There are many reasons for starting a business. Perhaps you’ve spotted a gap in the market. Maybe you’ve grown weary of working for someone else. Or it might just be the fulfilment of a lifelong dream to be your own boss.
No matter your reason for taking the leap as an entrepreneur, you will encounter a number of concerns as you progress. It’s important that you know how to recognize and handle these concerns so as to avoid derailing your business.
In dealing with many small and medium-sized businesses over the years, we have been able to distill some of these concerns down to four of the most common questions.
At some point in your business journey, you will find yourself asking a variation of the following:
- How will I achieve what I want in my personal life?
- How will my business help me achieve my goals?
- Do I really have control over business performance and numbers?
- How do I get more from my business?
In this post, we will help you navigate these concerns and emerge from the other side a better business owner.
How will I achieve what I want in my personal life?
Running your own business should be about achieving personal freedom.
Freedom to work on what you want, when you want. Finding joy in the day-to-day is the ultimate goal for many entrepreneurs.
So, to get to the heart of what you truly want out of your business – and how it impacts both your personal and professional life – ask yourself the following:
- Why did I start my business?
- How is my business organized?
- Do I feel I am on track with my goals?
- What keeps me up at night?
- What do I do in my spare time?
Once you have a handle on why you’re in business for yourself, and where your passions lie out with your business, you can start working on balancing the two. Otherwise, the business will consume you.
How will my business help me achieve my goals?
In order to achieve your personal and professional goals via your business, you must be the one in charge.
Now, this might seem a little strange given that you own your business; who else would be in charge?
But the truth is, your business can quickly take on a life of its own if you let it.
You must be the one in control, rather than taking a back seat and letting the business drive you. If you’re achieving success almost by accident, then you and your business are driving blind without a strategy or a roadmap.
Your goals will go unfulfilled if you don’t treat your business as more than just as means of making ends meet.
Do I really have control over business performance and numbers?
We know it can feel like you don’t; that your numbers can spiral out of control amidst the day-to-day of running your business.
But you can and you must take control of those numbers, and by extension, the performance of your business.
You should:
- Know exactly what your numbers are for the month
- Have complete clarity on which products or services are selling well (or not)
- Understand what’s in your financial statements, and what those numbers mean
- Know how much tax you’re going to pay, well ahead of the due date
When you do, you can actually look forward to meeting with your accountant!
How do I get more from my business?
When you have a handle on your goals, you’re building a business geared towards meeting those goals, and you’re accurately tracking your numbers at least monthly, you will get more from your business.
It’s really that simple!
You can then look forward to scaling your business, hiring employees (if you want), outsourcing work, spending time working on your business rather than in it, taking a day off now and again, and even taking a vacation.
Let’s Address Those Concerns
If any of those concerns are keeping you up at night, then here’s how we can help:
1. Personal Goal Setting
We can help you get to the very heart of the reason why you went into business in the first place. We will determine what your goals were, and how they have changed (if they have at all).
If your business has taken on a life of its own, we’ll find out why, and how far you are from achieving the goals you had when you started.
By taking you through a personal goal questionnaire and a one-on-one meeting with one of our advisers, we can develop a report that will show you what you want to achieve, what’s missing, and how you can go about accomplishing your goals.
We’ll then help you devise a specific plan of action – one with dates, milestones, and clear responsibilities.
2. Business Planning & Strategy
We want to help you take control of your business. No more autopilot, no more backseat driving.
Together we will develop a business plan and strategy that will have you questioning everything, and testing what you think you know.
We won’t focus solely on ‘best practices’; rather, we will help you find your industry’s ‘next practices’.
What’s more, we want to instil a belief in you, your team, and your mission that will see you carry out this plan to fruition.
3. Monitor KPIs
It’s no use merely glancing at your income statement in order to monitor your business. That’s a bit like watching a hockey game by only looking at the final scoreboard. To get the bigger picture, you must look at the activity within the game.
We will help you map and monitor your progress by focusing on a few Key Performance Indicators.
These will be tailored to your business, meaning no generic indicators or reports. Only valuable and actionable information.
4. Profitability & Cash Flow Improvement
Finally, we will help you get to grips with your profitability and cash flow by getting you up and running on cloud accounting software.
Everything will be real-time and instantly trackable by both you and us, meaning we can spot any potential cash flow issues, so that you can take action ahead of time.
How Can Checkbox Help You Become Great?
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote:
“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, as it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”
We can guide you to greatness. We only ask for your conscious choice to work together, and your discipline to meet, review, and check in.
You can grow a great business. Let us help. Contact us today to get started.