Creating a successful business takes a lot of work. However, if you don’t make a plan for how to succeed then your business won’t go anywhere. It’s important to make goals for your business so you have something to work towards. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Focus on Continuous Improvement

Developing a successful business isn’t really about having an end goal. In a constantly changing world, it’s important for you to keep up and constantly be improving your business. Take stock of your business and see what does and doesn’t work. Address the areas of concern and reinforce what’s already working. Look at the market and see what strategies others are using. Adapt to new technology. Continuous improvement can help you stay up to date with the business world and help you streamline your business.

One great way to start is by making a continuous improvement strategy. Establish a schedule for when and how often you’re going to evaluate your business. Make sure it’s regular enough for it to be effective. Decide ahead of time what you intend to evaluate.

Make S.M.A.R.T. Goals

In general, making goals is always a good start. However, many people don’t follow through with their goals because they don’t make a solid plan. Making S.M.A.R.T. goals, on the other hand, helps you to clearly think through your goal and make a plan. S.M.A.R.T. stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. There are many different ways you can apply this process. For example, you might want to get more clients or increase profits. On their own, those aren’t smart goals. You need to be more specific. Determine how you will increase profits or clients. Quantify your goal and set a time limit. Using the S.M.A.R.T. method helps you to make a plan while establishing what your goal is. As you use them, you can stay on track and actually see progress when you stick to your goals.

Hold Yourself Accountable

When making and keeping goals, it can be easy to fall off the wagon. Reinforce your commitment by holding yourself accountable to others. You can tell your employees about your goals or even just a business partner. Depending on your goal, you could even advertise it to your clientele. Ask whoever you tell to check in on your progress regularly. By letting other people know about your goals, you’re more likely to stick to them.

As you move forward with your business, make some detailed goals. Establish a solid plan for your goals and get other people involved as work towards them. Having a good plan is the first step to improving your business.

Need help setting goals for your business? Schedule some coaching sessions with us to get started!

If you’re feeling stuck in your business, it may be time to hire a business consultant. A business consultant is a trained professional who can help you analyze your business and see how to best succeed and save money. They can offer new perspectives and insights while also keeping you on track to succeed.

Eliminate Waste

One major benefit of hiring a business consultant is that they offer an outside perspective. Oftentimes it becomes difficult to find where money is being lost because you are too close to the situation. A consultant can help point out areas of waste that may not have been obvious. They can help you see what is unnecessary and how to eliminate the waste. Your consultant can go over your budget with you to make sure you are not allocating more money to operations than you can afford. They will also make sure you aren’t wasting money on services you don’t need. Your consultant can make you more aware of good financial practices so you aren’t wasting your money.

Manage Risk

A business consultant can help you identify and manage risk. In any business, there are risks. An advisor can help you keep track of economic trends so you can have a plan in place in case there is an economic downturn. You can also be made aware of any laws that may impact your business. Your consultant can help to make sure you are following all the necessary regulations. They can also help you avoid lawsuits. You can reduce your risk by hiring an employee with a certification.

New Insights

A business consultant is typically well versed in current trends and practices. They are well aware of the market environment. Their expertise can help you give your business a boost with some new ideas. Perhaps there are some new practices that other businesses have tried and found success with. Your consultant can inform you of these practices and teach you how to best utilize them. It could also be possible that your business isn’t aware of the technology or practices that most businesses are already following and your consultant can help keep you up to date. No matter what’s going on in the market around you, your consultant has the necessary skills to keep you up to date and even ahead of the curve. Their insights can help you to reinvigorate your business.

If you’re trying to save money, it might seem counterintuitive to spend money on a consultant. However, it is well worth it! A consultant can help you spot problems, manage your risk, and even discover new ways to improve your business.

Looking for a business consultant to help you with your business? Contact us to schedule some coaching sessions!

Starting a business can be a very exhaustive process. You may have to learn skills you’ve never learned before—you may make mistakes, sometimes even big ones. And it can be very lonely, eating at your time for family and friends. Going alone is possible—and many have done it, but there are many benefits to working with someone else. Here’s how you can start a business without going it alone.

Find a Partner

According to Grasshopper, finding a business partner is a great way to have someone else help you in creating your own business. With the two of you, you can feed off of each other’s enthusiasm and you can divide the tasks. If one of you likes marketing better while the other likes sales, you can divide and conquer. A partner will have your back, and he/she will help you focus on your goals. Finding a partner to help you with your business has many benefits, but one of the biggest is that you won’t be on this adventure alone.

Start a Franchise

You can also start a franchise. By being part of a franchise, you are given the materials directly from the company. While you do have to worry about the hiring details and other local details, you know that you’re part of a brand name and that they are already established. Being a part of a franchise eases the burden of marketing your business by yourself. You have to follow corporate decisions, but you’re not left on your own to flounder. Now may be the perfect time to start a franchise, because according to Franchise Gator, many franchises are offering financial incentives to investors during COVID-19.

