurately, it is the lack of work/life balance that actually causes the stress. It does beg the question though, as to why there are over 710 000 small business owners in South Africa, and why the South African SME is such a tenacious animal.
The answer is that it still is lucrative to run your own business. However, is the stress, high blood pressure and lack of sleep really worth it? Well, that depends … there will always be stress, matter what you do. I don’t think I’ve met a Business Owner who doesn’t stress about something in their business.
The question is can you make your business more predictable, spending less time worrying about where your business is going and rather to make it work in your favour holistically.
PUT DOWN TARGETS
A clear plan that is a little ambitious, but achievable, will help guide you in what direction to take and assist in your decision making, daily, weekly, monthly and annually.
At Optigrowth we are firm believers that your Financials are the cornerstone in your business and will set in motion the strategies needed to achieve these ambitious targets.
Consider 3 things:
· How much do I need to sell to break-even?
· Can I reduce the costs within my business?
· Is the profit I’m making enough to keep me in the business?
For one, you can share these targets with your teams and delegate some of the responsibility of sales, delivery, and marketing to them, creating a shared goal. This will also help you drive KPI for your teams and enhance performances, especially when a clear performance matrix is applied.
KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU’RE DOING
One of the biggest downfalls to planning and target setting is setting measurable metrics to track progress.
Think KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and CSFs (Critical Success Factors). These will be key metrics to drive your business towards its targets and push your team towards success.
Not only does this push your team towards success, it helps you manage and delegate work to your teams.
If the biggest downfall to planning is setting measurable targets, the second biggest is consistency. Ensure a report-back process and management structure is implemented which will help you track. Implement changes so that you can prevent unexpected surprises.
FIND A RECURRING REVENUE STREAM
An easy way to make your business predictable is to try and ensure constant and continuous revenue streams. The better your recurring revenue model the more predictable your income.
Getting business in is one of the biggest stress factors for any business owner. The phrase “if you don’t sell, you die” haunts many business owners and if it doesn’t, chances are it still can.
Yes, this is definitely not easy, and all Business Owners struggle to get this started. The trick, however, is to start somewhere and start working on it. Start moving towards putting the building blocks in place and, even if it doesn’t go smoothly or if your forecast is not achieved or even way off, you are, at least, moving in the right direction.
Optigrowth knows business and because we have run our own businesses for years, we have been through the ups and downs and come out the other side whole and healthy. So, we can advise from a place of experience and share our insights.
We look forward to chatting and sharing this with you.
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