You may have sat on the beach this summer and imagined a time when the working week is all beach and no work. To make that happen and to sell your business for the highest possible gain, start now. It takes a change of mindset, a dual focus on day-to-day priorities, while thinking and planning for the long-term.
Consider the following:
Create a living business plan
Ask yourself, ‘If everything went perfectly over the next three to five years what would that look like?’ Write it down. What will the business look like? What will you be doing? What will you have achieved? Try and keep it to one page. Look at it often. This will help formulate your goals and action plans for the development of your business.
Get the financial support you need
Be clear on the costs required to run and grow your business.
Consider whether you need to borrow money. Look at all your options –Managing your business wellbeing in 2024 financing equipment over time instead of purchasing outright will smooth out cash flow. Keep tabs on your financial position each month.
Manage cash flow like your life depends on it
‘Cash is King’. It’s so important to make sure that your customers are paying you on a similar timeline to when you pay your suppliers. Chase slow payers. Structure payment terms to your advantage. Check the business bank balance regularly.
Become a marketing ace or work with one
If cash is ‘King’, digital marketing is today’s ‘Queen’, particularly for business to consumer models. Customers search on-line first and having a website isn’t enough. Many SME’s contract digital specialists to update social media content and boost their search engine rankings. Facebook content and advertising can be turned on and off to regulate the volume of enquires to align with workload requirements of your business. A couple of clients have achieved outstanding results with targeted messages via Facebook Messenger, delivering competitions and offers designed to generate immediate sales.
Stay on top of customer needs and your competition
Asking for feedback is one of the most powerful ways to stay on top of your customers’ needs. Don’t be afraid to seek feedback; it’s gold. You can transform feedback into deeper loyalty when you show that you are willing to take feedback on board.
Do your research
Spend time working on your business by understanding the market need for your product or service. Identify similar products or any trends in your industry. Who are your competitors and what do they do well? Try to establish healthy relationships with competitors. You may find you have complementary products. Maybe there are gaps in the market? Who are you targeting and how will you grab their attention? What will motivate them to work with you?
Learn to love change
See change as an opportunity, not a negative. Ensure your business is responding to change. If required bring in specialist contractors to help. Being adaptable impacts business longevity. Don’t be afraid to discontinue something that is not working.
Manage growth – don’t let it manage you
Growing pains are real. It’s a balancing act managing growth as opposed to being pulled along by reactive runaway growth. Being prepared for future growth is an important success factor. Consider what the growing needs could be in your business, such as the number of people you need, types of technology, working space, greater customer expectations, new industry regulations. Rodger Howie is a specialist Business Broker and Commercial Agent with Bayleys Hawke’s Bay. Since joining Bayleys in 2016 Rodger has helped many business owners sell their businesses for the right price. Whether you are buying or selling and would like to talk, contact Rodger on 027 431 1973, confidentiality is assured.