Find a Mentor

According to EU-Startups, you can also find a mentor to help you start your business. You can learn under someone who’s already established their own business, and work with them to gain the skills and knowhow, so that when you do branch off on your own, you feel more confident. You can always ask your mentor questions about what they did in their business if you get stuck. A mentor is a wonderful resource to help you when you’re starting your own business.

Starting a business can be a lonely road, but it doesn’t have to be. By finding a partner, starting a franchise or working with a mentor, you can find your own footing as you start your journey to your own business.

Need help figuring out how to best run your business? Schedule some coaching sessions with us today!

As businesses reopen storefronts under what’s being termed a “new normal” and employees return to the workplace, it’s becoming increasingly evident that there have been changes. Many are requiring social distancing, masks, and taking employee temperatures daily. What hasn’t changed is the need for leaders to lead by example as everyone returns to work.

Stabilizing Morale

During times of high stress and uncertainty, it’s easy for employee morale to take a pretty serious hit. This can cause more problems for businesses who may already be struggling due to the economic impact the pandemic has had on a global scale. Fortunately, one of the things that can be done to help stabilize, or even improve, company morale is for leaders to lead by example. Employees will see leading by example as a step that brings you closer to them and their level. This builds greater feelings of connection and loyalty within a company, which can only serve to strengthen it at a time when low morale may have a crippling impact.

Employees Look to You

Employees look to their leaders for cues on how to behave. This means that as you lead by example you will help them understand what behaviors are acceptable and encouraged, and, by omission, what behaviors are unacceptable and should be avoided. For example, if you’re using floor markings to help with social distancing they should be six feet apart at a minimum. And you should be respecting those markings so that your employees know that they should be doing the same. It’s a lot of responsibility, but that’s why you’re the leader. Hopefully you’ve been prepared to take that responsibility for a while, because while the context may have altered, the responsibility has always been there.

Creating Consistency

Because employees look to you as their leader for guidance, you can create consistency in your business by leading by example as everyone returns to work. The new rules, policies, and procedures need to apply to business leaders just as much as they do to entry level employees. If your company has decided that everyone needs to wear masks to work, take their temperature daily, and stay home when ill, so do you. This consistency is what makes policies effective, as they will only really work as long as everyone abides by them.

Leaders are chosen for a reason, and hopefully part of the reasoning is because they are good at leading employees. One of the best ways to do this is by leading by example. Leading by example can help stabilize employee morale, making employees feel better about being led by you, and creating consistency within the company.

For more tips, schedule some coaching sessions with me so I can help your business succeed!

Leads are the lifeline for many businesses. In a competitive business environment, you can bet that several companies are vying for the same leads. Because of this fact, it’s important to do everything in your power to avoid letting those precious leads fall through the cracks. Here are three tips that can help.

Respond in a Timely Manner

Slow response times are one of the biggest causes of lost leads. Every hour a lead sits without response decreases the chances that the lead will be converted into revenue. In this case, time is money. Cultivate a sense of urgency and accountability within your workplace. Consider putting a service-level agreement, or SLA, in place in order to keep your employees accountable.

While you prioritize fast response times, you should also remember that it will take patience to convert your leads into revenue. Marketing Donut shows that 80% of sales require at least 5 follow-up calls after the initial meeting.  They recommend that you maintain contact with your leads until they have said “no,” or “not yet,” at least 5 times.

Capture Leads After Hours

Since time is money, you should take advantage of every moment by capturing leads even when you have no employees working. One of the best ways to do this is by utilizing technologies such as webchat. Webchat lets customers share information with your company even after hours.

If you don’t have a way for potential leads to leave their questions and information with your company 24/7, you could be losing valuable customers. Try using webchat or another website technology so you don’t lose track of any of your leads that find your business outside normal working hours.

Personalize Your Communication

One of the fastest ways to lose a lead is by generalizing your interactions with potential customers through sending generic communications. It’s essential to remember that every customer is an individual with unique needs who is seeking a specific benefit from a product. Show your customers that you recognize their unique needs by personalizing all your outgoing communications with them. CRM and marketing automation are cost and time-effective ways to segment your email lists so that you’re sending the right emails to the right people.

Retaining and converting leads will cost a significant amount of your time and energy, especially early on. However, your efforts will be worth it as you maximize every lead and grow your business. Remember to respond to leads in a timely manner, capture leads after hours, and personalize your communication; these three tips will be invaluable tools in your lead-gathering efforts.

Want more business advice? Schedule some coaching sessions with me so I can help you to achieve your goals.