business strategy / 18 posts found
Bring your A game (not your O game)
Success in sport is all about playing your 'A game'. Being the best you can be through preparation and training leading up to the game, as well as through your actions during and after the game - showing modesty and humility in success and graciousness in defeat. If everyone on the team plays their 'A game' the results are impressive. So, how do we apply the 'A game' mindset from sport to the workplace? Three A’s that bring it: Appraise: work out who will make up your dream team. Consider individual strengths and determine what your players want to achieve. Allow: empower your [...]
6 Reasons To Look at Your Financial Reports
Making time to look over your financial reports each month is an important task for any business owner. If you are not taking the time to do this, either because you’re too busy, or perhaps you don’t really understand what you’re looking at and it doesn’t make sense to you, then here are 6 reasons we recommend that you should start to. But before we get our 6 reasons, let’s talk very quickly about which reports to look at. At a bare minimum, and depending on the complexity of your business, you should be looking at the following: The Profit [...]
Surround yourself with champions
It’s human nature to be influenced by the people in your inner circle. In fact, the odds of being successful are a lot higher if you’re surrounding yourself with people who are also successful. In a business context, consider very carefully the people and friends you associate with. Who plays a role in influencing your life? Who are your role models, mentors, and supporters? “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with”. It really pays to think about who your top five are. These people play a part in determining how you think, how [...]
Understanding your working capital to maintain business success
If cashflow is the lifeblood of your business, then working capital is the health check you should regularly undertake to keep your business alive. Regularly checking working capital will play an essential part in maintaining business success during these times of greater economic insecurity.
Create a one-page business plan
To make a success of your business, you’re going to need a robust business plan - particularly as we face challenging times. With a one-page business plan behind you, the company has a real sense of strategic direction and a set of core goals to refer to and track against. But what are the key elements to include in your one-pager business plan? We’ve listed some of the foundational areas to cover, so there’s real purpose behind your return to trading. What to include in your business plan Lots of online resources will suggest that a business plan is an [...]
8K – Monopoly Control
Onto week six of the 8 Key Drivers of Business Value – Monopoly Control And no, we’re not talking about the board game, and neither are we suggesting the sort of monopoly the likes of big energy companies or Microsoft have. The important things here are how well you hold onto your niche, and what makes your business unique. This fundamentally comes down to two main questions: What makes your business unique? Do your customers care? If you can satisfactorily answer both of these, you’re well on your way to something special. The plus side? You’ll have more control over [...]
8K – Recurring Revenue
Onto week 5 of the 8 Key Drivers of Business Value: Recurring Revenue! Having a reliable and consistent source of income without having to fight for every sale tooth-and-nail will not only make your business more valuable, but also far less stressful. There are six main types of recurring revenue, which I will put in order from worst to best: Consumables - disposable products like toothpaste Sunk-money consumables – a customer invests in an item (called a platform) and buys supplementary items along with it. Razorblades are a good example. Renewable subscriptions – fixed-term subscriptions such as with magazines Sunk-money [...]
8K – Growth Potential
We’ve hit week two on the 8 Key Drivers of Business Value! It’s easy to think about what you have achieved in your business over its lifetime. Whether it’s awards, or an outstanding reputation or how many years you’ve been operating. None of this really helps in terms of the potential for growth your business has. A few things you should be thinking about: Can you cross-sell or upsell any of your products? Ensuring good client-facing systems are in place can automate much of this process and make a big difference to your business. Are there any complimentary products you [...]
8K – Financial Performance
Today is the first day of our series on the 8 Key Drivers of Business Value Whether you’re growing your business for yourself, for the next generation, or to sell it, you need to ensure you have these drivers up to scratch. One weak area can seriously reduce your chances of hitting your goals for your business and your life. Our first stop is straightforward – Financial Performance. Here are a couple of things to think about to help you get it right: Are you getting the best possible prices from your key suppliers? Do you have any negotiating room? [...]
Should you invest?
For most of us in business the recent, and continuing, Brexit fiasco has meant that making meaningful investment decisions has proved to be problematic. What will our future trading relationship with Europe look like and how will that affect our own trading results? However, despite Brexit we still need to continue to operate and expand our businesses, which will require investment. It would be foolhardy to forget that in the UK we have an extremely generous tax allowance, aptly called the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), that means we can write off the full cost of qualifying assets against our profits [...]