When growing a small business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities in your business. But… where is your business REALLY heading?
What is your business going to look like when it’s finished? 80% of businesses fail in the first five years. Of that 20% left remaining, 80% of those will fail in the following five years. The reason for this can be many but the underpinning reason is that the lack of direction and clarity that lead us to making bad decisions. The decisions we make are all aligned to where we’re going. If we don’t know where we’re going then we can’t make good decisions for the business.
Start With The End In Mind
Most people climb onto the treadmill of their business and forget about what they have done it for. It becomes very easy — and it’s extremely common — to get caught up in the day-to-day running of the business. As a result, business owners growing a small business lose track of the reason they got into business in the first place and of what the business will look like when it is finished.
We go into business for more freedom, more time, and/or more money. If we don’t plan and strategise the business we get caught up in the day-to-day like micro-management, firefighting, and becoming an employee of the business. This is an endless cycle where the business owner does the same thing day in, day out over and over again expecting a different result — this is the definition of insanity.
The Business Is The Vehicle For Your Life
The business is the vehicle for your life, not the other way round. So, let’s think about it by asking ourselves the following questions:
- What do we need this business to look like when it’s finished?
- What number do you need the business to provide to give you the life you want?
Most business owners can’t actually answer this because they never actually thought about it.
A the end of the day, we need to start thinking about what our exit point for the business looks like. Michael Gerber says that the only point in building a business is to sell it. That may or not be true for you depending on your goals and intentions, but at some point the business needs to be “a commercial profitable enterprise that works without you”. At this point the business provides for you, or it is capable of being sold. If you are the business’ main asset, then the business must always operate with you. So when is the point the business can be profitable and operate without you? And, what does it have to give you when you get there?
End Goal
Think. How often do you get in a car without a clear destination of where you’re going. Most often we would put the destination in the Sat-Nav so that we know the route that we’re going. So why do business owners go into their businesses each day with no clear destination of where they are going?
So what are some possible end goals for your business? Well here are some of the examples:
- I want to sell the business for a profit;
- I want the business to work without me so I can pass it on to the next-generation;
- I want the business to work without me so I can buy and build other businesses.
- I want to take the business to a higher level so that it can provide me with more money, time, and freedom.
What do you want your business to look like?
If you have questions around this then i’m happy to have a chat with you to discuss your goals. You can email me on andyhemming@actioncoach.co.uk
Of course, your end goal all comes down to what’s in your mind, and, if that answer is nothing… then we get what we focus on.
To your success,
Andy
P.s. you can watch the full video on this topic here.
