BUSINESS + TECH
KNOW YOUR FINANCES
Getting your head around everything financial isn’ t many people’ s favourite part of running a business, but it’ s absolutely necessary. This isn’ t just about understanding your true break-even point and having a vague idea of what means what on your profit and loss, it’ s about knowing your numbers and then consistently comparing your historic financial data over a range of different timeframes to track everything from revenue growth and expenses to any slippages that might have occurred.
SET GOALS AT EVERY STAGE
Companies that excel set goals at every stage of the business. That is a fact.‘ We will make one million pounds during the next financial year’ is not a fact, it is a statement, and the difference between statements and goals is what the successful growth of your company rests on. Where short-, mid- and long-term goals are steppingstones to an end result which should part of your business’ s day-today operations, statements are overblown and often unattainable dreams that aren’ t anchored to procedures put in place to make them happen. As well as keeping you accountable and providing direction, goals are a sure-fire way to stay motivated, track your progress and work out what you really want.
Top tip: Make sure every goal you set is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time- Constrained.
The goal: I want to grow my business. It’ s all very well saying you want to‘ get some new business on board’, but it’ s also pie in the sky; what business owner doesn’ t want to generate more clients? Made SMART, your goal now shapes up like this:
Specific: I will take on three new clients.
Measurable: I will measure my progress by how many new clients I bring on while successfully maintaining my current client base.
Attainable: I will ask my current clients for referrals, launch a social media marketing campaign targeted towards those clients I want to attract, and organise a networking event with other local businesses.
Relevant: Adding new clients to my books will support the ongoing growth of my business and increase my revenue as it grows.
Time-Based: I will have three new clients within three months.
MAKE SURE ALL ROLES ARE CLEARLY DEFINED
As you begin to achieve the growth you’ re hoping to, this will become more and more important. Clear roles and responsibilities within the business are essential to ensure the buck stops with the right person; when two people could be responsible for one task, it’ s possible that both think the other person is doing it and that it won’ t get done at all- and no one needs that. Make sure everyone knows what they’ re responsible for and who they’ re accountable to, and make sure all this role profile info is documented clearly somewhere accessible, so everyone knows what’ s what.
ALWAYS UPDATE YOUR BUSINESS PROCESSES
When someone’ s off sick, which sometimes they will be, yes, it can cause momentary inconvenience, but should also be something that’ s easily sorted by a colleague picking up their slack by following the business processes that you’ ve ensured are in place. It’ s all about creating a business that works for you and your team holistically, where systems run the business and people run the systems. And truth be told, there’ s nothing remotely mysterious about these hallowed systems at all; all they are is a series of clear processes that explain and / or determine how to carry out certain tasks that can be understood and promptly undertaken by a colleague.
FINE TUNE YOUR MARKETING
There’ s no two ways about it; the success of your business largely depends on a solid marketing strategy. Highly effective marketing is a make-or-break necessity for most businesses because it’ s what brings the money through the door. Marketing is more than simply letting people know about your products or services though. You also need to know exactly who your customers are so that you can anticipate their specific requirements. You then need to be able to communicate to them exactly why they need you – and only you. www. insidekent. co. uk • 199