3 Steps to Make Your Small Business a Growth and Profit Center
Growing your small business takes careful planning and far-sighted business management practices, starting with a well defined business strategy. It’s hard to get somewhere if you don’t have a clearly defined path. EMyth Management recommends the following three steps to help you get started:
- Figure out your key performance indicators, or KPIs, and monitor them. Your key performance indicators are those factors that you have determined to be measures of your company’s success, such as percentage of repeat business, average project turnaround time or profit margin, to name a few. A small business consultant can guide you in finding your KPIs. Choose KPIs that reflect your company’s long term goals. If your long term goal is to be the most profitable business in the industry, then to profit margin by customer or by job would be an appropriate KPI. Whereas, if the goal is to become the most respected business in the industry, then the percentage of repeat business might be more appropriate. In any case, make sure your KPIs are quantifiable and measurable, so that you can use them to keep track of your company’s progress.
- Spend time “on the business,” not just “in the business.” Step back from the daily nitty gritty details and take the time to develop an organizational strategy, and lay out long term goals and objectives that EMyth management mentions. Develop a comprehensive business plan and road map for action, and discuss them with your employees. So many businesses expect their employees to operate without defined understanding of what the company is about and where it is headed. You will be impressed with what your team will do once you share your vision.
- Bring in outside help, such as a small business consultant or business management coach to give you quality advice and a fresh perspective. A company like Fisher Business can help you develop your organizational strategy and long term goals, define KPIs and groom management personnel to be enthusiastic team players with “buy-in” to your company. If you believe in EMyth Management, it is important to make sure you and your small business consultant agree on this fundamental approach.
With so many small businesses failing in their infancy, it becomes more important than ever to plan your business success and structure your business management, develop a strategy to achieve it, and share these goals with your employees, so that when the company wins, everybody wins.
About the Author Barb Fisher
Barb is the CEO of Fisher Bookkeeping, an outsourced bookkeeping consultancy that provides small businesses with a full-service financial department. Her favorite aspect of work is to break down the accounting to meaningful bits, so entrepreneurs can make a powerful difference in their own business. She's also a power lifter (squat: 215, DL: 270).
Related Posts
Where Did My Money Go? Part Two: Examining Your P&L Report
Where Did My Money Go? Part 1: Protect Your Small Business Cash Flow
Are Professional Bookkeeping Services Essential For My Business?
4 Ways the Profit First Method Helps You Reach Your Financial Goals