Introduction to the Series:
I have been thinking about you; your goals, ambitions, and challenges. I felt it was appropriate to provide several concepts related to expanding your business. I know that expansion is probably the furthest thing from your mind; it just seems to me that you have worked yourself into a corner. Expansion may be your way out of work and back into your life. I know this may seem paradoxical, but trust me.
At this point it's unfathomable for your business not to need you. You may even cringe at the thought of taking some time away from your organization; I'm sure the thoughts that follow are fairly disastrous. How would you ever stay afloat if you stopped working for a week, a month, and god forbid a year? What would your life be like if you could see life beyond your business?
One thing I have learned in my years of running multiple businesses is that we really have to find a way to let go of the concepts that may be holding us back, and at the very least challenge our assumptions.
Instead of your business needing you perhaps this is a case of you needing your business. Maybe you are in love with the meaning it contributes to your life, the financial rewards, the deep emotional satisfaction when things are going well, the feeling of triumph when you move forward in spite of challenging times. In any case I'm sure your life amounts to much more than running a profitable small business.
A Paradigm Shift
You are not meant to focus on your business in the way that you do. Your business is an instrument, not the destination. Please keep in mind that life is about fulfilling a purpose beyond fiduciary responsibilities. What is your purpose? Can you look beyond the obvious to see how your occupation can be used to elevate your life's meaning?
Key Indicators
If you did the work I asked you to do in our last conversation:
The Small Business Coach # 3 Is the Health of Your Business Costing You?
You probably feel overwhelmed about what you need to be doing more of and what you are neglecting to do altogether. If expansion is still the goal of the business you must understand the critical success areas of your business, that if neglected will cause you to ultimately fail as a business person. As a small business you have limited resources and can't spread yourself too thin in those areas that are going to have little or no impact on the success of your company, currently. You need to decide what factors you depend on to be successful. These are call key indicators or critical success factors.
What Are Your Key Indicators?
What I will ask you to do next is to write the five to seven areas that you can not be compromise. If you are a product driven organization you may consider R&D to be a starting point. If you are a service driven organization you may consider training and development to be effective. These of course can be followed up with things such as marketing, sales, or client fulfillment. When finished describing related processes or protocols work to get better in these areas; starting with the area that is going to make the biggest difference and moving to the area that has the least impact. Working on anything else is a luxury you can't afford.
Operating a small business is a juggling act with the five to seven critical success factors. This should help you to increase cash flow. If you run into the good fortune of having more money than time, consider outsourcing and automating some of your work.
Now, I think we are ready to think through assembling your management team; Stay Tuned!
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