Small Business Research and Enterprise

Author: Christine Nicholson

Whilst speaking at a number of events recently, one question kept coming up again and again so I thought put the answer in an article.  The question is “How do I get more of the right stuff done in my business?”  The business owners asking this all commented that they seemed to get stuck in some of the day to day tasks in the their business and never seemed to find time to do those activities that they knew would contribute to their business achieving more, growing and thriving rather than just surviving.

So here are my top tips to help you really change the way that your business works. They’re really simple and really quite effective.

# 1:  Look at what activities you’re do daily.

I mean, really look at exactly what you’re doing, write it down, including the amount of time you spend on it. Then ask, who would die if I stopped doing this? Now, I know that sounds dramatic. But a lot of what you were doing might not be moving the needle in your business towards real success. So, what could you stop doing? In fact, why don’t you ask all of your staff to do this, and it will be amazing how much time this might free up. When you look at all the activities that you’re doing and ask, what purpose is it serving and what value is it adding? You might be stopping doing quite a few things.

# 2: Examine your customer journey and ask how you can make it better.

So this one might seem a bit obvious, but it’s one of the missing links I see in many businesses.  By “make better” I do not mean more complicated. Often, it’s about making it simpler.  Certainly making it easier for them to do more business with you and removing all of the friction. Explore opportunities that you could be offering and what your customer don’t value (so you can stop).  What are you selling that they really want or want more of?

Now, the opposite to that is, what are you selling that they don’t want and they don’t value? You might be wondering “how do I find that out?”   But this could be the product that you get the most complaints about. It could be the product that you find it hardest to sell. One of the easiest ways of finding out what they don’t want and what they don’t value is just ask them. You’ll be amazed a simple three question customer survey could give you so much insight AND positive engagement with your customers.

# 3:  Get a grip of your numbers

Now, the last one it might take you a bit more out of your comfort zone. But getting a grip of your key numbers and getting management at least monthly will change the way you make decisions.  You may need to change your accountant, you definitely need to get a quality bookkeeper or somebody into your business to produce accounts if you don’t already have one. Getting the right person in this role is critical so that you get the support you need.  Do not settle for anything less than someone who can add value not just process transactions.  Certainly, if you read my book, “5-Minute Finance – The Business Owners’ Guide to Understanding Your Numbers”, you’ll learn all about finance in less than 90 minutes and it will give you a really good start.

So I hope some of those tips were helpful and gave you some ideas for making small changes in your business that could have a big impact.  I’d be really interested to hear what happened to your business if you adopted any of these changes. If you need any help with any of this, by all means, please give me a call and the contact details are below.

Christine is an author, speaker and Accredited Member of the Associate of Business Mentors who helps business founders significantly change business outcomes and with it their quality of life.  She saves them THOUSANDS and increases the value of their businesses by MILLIONS.  Since 2000 she has generated over £300m of crystalised value in business exits.

The published author of 2 critically acclaimed business books, 5 Minute Finance and What’s Your Profit Score, which has been described as “the most useful business book of the year”, she is currently writing the next two books.

Learn more about Christine’s business at www.successionplus.co.uk

Christine will also be doing a talk with City Business Library for more information on her seminars visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/cblevent