Did you know that 1 in 4 businesses close down in their first 5 years of operation? It’s no surprise given just how challenging growing a successful business can be.
But while there’s no such thing as guaranteed success, there are some fundamentals that, when in place, can mean the difference between going the distance and closing up shop.
Here’s 3 business fundamentals that I see too many business owners getting wrong.
1. Leading vs. Managing
The most significant difference between leadership and management is that a manager deals with the day-to-day detail of running the business, where a leader is ahead of the business.
A manager keeps all the ducks in a row - managing and overseeing accountabilities, responsibilities, making sure team members are executing things effectively, and keeping the wheels turning. A leader is a beacon that leads by example from a cultural, vision and mission aspect.
It’s the leader’s job to lead the way in creating something that doesn’t exist yet.... and inspiring others to follow.
If you want to create a business that works without you, you need to learn how to transition from being a manager to being a leader. And not just a leader, but a leader that creates other leaders.
A good leader doesn’t need to have the spotlight, they are very much about being ok with sitting back and noticing the team stepping up and supporting them to develop their own leadership capabilities.
There's a significant mindset shift between management and leadership. A big part of this shift is the willingness to relinquish control… which as entrepreneurs we can find it pretty hard to do!
But until we learn to develop other leaders within our business, even when they make mistakes along the way, we’re always going to be the single point of failure in the business. So it will never be able to expand beyond our capabilities.
2. Automation & Time-saving
Business is very different to when I first started out 20 years ago. These days we have a lot more access to technology, we have different social channels, and we have so much information available to us.
But while there's never been an easier time to succeed in business, there’s also never been a more challenging time in business. Because everyone has access to the same things that we do, all over the world.
If you're not currently looking for ways to implement automation within your marketing, your sales, your systems, and in the way you manage your team... you're wasting a lot of a lot of time and resources.
There's software out there that can help you automate an enormous range of repetitive tasks. There’s Asana for managing projects and tasks, CRMs such as Hubspot for managing clients, Slack for team communication, Active Campaign for automating your marketing, and Zapier to make all those platforms work together.
If you’re not doing any form of automation right now, I can guarantee you’re spending a lot of time and wasting a lot of money which is preventing you from scaling.
This is especially true if you’re hiring more staff members to work in your business, instead of looking at where you can automate first. Because the more staff you hire, the more complex your business becomes… which costs you money and momentum in the long term.
3. Investing In Your Team
The last thing is investing time into your team. Because if you look after your team, they will look after your clients. In turn, well-looked after clients pay on time and give referrals.
Richard Branson was once asked, ‘What if I spend time and money on developing a team member, and they leave?’ He famously replied, ‘What if you don’t… and they stay?’
Ultimately, people don’t leave for more money. That’s just an excuse. They actually leave because their needs aren’t being met. They are not getting the growth, the care, the support, the things that personally drive them in their career.
Over to you…
If you're a business owner looking for ways to grow your business faster, become a better leader, or harness the power of technology to automate more in your business, I invite you to get in touch.
Just book a 15-minute call with one of my scaling specialists to find out a bit more about us, and how we work, and to find out if we can help you achieve your business goals.
If we both think we could be a fit, we’ll schedule a longer call where we’ll dive deeper into where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.
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