So How Big of A Piece of the Pie Do You Want?
Part 1 of Having a Successful BusinessIn this series, it’s important to show that successful people aren’t better than you; they just made better decisions. This section will see if you’re ready to go out build a better future.Have a little fun at work tomorrow with some of your co-workers. Go up to about three to five people and ask them what they plan on achieving in the next ten years.It’s a safe bet that these same people YOU ask for important advice will give you an answer that will be mediocre at best.Not saying these people aren’t going somewhere…but are they going where you want to ultimately end up?ness reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it!Not wanting to over-simplify the whole ‘running a business thing’, but I’ve developed a list (based on my own experiences, and that of my clients and other business owners), which covers some of the things we need to know for different stages of building a business:

Start-up phase:

- Start a business because you want to, don’t just fall into it
- Do your homework – know what you’re getting yourself into, and who else is doing it too
- Do what you love – have a passion
- Recognise that it’s going to be tough and be prepared
- Budget for a completely different level of income (!) (that’s a lower income, not a higher one…)
- Talk to people who remember setting up their own business, and learn from their advice.
- Use suppliers who can meet your budget. Don’t be ‘sold’ into paying more than you want to – there will be time enough for that when your business is making plenty of money.
- Know where you want to go, and don’t lose sight of that
- Make sure you have plenty of capital to get you through this phase – you’ll need all of it. Keep expenses to a minimum – it will take time to start generating an income.
- Depending on your financial position, join relevant networks and associations, and attend events.
- Make sure they’re the same groups where you will find your target market.
- Draw up a database of all your contacts and spend time getting out there and talking to people. Tell them what you’re doing, and listen to what they need.
- Try to do business with people you want to do business with. This is likely to be amore effective strategy in generating referrals and building your business.
- Don’t neglect the marketing fundamentals: understand what it is you can offer potential clients, understand what they need, develop a very clear value proposition, and know who your competitors are and what makes you different. If you haven’t sorted this out, you aren’t ready.

Up and running:

- Keep the momentum going – keep selling, keep acquiring new business, watch the cash
- Use good financial measurement systems to understand the key drives and key performance indicators of your business. Think of it as a control panel.
- Relationships are critical – pay attention to them (staff, clients, associates, etc.)
- Don’t employ staff until you need them, and provide clear guidelines to those you have.
- Make sure you understand your financial and business reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it!

s a lower income, not a higher one…)
- Talk to people who remember setting up their own business, and learn from their advice.
- Use suppliers who can meet your budget. Don’t be ‘sold’ into paying more than you want to – there will be time enough for that when your business is making plenty of money.
- Know where you want to go, and don’t lose sight of that
- Make sure you have plenty of capital to get you through this phase – you’ll need all of it. Keep expenses to a minimum – it will take time to start generating an income.
- Depending on your financial position, join relevant networks and associations, and attend events.
- Make sure they’re the same groups where you will find your target market.
- Draw up a database of all your contacts and spend time getting out there and talking to people. Tell them what you’re doing, and listen to what they need.
- Try to do business with people you want to do business with. This is likely to be amore effective strategy in generating referrals and building your business.
- Don’t neglect the marketing fundamentals: understand what it is you can offer potential clients, understand what they need, develop a very clear value proposition, and know who your competitors are and what makes you different. If you haven’t sorted this out, you aren’t ready.

Up and running:

- Keep the momentum going – keep selling, keep acquiring new business, watch the cash
- Use good financial measurement systems to understand the key drives and key performance indicators of your business. Think of it as a control panel.
- Relationships are critical – pay attention to them (staff, clients, associates, etc.)
- Don’t employ staff until you need them, and provide clear guidelines to those you have.
- Make sure you understand your financial and business reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it!

nd associations, and attend events.
- Make sure they’re the same groups where you will find your target market.
- Draw up a database of all your contacts and spend time getting out there and talking to people. Tell them what you’re doing, and listen to what they need.
- Try to do business with people you want to do business with. This is likely to be amore effective strategy in generating referrals and building your business.
- Don’t neglect the marketing fundamentals: understand what it is you can offer potential clients, understand what they need, develop a very clear value proposition, and know who your competitors are and what makes you different. If you haven’t sorted this out, you aren’t ready.

Up and running:

- Keep the momentum going – keep selling, keep acquiring new business, watch the cash
- Use good financial measurement systems to understand the key drives and key performance indicators of your business. Think of it as a control panel.
- Relationships are critical – pay attention to them (staff, clients, associates, etc.)
- Don’t employ staff until you need them, and provide clear guidelines to those you have.
- Make sure you understand your financial and business reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it!

ow who your competitors are and what makes you different. If you haven’t sorted this out, you aren’t ready.

Up and running:

- Keep the momentum going – keep selling, keep acquiring new business, watch the cash
- Use good financial measurement systems to understand the key drives and key performance indicators of your business. Think of it as a control panel.
- Relationships are critical – pay attention to them (staff, clients, associates, etc.)
- Don’t employ staff until you need them, and provide clear guidelines to those you have.
- Make sure you understand your financial and business reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it!

ness reports, and generate them on a regular basis.
- Keep your costs down, even when you don’t need to worry. It’s a good discipline for when you need to pare back, and will keep you in much better financial shape.
- Don’t take you eye off the numbers! Know how your cashflow is tracking.
- Secure yourself some reliable and competent advisors – accountants, financial advisors, a lawyer, a business mentor
- Start to build your knowledge and expertise in areas where you’re not naturally strong (finance, marketing, sales, etc)
- Have goals, know how you’re going to get there, and just do it! Planning without action won’t get you anywhere and you’ll never move forward.
- Sell before you buy – don’t extend yourself before you have the required level of business coming in
- Keep focused on your priorities. Don’t sweat the small stuff but don’t ignore the big stuff. Focus on what will generate revenue (and be profitable).
- Customer retention is important in maintaining stability. If you focus on this now, it will provide a strong foundation for the future.
- Stay healthy – it takes a lot of energy to maintain and build a business.
- Get support – business and emotional support is essential. We all need help in some way.
- Understand the different business models which you could be using, and which are more effective. - -- Don’t be scared to re-engineer what and how you deliver to your customers if a new model is more profitable. This is really very important.
- Build you reputation and your image. Be consistent in the process!

Established & Growing

- Implement systems where you can – it helps make the business run more efficiently and makes it less reliant on you
- Focus on the big picture and know what it looks like.
- Have a vision and a strategy to realise it.
- Keep watching the cash.
- Innovate to stay ahead of your competitors
- A good client list and a cash cow product will be the key to you ‘having a life’
- Look seriously at growth strategies and why you want to grow – acquisition, organic or both

Wisdom of experience:

- Finance & funding are critical – know what you need, be prepared, understand your options – always.
- Sales and marketing are critical to success – never stop these activities.
- People management and leadership – start the way you wish to continue
- Systems and process add value to your business – you may want to sell it one day
- Revenue from cash cows frees you up from your business. It’s all tied in with the business model.
- Strategy and execution are a never-ending cycle.