So you’re a small business owner. Congratulations! Owning your own business can be the most enjoyable, exhilarating experience ever with no comparison to the cubicles and silos of corporate life.
But there’s a dangerous dark side. There were 572,900 small business births in 2008 and 554,800 deaths. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a small business mortality rate of 97%. The human cost of this statistic is even more staggering: families, friends, personal savings, and even physical health.
The sad part of the story is: this outcome’s entirely avoidable. If you’re good at what you do (That’s the reason you started your own business in the first place, wasn’t it?), you can learn how to be good at business as well, because it takes both to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.
Here are 10 questions every business owner must answer to master the business-side of their business. How are YOU doing?
PLANNING: Getting the Right Things Right
1. Do you have a clear, well-defined focus for your business that’s the driving force in everything you do?
2. Are you working more than 45 hours a week in your business?
ANSWERS:
Small businesses fail trying to be all things to all people. It’s essential to your success that you have a clearly defined business purpose that drives everything you do. As a result, you’ll make more money and get more done in less time, allowing you to enjoy things other than just working in your business. Your answers should be yes and no.
PEOPLE: Multiplying Yourself in Others
3. Is the growth of your company limited to your personal capacity to get things done?
4. Do the people who work for you give 100% effort in everything they do?
ANSWERS:
If you’re not able to hire and train other people to work at the highest levels of excellence, you’ll never have a mature business. Successful business owners don’t just work in their business, but on it, expanding the capacity of their companies by multiplying themselves in others. Your answers should be no and yes.
SALES: Executing a Repeatable Process
5. Do you have a step-by-step methodology for selling your products or services that predictably generates revenue for your small business?
6. Can you accurately forecast income for the next 30, 60, and 90 days?
ANSWERS:
Most people view sales as magic. They appear and disappear mysteriously. Just the opposite is true. Successful sales is a science with specific steps of action that can be measured and duplicated (unlike magic!). When you have done that for your business, sales will grow at a reliable rate and you’ll be able to accurately forecast future income. Your answers should be yes and yes.
MARKETING: Connecting with Your Core Customer
7. Do you spend time and money on marketing activities with no idea which of these activities, if any of them, actually work?
8. Are you having consistent conversations with your core customers that build authentic relationships?
ANSWERS:
There are more ways to market today than ever before: a confusing, complex array of options. Marketing smart means knowing exactly who your target is—your core customer—and exactly how to reach that customer in an effective, compelling manner. That means having conversations that build trust, engaging in an authentic marketing dialogue and not shrill monologue. Your answers should be no and yes.
MONEY: Becoming Financially Intelligent
9. Do you know the critical number that drives the financial health of your company and can you track that number on a weekly basis?
10. As your revenue increases, is the equity position of your company also increasing?
ANSWERS:
Numbers are the language of business, but many small business owners—confused by complex accounting practices—completely ignore their financial statements. This is one place ignorance is NOT bliss. Every business has a key economic driver, or critical number, that must be monitored on a regular basis, and bottom-line equity, the value of a business that accrues over time, must be monitored as well. Your answers should be yes and yes.
Want to have better answers to these questions?
Visit WORK WITH BILL right now.
