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SME Success: Getting Ahead in 2017

tips for small business owners
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Serviced Office International – Reconnect with your business this New Year

Right now the Internet is awash with tips and tricks to get business ahead in 2017. Everything from moving to the cloud to the top 10 books you should read (in the week that you’re on leave of course).

And whilst those posts can be interesting to read, very few of them are going to make the kind of difference that most business owners want to see in 2017.

So if what they’re suggesting doesn’t work (or they work as well as a New Year’s resolution – in that it lasts about 5 minutes), what does?

Getting Clear on What You’re Trying to Achieve and Why That Matters.

So many of us started with goals in mind – our first $100K in profit, first x customers, first million in turnover, x% profit, for our products to make into retail or the ASX 100 and so on. Part of it might be because these are big hairy audacious goals or things we only ‘dream’ of achieving.

Do you remember what your first goals were when you started on your dream of owning your own business? Are those dreams living up to your expectations?

But often after our first couple of years in business, some of that can fall by the wayside. It’s not that we don’t have numbers to reach, many of us do. Rather it’s just that they become less meaningful. They’re just another budget item to review at quarterly review meetings or with the accountant from time to time.

Why Do You Do What You Do?

We exist to help our clients grow their businesses. And we use the Fish philosophy to help us do that. Seeing our clients do well and our team have a good time at work brings me joy. And you can’t get better than having a joy filled day.

Another business owner we know exists to free people from the cycle of poverty and/or abuse by helping them build sustainable careers and businesses they love. They’re passionate about that and it drives everything they do.

Add Measurables

Now you might think these are both very fluffy in terms of getting clear, but each can have measurable goals attached to them. For example, we might look at client numbers (and any numbers related to winning clients that fit), retained clients over time (a great measure of how happy our clients are – one of our clients has been with us for X years – almost as long as we’ve been operating), levels of client (and staff) feedback, team turnover, etc.

Our friend measures their clients’ wins, growth, retention, sales enquiries and or offers, etc in the areas they impact.

But if these numbers aren’t tied to why we do what we do, they’re just numbers. And isn’t that the reason many of us started our own business in the first place? Because we wanted to make a difference in some way?

Checking in With Yourself This New Year

So this New Year period, close your eyes and remember back to what it was you originally set out to do. What difference were you out to make? Now assuming you’re still keen to make that difference, set aside some time to think about how you measure whether or not you’re making an impact and what you’d need to do in order to meet those particular measures.

If you’ve changed the impact you’re after, set measures around that and steps it will take to achieve.

To learn more about how working with SOI could help your business grow in 2017, you can call us on 1300 318 680 or drop us a note. We’d be delighted to talk to you.

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Article by Buck Samrai

December 20, 2016