18 Secrets Every Business Owner Should Know and Do
I remember what it felt like to dream of running my own business. I was finally going to be able to leave the misery of working for someone else, where I had no control over my pay check or working conditions.
I would finally have flexibility and freedom! But when reality set in, I realized something: running my own company wasn't just about working less and making more money -- there were a lot of things that needed to be done that I hadn't anticipated.
Being a successful entrepreneur is hard work and takes a specific set of skills -- skills that aren't taught in school or at your day job. That's why when you start your own business, you can either figure all this out on your own (and maybe fail), or learn from those who have gone before you and avoid the same traps they've fallen into themselves.
This article will show you the 18 secrets that every business owner should know and do. These are split into 6 areas, head, numbers, team, marketing, business and role.
YOUR HEAD
Secret 1
The biggest secret is that most business owners aren't super successful. They might be making money, but not enough to leave their day job. Or they're working on a project that's failed before and is bound to fail again.
In most cases they have lost sight of the dream, plan, goal and can't see how to get out of the hamster wheel that they have created. You need to think differently not only in your business but to get away from doing the same as your competitors.
Secret 2
Wherever your business ends up—and it could end up anywhere—it's all your fault.
You are in control of your destiny of your business. The buck stops with you so you want to ensure you are moving your business in the direction you want it to go. No matter what happens you need to own the decisions and ensure that you learn from the failures and do more of the successes.
Secret 3
You've got to know where you're going and where you are right now, so that when things get tough (which they will), you can use this information to make better decisions down the road.
A great analogy on this is using your Sat Nav. It will give you different directions to Birmingham depending on where you are starting out whether that be Cardiff, Southampton or Edinburgh. You are starting from a different point but aiming to the same destination.
YOUR NUMBERS
Secret 4
1, 4, 15, 60, 20 – This is a pyramid structure where any business, no matter the sector fall.
Most businesses are either getting by or struggling. That’s 80% of all businesses are struggling. Its not what we set out to do so why do so many end up there? It’s a surprising statistic that 80% of businesses are getting it wrong.
By understanding where you are now and where you want to be then this lets you start to move out of the 80% of businesses and into the top 20%.
Secret 5
There are 6 key numbers every business owner should know;
a. What profit did you make last month
b. what was your breakeven point last month
c. what is your gross margin
d. what is your operating cashflow so far this year
e. how much is your cost of acquisition last month
f. how are you tracking to your plan so far this year
Knowing these numbers will better prepare you to move your business forward.
Secret 6
Having a weekly scorecard will help you focus your business to getting the right activities completed each week. When they are visible and in graphical format you can easily see where you need to be focusing to get your next customer, revenue, profit.
YOUR TEAM
Secret 7
Most business owners wait until they have a profit to justify having a team around them. This is floored thinking. When thinking of the work that needs to be done can you remove the £10 per hour work from you and give that to someone else?
Whether you outsource things or you hire people, look at what value they are going to bring to the table, not only in them doing the work for you but what will that free you up for to complete yourself? Create the team, give them the tools and then get out of their way.
Secret 8
When building a team you will only get more of what you can tolerate. What I mean by this if you have a crap plasterer but you allow him/her to continue to work then more of your team will do the same. You need to provide a culture that keeps everyone to the standards you strive to want. People respect you more and you remove the crap from your business quickly.
Secret 9
This leads me on to this secret. Be clear to your team and to you what you stand for. Be clear, concise and ensure that you stick to it. This gives everyone accountability and brings them on board from the outset.
YOUR MARKETING
Secret 10
You're in control of your marketing. You get to decide what you want to say and how you want to say it. However, you have to be careful about this because just like any other skill, if you don't practice it regularly, then your marketing will suffer. When we first started our business, we made the mistake of waiting for months before we started doing any sort of marketing at all. We were afraid that people would hate us because they didn't know who we were yet. But as soon as we started doing some basic social media posting and sending out targeted emails every week or so (and not just blasting everyone on our list), things started happening very quickly! It was amazing how much more responsive people became once they knew who we were and what our brand stood for.
Secret 11
Bananarama Syndrome is ‘It Ain’t What You Do It’s The Way That You Do It’. This is so true for marketing and you need to think that if it ain’t working then learn and try something else.
Secret 12
I know most if not all businesses have a leaky bucket. That is that customers are falling through the bucket and leaking out to be lost forever. Your follow up is so important and a cheap way of ensuring you are getting your customers to sign up and come to you.
YOUR BUSINESS
Secret 13
'You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending'. CS Lewis.
When you are thinking of building your business, you may start with one area but end up with a totally different business.
It doesn’t matter.
Sometimes its opportunities that provides us with the means to getting our ideal lives and it wasn’t what you set out to do in the first place.
Embrace it and see where the world takes you.
Secret 14
All businesses evolve as you grow. You will need to think and do things differently as you grow so that your business can thrive as it moves up the scales. Don’t be afraid and allow this to happen.
Secret 15
Cracking this secret is fundamental to any business. If you are able to get a consistent flow of customers through your door every week, month, quarter then you can sleep better at night as you know you will always have that flow.
It takes time but this is a game changer when it comes to getting your business going forward.
YOUR ROLE
Secret 16
How many business owners are stuck in the everyday. It feels hard trying to get out of this and working on your business. You need to make the time to do this otherwise you only have a job and not a business.
Secret 17
This leads me onto this secret. Taking time each week out of the business to work ON your business and not IN it. Without this you will fail. Put the same time aside each week and stick to it, you’ll be surprised how many businesses can be built in 90 minutes a day.
Secret 18
Learn from the best. Get people around you that have done this before, that you can learn from, you can get guidance from or even help. Use these people to help you. However, make sure that they have the same values as you so that they align to what you are doing.
Once you’re in business, you have to remember that it’s not all about you. No matter how large or small your business is, there will be a lot going on that has nothing to do with you personally. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, though! There are so many other factors involved in running a successful company that need your attention and care, so don’t forget about them! We hope these 18 tips help give you some insight into what those factors might be."
