Did you know that Australia has been experiencing more business failures today than in the last few decades? What experts call an “insolvency tsunami” has hit the country and more than 10,000 businesses have collapsed within this year alone. The sad news is, we can expect more businesses to go down—a record number—before this year ends.
As a business owner, of course, you don’t want to be part of that statistic. The thought of having all your hard work and investment put to waste is surely unacceptable, and you would probably do everything to safeguard your business from failure.
Succeeding in a time of failure is possible, that’s for sure. The key to doing that is by fine tuning your business to put it towards a path to success rather than failure. Here’s how to do it right:
Know what works and what doesn’t.
You started this business with a bold idea that you hope would turn your life around. You’ve done your hard work and invested your money in the hopes that it will give you good returns in the future. But if you are to stay afloat in such an uncertain time, you have to determine what works and what doesn’t in your business.
For instance, if you’ve been putting money on marketing strategies that give you little yield, then it’s probably time to change things up. On the other hand, if you have the best employees, then nurture that part of your business by investing in training and incentives.
When you know what’s working and what needs to be changed, it’s easier to fine tune your business in a way that puts you on track for success because you’re maximising your strengths and working on your weaknesses before they affect your business.
Protect your finances at all times.
Here’s the truth: a lot of businesses fail within the first few years of opening because owners can’t keep up with payments for loans that they end up using the money that should be for their business. Of course, you have to take out a loan at some point to fund your business, but you have to be extra careful when doing so.
For instance, if you need to take out a business loan, find a company that offers no interest business loans in Sydney. This option is better than having to pay for high interest rates that could really hurt your bottomline in the long run.
Keep in mind that your business won’t give you any significant returns within the first few years. So, if you’re already paying for these high interest loans, you could end up burying yourself in more debt. The trick here is to find ways to protect your finances at all times since it’s the fuel that will help keep your business running.
Get into the learning mindset.
If you ask seasoned entrepreneurs what their secret to success is, most of them will tell you that it’s their love for learning. The truth is, you can never be too good that you can stop learning new things for your business. Having that learning mindset will allow you to be more open to new things that will help your business grow and succeed.
For instance, if you’ve been running your business for the last decade and you haven’t dabbled in digital marketing yet, then it’s time to do so. Reading things like how to create a content marketing strategy, learning about SEO and other related topics will open up a new opportunity for your business to keep up with the times.
The great thing about learning today is that most of these things are available for consumption online and for free. The only thing you need to do is allocate some time for learning and adapt that into your current business model.
Never stop prospecting.
Back in the old days, you just started a business, distributed a few flyers and people already knew about you. But that was because you only had a handful of other businesses to compete with. Today is a different story, however, because you’re going up against thousands—if not millions—of other businesses that you really need to find ways to get recognised.
One of the best ways to do that is through prospecting where you’re looking at potential clients and finding ways to reach out to them. In fact, a study revealed that successful entrepreneurs allocated at least 90 minutes a day for 4.6 days for prospecting. Those who were not as successful, however, only spent 60 minutes a day doing the same task.
That’s not much of a difference, right? But the study found out that those who allocated more time for prospecting also enjoyed more than three times of their revenue as compared to those who didn’t. If you look at the numbers, hard work can really go a long way to help your business succeed.
Always go back to your business plan.
When you started this business, you had a business plan. But when was the last time you really looked at it and evaluated if you’ve achieved anything from it? Going back to what your goals are is a great way to re-assess where you’re at as compared to how you started.
Your business plan will also serve as your guide in fine tuning areas within your business that will help you do better. For instance, if you wrote in your business plan that you wanted to reach a certain revenue goal within a year, then you can double the number this time if you already achieved that goal.
Some entrepreneurs even make daily business plans that help them to stay on track and know what to prioritise each day that will benefit their business the most.
Sure, change can be scary, but it’s also necessary if you want to grow and succeed as a business. So, if you still haven’t fine tuned your business, this would be the perfect time to do it.
