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Like What Business

Like What Business

Talk to dozens of business owner/managers every month, and when I ask them what are their greatest challenges, the same three themes consistently emerge.  Time.  Team.  Money.
There aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the things that need doing.They can’t seem to find (and keep) the right people.  and cash-flow is nearly always tight.

But while team-building and financial management may be important issues, it’s nearly always the shortage of time which most inhibits a business’s growth.  Why should that be?

Could it be that most business owners generally don’t trust their staff to do a job as well as they themselves would?  If that’s the case, they’ve either got the wrong people on board, or they haven’t adequately trained them in how things need to be done.

However, many business owners find themselves working ridiculously long hours, while their competitively paid staff swan around on a nice little 9-to-5 earner.  If I had a pound for every one of them who who isn’t even the best-paid person in their own business, in terms of hourly rates, I’d have £11.27

Question – So what prevents them from being able to trust their people to just get on with the job they are paying them to do?
Probably they haven’t invested some initial time in developing systems and processes that the village idiot could follow.  (Whatever happened to those village idiots?  Are they almost extinct?)  As a result, they waste aeons of their own time later, doing it themselves, “because no one else knows how to do it like me”.

Essential key killer questions for every small business

  • Who would run your business if you were in hospital for an extended period?
  • Do you have a business, sales and marketing plan?
  • Are you the highest paid person in your business?
  • Are you working more hours per week than you would like?
  • How will your business give you a pension income when you retire?
  • Do you know the value of your business?
  • Are you taking sufficient holiday time?
  • What is the greatest challenge to your business?
  • Are you making as much money out of the business as you would like?
  • What are your personal plans and do your business plans mirror them?
  • When was the last time you raised your prices?
  • Does your business match the vision you had when you started?
  • If there were one thing I could make happen for your business right now, what would it be?