Business Advise
The 7 Keys to Business Success
By Greg Roworth
Do you run a business that seems to run you? It does not have to be this
way. There are 7 keys that can improve your business results and help you
achieve success with much less stress.
1 Take Charge
The first key is to realise that success will not just happen, it is up to
you to make it happen. Successful people claim to be in control. They refuse
to be victims. They accept responsibility for the results their business
achieves and take the blame themselves if things go wrong. When we are in
control we can choose what to do. We can’t always control the situation but
there are two things we can control – our attitude and our skills. We can
get stronger, we can get smarter, we can get better at all the skills we
need to run our business. We can take charge of ourselves and our business
and change the results we are achieving.
2 Know Where You Are Going
Without having specific goals, business owners often find working in the
business becomes an endless drudgery. If being in business is not exciting,
enjoyable and rewarding, then why be in it? It is exciting and rewarding for
the few who are really successful. The difference is that they have a clear
idea of where they are going and each day they can see their business making
progress towards their clearly defined goals.
If our goals are not clearly defined it is easy to become like the mouse on
the treadmill. We can expend a lot of effort going nowhere. All we can do is
react to the pressures the business creates. The second key is to decide
where you are going. When you know where you want your business to go, you
can determine what needs to be done to get there. Doing these things creates
excitement and enjoyment. Instead of struggling on with meagre rewards, we
can make progress towards success in a steadily growing and entirely planned
way.
3 Spread The Word
You will never succeed by keeping your business a secret. You need to spread
the word to let people know about your unique products or services. With
many small businesses, there is a tendency to be reactive. If sales slow
down, you decide to advertise to address the situation. When work picks up,
advertising is stopped. The result of this approach is haphazard advertising
which produces haphazard results. Rather than haphazard advertising, a
planned advertising and promotion strategy can be applied to address
specific goals.
Instead of one broad objective of “getting more sales”, strategies can be
developed in three areas. Firstly strategies should be developed to actively
encourage word of mouth and a system for generating referred leads.
Secondly, planned advertising approaches are needed to generate a steady
flow of new enquiries. Thirdly, strategies can be developed to increase the
value and frequency of purchases from existing customers. Marketing must not
be left to chance. The third key is to spread the word, by developing
planned, consistent and effective advertising and promotional systems and
strategies.
4 Do What You Do So Well They’ll Come Back And Bring Their Friends
The difference between the truly successful business and the average
business is that successful business’ leaders live, breathe and preach
quality, where the average business’ leader only pays lip service to it.
There are many companies that have built their reputation on the quality of
the service they provide as much as the product they sell. Even if we
haven’t been, I’m sure we all know the reputation Disneyland has for the
quality of the experience of a visit there. The title of this key is a quote
(paraphrased) from Walt Disney. This man lived and breathed this attitude
and accepted nothing less from his employees. The outworking is that
standards and procedures are established so that employees know what is
expected of them in every situation, particularly in an interaction with a
customer. Delighted customers come back with their friends.
5 Train Your People To Do It Better Than You
When we start a business based on our own unique skills, we have a difficult
choice when we get too busy to cope with all the work our expertise has
created. We need to spread the load by employing others to do some of the
work. This is the critical point in the business’ development. If the
business owner gets this right, the future of the business is assured, but
if it goes wrong, the business is doomed.
Many business owners wish they could clone themselves. They are unable to
find anyone who can work as well as they do. Usually there has been some
resistance to this move, but eventually the need becomes obvious. Business
growth is always stifled by the owner hanging on to the work they enjoy.
Having made the choice to grow, the key to unlocking this potential is to
train the new people to be better than yourself.
6 Keep The Score
The greatest danger in a growing business is for the owner to lose control.
This fear causes many to choose to stay small because they do not want the
worries of growing too big.
WHAT YOU MEASURE YOU CAN IMPROVE!
A business’ performance needs to be managed and controlled. So many business
owners worry about getting the work done, but they don’t measure results,
they don’t keep score. Keeping the score indicates how well the business is
going towards achieving its goals. If performance is behind expectations,
steps can be taken to improve. If the score was not kept, no one would ever
know that performance was substandard, and the goals would quite likely
never be reached.
7 Celebrate Your Victories
Regeneration of our physical and emotional resources comes when we celebrate
victories. One of the problems we have in small business is that we think we
are too busy to take time off to celebrate. Even if we just get away from
the business and relax, we come back rejuvenated and are usually able to
tackle our work with a renewed vigour. Imagine how inefficient it becomes,
using a battery powered machine, if we keep on working harder and harder to
get the work done and never stop to recharge the batteries. If we don’t stop
at times to recharge our batteries we keep working hard but become totally
ineffective.
When we plan our future and set goals it is easy to determine when to
celebrate. Without goals to achieve, we can keep on working until it becomes
a drudgery. Celebrations put excitement into what we do.
Conclusion
Implementing the 7 keys to unlock the profit potential in your business
could be what you need to end the frustration you feel from trying to build
your business but seeming to take one step forward and two steps back. These
are the keys to freedom from the daily grind of business pressure, the keys
to gaining the rewards you deserve from the efforts you put in. It is up to
you to take hold of the keys and unlock the hidden profit and excitement
that is the potential your business holds.
© 2003 Greg Roworth, Progressive Business Solutions Limited.
Greg Roworth is a business consultant and author of “The 7 Keys to Unlock
Your Business Profit Potential.” With over 25 years practical experience in
business ownership and management, Greg has, over the last 12 years, worked
with hundreds of small and medium size enterprises, assisting the owners to
grow their business profitably and at the same time reduce their stress
levels. His successful business development program results in development
of a business that works so well that the owner doesn’t have to.
Buy “The 7 Keys” book online at http://www.progressivebusinesssolutions.co.nz
or check out the list of free resources and quality business building
articles on our Free Resources page.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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