For years, I've tried to answer this one question: What makes a small business that achieves sustainable growth different from a small business that doesn't?
I am the senior consultant of Inc. magazine. I speak to thousands of business owners every year. I've learned that there is no 17-item checklist or silver bullet for guaranteed growth. However, there are seven specific areas that growing companies focus on.
1. A strong sense of purpose. Most leaders of successful growth companies have found that it takes more than promises of increased financial rewards to inspire ambition. They see a higher mission than simply chasing "more money."
2. Good market information. It is the ability of an organization to first recognize fundamental changes in the market and then adapt to it. Small business owners are often too narrow minded and only have a narrow view of the competitive market. Growth leaders see the big picture.
The key to a successful business is a good business plan. In his e-book Business Plan Secrets Revealed, Mike Elia walks you through the business planning process, from gathering the evidence you use to develop the plan to pitching the plan to qualified investors.
His book provides the basic information needed to write a business plan. But the real focus is how to communicate your plans to investors and convince them that your business is the best investment option for them.
When I opened the first published Business Plan Secrets book, my heart ached. You see, I promised Mike that I would read his entire book before writing a review. Also, Business Plan Secrets Revealed is not a typical e-book with one-sentence paragraphs and large fonts. , and many margins. This is jam packed with information!
But when I started reading, I was surprised. Mike's writing style is engaging and practical, and his explanations simplify difficult concepts. Throughout the book, I felt like I had a friend sitting on my back porch explaining exactly how to do something. This is a simple tool.
Mike's clear understanding of business planning concepts is based on over 20 years of experience. Mike helps business owners buy, sell and finance their businesses. He has supervised production and sales offices in more than 9 countries. He is a CPA, holds an MBA and has served as the Chief Financial Officer of two publicly traded companies.
The secret to a business plan starts with tips for gathering and organizing the information you need. From the start, Mike will be focused on overcoming the biggest challenge: closing the investor confidence gap. In the chapter Show Me the Numbers, Mike provides some of the clearest explanations of business financial statements I've ever read. When concepts like stockholders' equity and the statement of cash flows catch your attention, salvation has arrived.
3. Effective growth planning. This is the best predictor of whether or not a business will grow. A growth plan doesn't have to be overly formal or complicated to be effective. However, it should be written, well communicated and updated regularly.
4. Customer-centric process. These days, every company I talk to believes they are customer-centric, but in reality very few are. Let's look at all business processes from the customer's perspective. Are they in a position to make things easier for the company or help deliver faster, cheaper and better promises for the customer?
5. The power of technology. Successful leaders don't let the boom and bust cycles of technology obscure the fact that we live in the information age. If a company is in business, it is a technology business.
6. The best and smartest people. Growth leaders recognize that they are only as good as the people they work with. The ability to attract, train and retain top talent is often the difference between success and failure.
7. Look to the future. Few organizations take the time to regularly think about the future. Growth leaders learn how to carefully monitor and interpret the forces of macro-change affecting the world in which they live.
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